graphics, file format /gif/, occasionally /jif/ (GIF, GIF 89A) A standard for digitised
images compressed with the
LZW algorithm, defined in 1987 by
CompuServe (CIS).
Graphics Interchange Format and GIF are service marks of
CompuServe Incorporated. This only affects use of GIF within Compuserve, and pass-through licensing for software to access them, it doesn't affect anyone else's use of GIF. It followed from a 1994 legal action by Unisys against CIS for violating Unisys's
LZW software patent. The CompuServe Vice President has stated that "CompuServe is committed to keeping the GIF 89A specification as an open, fully-supported, non-proprietary specification for the entire on-line community including the
World-Wide Web".
Filename extension: .gif.
File format (ftp://peipa.essex.ac.uk/ipa/info/file-formats).
GIF89a specification (https://asterix.seas.upenn.edu/~mayer/lzw_gif/gif89a.html).
See also
progressive coding,
animated GIF.
(2000-09-12)