Which PNG format supports 256 colors and lossless compression?

Which PNG format supports 256 colors and lossless compression?

• A. PNG-24
• B. PNG-8
• C. JPEG
• D. TIFF

Answer: (B)

PNG-8 uses an 8-bit indexed color palette, which allows up to 256 colors, while preserving image data with lossless compression. This combination makes it the go-to choice for simple graphics with limited colors, such as icons or logos, without introducing compression artifacts. PNG-24, though lossless, supports true color with many more colors and isn’t limited to 256. JPEG uses lossy compression, which degrades quality, and TIFF isn’t a PNG format (it can be lossless but doesn’t operate with the 256-color palette constraint). So the format that fits both criteria—256 colors and lossless compression—is PNG-8.

PNG-8 uses an 8-bit indexed color palette, which allows up to 256 colors, while preserving image data with lossless compression. This combination makes it the go-to choice for simple graphics with limited colors, such as icons or logos, without introducing compression artifacts. PNG-24, though lossless, supports true color with many more colors and isn’t limited to 256. JPEG uses lossy compression, which degrades quality, and TIFF isn’t a PNG format (it can be lossless but doesn’t operate with the 256-color palette constraint). So the format that fits both criteria—256 colors and lossless compression—is PNG-8.