JPEG
(JPG)
A file format for images, optimized for photographic content (as opposed to diagrams, charts, etc.)
JPEG is one of the most common file formats for photos.
JPEG compresses image data so files are smaller and use less storage space. JPEG is a lossy format, meaning some amount of detail data may be permanently lost when creating the JPEG file.
The amount of that loss is sometimes adjustable at the time the JPEG file is created; the software that creates the JPEG file can apply more compression or less. More compression results in a smaller file with less visual detail. Less compression results in a larger file that has more of the original visual detail.
Newer formats attempt to provide higher image quality and smaller file sizes compared to JPEG. In phones, HEIF is one of the most common such formats.
See: HEIF
Most modern smartphones offer the choice of saving camera photos in either JPEG or HEIF format. JPEG is generally still better-supported by other software and services, though support for HEIF continues to grow.
Last updated Apr 24, 2026 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
