GRAPHICS FORUMS ON COMPUSERVE CELEBRATE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
GRAPHICS INTERCHANGE FORMAT (GIF) STANDARD

All Distribution / Immediate Release


ORLANDO, FL -- May 28th, 1992, marks the fifth anniversary of
CompuServe's Graphics Interchange Format. The Graphics Interchange
Format, or GIF (pronounced 'jif'), is a data stream structure which
incorporates a graphics image, designed to allow the speedy transfer and
display of images containing up to two hundred and fifty-six colors or
shades of gray, regardless of the computer system using the GIF file.

GIF was released by CompuServe on May 28, 1987, to replace its original
monochrome graphics standard, known as RLE (for Run Length Encoding, a
form of file compression). Its features included optimized and
compressed data for transfers via communications channels, which allowed
for the transfer of extensive graphics data at a much greater rate. On
that day, the first collection of images and viewing software appeared
in the Picture Support Forum on CompuServe (now The Graphics Support
Forum).

From that day, the GIF standard has continued to keep pace with the
personal computer industry. In mid-1990, the standard was revised and
enhanced to allow greater flexibility within the image structure, with
'extensions' to the standard which included internal comments, text that
could be overlaid on the image, and application identifiers. This
standard, GIF89a, was designed to fully support the original GIF87a
format while bringing even more power to the graphics developer and
user.

The immense challenge of constructing suitable programs for encoding and
decoding GIF files from and to any computer was met by inaugurating a
unique experimental group of software developers and artists, known in
The Graphics Forums on CompuServe as the GIF Developers' Group. They
contributed their time and expertise to the construction of programs and
utilities to work with the GIF standard, thereby making GIF available to
many personal and professional computer systems.

The Graphics Interchange Format and GIF images have spread far beyond
just CompuServe:

* Computer users the world over are exchanging files each other's images
  and using GIF images in a wide variety of applications. The GIF
  standard is the de facto graphics standard found on thousands of
  popular hobby bulletin board systems and commercial information
  providers.

* A growing number of commercial software developers are adding GIF
  support to their products, as the tight, lossless compression makes
  the format a useful tool for cross-platform image exchange and
  conversion.

* Government agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space
  Administration (NASA), and private institutions such as the
  Smithsonian Institution, are using GIF as a method of storing
  irreplaceable graphics data and photographs of artistic and historical
  collections.

As the Graphics Interchange Format enters into its next five years, the
Staff of the Graphics Forums continues to encourage the further
development of this popular and flexible graphics standard. Methods and
procedures are being investigated to allow for greater compression of
images, the support of a greater number of colors, and even its use in
such varied concepts as three-dimensional graphics, desktop publishing,
multimedia, virtual reality and animation.

For more information about graphics and your computer, while online with
CompuServe, use the command GO GRAPHICS and choose option 1
(Introduction to Graphics).

CONTACT: Larry Wood, Administrator, The Graphics Forums on CompuServe.
CompuServe Mail [76703,704] or telephone 407/658-2687.

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