Graphics Interchange Format
GIF
GIF89
/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 web".
Filename extension: .gif.
See also progressive coding, animated GIF.