Technology
Mozilla plans to enable JPEG XL by default in Firefox 157
The browser will adopt Rust-based decoding across all platforms following Nightly testing and internal discussions.
The short version
- Mozilla developer Timothy Nikkel announced plans to enable JPEG XL image decoding by default on all platforms in Firefox 157.
- The implementation uses the jxl-rs Rust decoder, which supports multithreaded decoding and animated images.
- A contributor raised concerns over single-threaded lossless decoding performance, arguing it is significantly slower than WebP and could drain battery life.
Key facts
- Mozilla developer Timothy Nikkel announced an intent to enable JPEG XL decoding by default across all platforms starting in Firefox 157.[Hacker News]
- Firefox utilizes the jxl-rs decoder written in Rust to handle JPEG XL image processing.[Hacker News]
- JPEG XL support was previously available in Firefox Nightly by default and behind a Firefox Labs toggle since version 152.[Hacker News]
- A contributor cited benchmark tests indicating single-threaded lossless JPEG XL decoding in jxl-rs was roughly 30 times slower than WebP.[Hacker News]
What remains uncertain
- It is unconfirmed whether Mozilla will alter its rollout strategy or address lossless decoding speed concerns prior to the release of Firefox 157.[Hacker News]