Ask HN: Generating images rather than compression

1 points by getcrunk 7y ago ↗ HN

I read something once about how google stopped sending an actual img file for their google logo across the net to users. Instead it sent a function that generated the logo. This saved a ton on bandwidth. Does anyone remember this? Also is there a name for this, and links on the topic of doing things like this?

2 comments

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BerislavLopac 7y ago ↗

Google.com definitely serves a PNG image, but you probably have SVG in mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics

For example: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Google_2... (view source)

zzzcpan 7y ago ↗

Maybe look into fractal compression and genetic algorithms.