The High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a modern image container format that leverages advanced compression techniques to store images with significantly smaller file sizes compared to older formats like JPEG, while maintaining or even improving image quality. It's based on the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) video compression standard. HEIF supports a variety of image types, including single images, image sequences (animations), and image collections. It can also store metadata, such as EXIF data, depth maps, and alpha channels, making it a versatile format for various imaging applications. HEIF's efficient compression makes it ideal for storing large image libraries on devices with limited storage space and for transmitting images over networks with limited bandwidth. The format is gaining popularity due to its superior compression and support for advanced features, and is being adopted by major operating systems and camera manufacturers. HEIF files often use the .heic extension when using HEVC compression, but can also use other codecs. The .heif extension is generally used when other codecs are employed.