Google Chrome 155 adds default support for JPEG XL images with Rust-based decoder
In short
Google's Chrome 155 browser now decodes the JPEG XL (.jxl) image format, which Google says compresses about 30% to 50% better than JPEG and supports lossless compression, HDR and lossless JPEG transcoding. Chrome uses jxl-rs, a decoder written in Rust, which Google said found no memory-safety issues in AI review and fuzzing during development.
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Google's Chrome 155 browser supports decoding the JPEG XL (.jxl) image format, Chinese tech outlets reported on October 8. IT Home said Google announced the change in a developer blog post on October 6. Landian reported that the decoder is enabled by default in the stable release, so the browser can display JXL images and animations without extensions or experimental settings. It added that Chrome 155 began rolling out on October 7 for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Google said JPEG XL offers about 30% to 50% better compression than JPEG, along with lossless compression, built-in HDR support and lossless transcoding of existing JPEG files. Landian added that the format is based on the ISO/IEC 18181 standard and also supports high bit depth, animation and progressive decoding, and that actual gains vary with image content and compression settings. IT Home said Google shared a video of progressive decoding in which the subject of a 146.7 KB example image could be recognised after a few kilobytes had downloaded. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Google's developer team recommended that developers try both AVIF and JPEG XL. According to IT Home, Google described AVIF as suited to bandwidth-sensitive, load-speed-critical cases with many images, and JPEG XL as best for high-fidelity or lossless compression, especially photographs, or where fine-grained progressive decoding is needed. cnBeta reported Google as saying JPEG XL often has an advantage over AVIF for high-quality photography. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Chrome uses jxl-rs, a JPEG XL decoder written in Rust. Google said image decoders are among the browser components most exposed to targeted attacks because they process complex, untrusted binary data from the network, and that decoders written in memory-unsafe languages such as C++ have historically been prone to out-of-bounds reads, heap overflows and use-after-free bugs. To keep decoding fast, the company said it used safe SIMD instructions and a SIMD abstraction layer and brought in performance optimisations for jxl-rs; cnBeta said it also drew on optimisations from the libjxl reference implementation. Google said the team checked jxl-rs with AI review and fuzzing and found no memory-safety issues during development. [ 1 , 2 ]
Landian reported that Chrome had supported JPEG XL before version 110, but Google removed the support and related experiments at Chrome 110, which Landian attributed to slow growth of the format's ecosystem. After Apple added JPEG XL support in iOS and other systems, many developers called on Google to restore it, Landian said. cnBeta said Google announced earlier this year that it would integrate JPEG XL into the Chromium engine, cited support from the web developer community, and took part in Interop 2026 work on JPEG XL to keep its implementation compatible with other browsers. Landian noted that websites still need image processing, CDN delivery and upload checks to handle JXL, and should provide JPEG, WebP or AVIF fallbacks for browsers that do not support it. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
Chrome's support widens browser coverage for JPEG XL, which Landian said Google had dropped at Chrome 110 before bringing it back after developer calls. Landian noted that websites still need to adapt image processing and delivery and keep fallback formats for browsers without support.
Key facts
- Chrome 155 supports decoding JPEG XL (.jxl) images. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Google said JPEG XL achieves about 30% to 50% better compression than JPEG. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The format supports lossless compression, built-in HDR and lossless transcoding of existing JPEG files. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Chrome decodes JPEG XL with jxl-rs, a decoder written in Rust. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Google said AI review and fuzzing of jxl-rs found no memory-safety issues during development. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Google recommended that developers test both AVIF and JPEG XL. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- According to Landian, the decoder is on by default in Chrome 155 and works on Windows, Linux, macOS and Android. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Chrome 155 supports decoding the JPEG XL image format. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Google said JPEG XL offers roughly 30% to 50% more compression than JPEG, along with lossless compression, HDR support and lossless JPEG transcoding. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Chrome's JPEG XL decoder is the Rust implementation jxl-rs, which uses SIMD optimisations to maintain speed. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Google said AI review and fuzzing found no memory-safety issues in jxl-rs during development. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Google advised developers to choose between or test both AVIF and JPEG XL depending on their needs. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Google announced the change in a developer blog post on October 6. Only IT Home gives the date of Google's announcement.
- Chrome 155 began rolling out on October 7 on Windows, Linux, macOS and Android, with JPEG XL enabled by default. Only Landian reports the rollout date, platforms and default status.
- How widely other browsers support JPEG XL. cnBeta described Safari as one of the few mainstream browsers supporting it, while Landian said mainstream browsers have gradually added support.
- Actual compression gains in practice. Landian said results vary with image content and compression settings.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- cnBeta reports on October 8 that Chrome 155 officially supports JPEG XL. [ 1 ]
- IT Home reports Google's October 6 developer blog announcement of JPEG XL decoding in Chrome 155. [ 2 ]
- Landian reports that the JPEG XL decoder is enabled by default in Chrome 155, which began rolling out on October 7. [ 3 ]