Which compression mode will HEIF use?+
HEIF defines the container. Compression may be lossy, lossless or uncompressed depending on its codec binding; one global quality or bit-depth value would be misleading. HEIF permits different encoding modes or container representations. Its format name alone does not promise lossless output, a quality setting or a size reduction. The future engine must choose a supported codec and sample representation; inspect the target’s compression notes below.
Are bit depth and colour values guaranteed to match?+
Source and target sample models can differ in precision, channel layout, colour space and transfer function. Lossless compression only preserves the samples actually encoded; a precision reduction or colour conversion can already change them. The future engine defines numeric mapping, orientation and colour conversion; canonical depth facts are listed below where available.
Will metadata and colour profiles be retained?+
QOI: Colour-space flag → HEIF: Exif, XMP, ICC, NCLX. Which fields are copied, rewritten or omitted will depend on the future engine; retention is not implemented yet.