Scalable Vector Graphics
on Mac OS X

May 20th 2004 - By Angus W Hardie

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) - A W3C vector graphics format

The SVG format was designed to be a method of delivering vector graphics over the internet.

Vector graphic formats define a picture in terms of objects rather than pixels. So instead of saying that a particular block of pixels is coloured blue a vector format will say that there is a rectangle at that location coloured blue. This reduces the amount of information needed to store simple objects and allows for a resolution independent image. Pixel based formats tend to have a fixed resolution and cannot normally be scaled without loosing information or resolution or both.

The current leader in vector graphics on the web is the flash format developed by Macromedia

Mac OS X

On the Mac OS X platform, Flash has a clear lead. Most, if not all, machines will have the flash plugin. However performance can be slow on older machines and there are some issues with large areas of moving content.

None of the current browsers appear to support using javascript with SVG, which severely limits the amount of interaction that can be offered. The latest SVG plugin (3.0) does support an internal javascript engine but this does not allow interaction with the web browser.

It is hoped that a version of mozilla with svg will be offered on the mac or that safari will include native support.

In conclusion, SVG use is possible on the Mac OS X platform but advanced features and interactivity present significant problems