Format options for saving JPEG

[Jerry van Dijk]

When I save my images as a JPEG in PS, I get three Format options:
Baseline ("standard")
Baseline optimized
Progressive (with a number of scans)

What do these format options mean and which one gives the best IQ? The standard baseline gives the largest filesize, so my guess would be that this one also yields the best quality. Am I correct?

[Mike Milicia]

"Baseline standard" compresses the file using the original jpeg compression methods and will work with any program that ever supported the jpeg format.
"Baseline optimized" uses a later improved version of jpeg compression and should result in slightly smaller files and potentially better IQ but some older program may not support it.
"Progressive" is useful with large files or when users have slow communication lines. When the image is displayed, a low quality version will appear on the screen relatively
quickly and will then be followed by a variable number of progressively better versions (scans) until the final full quality version appears. This gives the user a quick idea of what the image contains
before they have to wait for the full quality image to be downloaded.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Mike! This is very informative!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks for the explanation Mike...good to learn the difference between those options:c3: