The differences between img and Image

1. img Element:

The standard HTML img element is used for embedding images in web pages. It has been a fundamental part of web development for a long time. When you use the img element in Next.js, the images are loaded as static assets, and you don’t get some of the performance optimizations provided by the next/image module.

Example :

import React from ‘react’;

const MyComponent = () => {

 return (

  <div>

   <img src=”/path/to/image.jpg” alt=”My Image” />

  </div>

 );

};

export default MyComponent;

2. Image Component (from next/image):

The Image component is part of the next/image module, which is an image optimization library provided by Next.js. It offers several benefits, including automatic optimization, lazy loading, and support for various image formats.

Example :

import Image from ‘next/image’;

const MyComponent = () => {

 return (

  <div>

   <Image

    src=”/path/to/image.jpg”

    alt=”My Image”

    width={500}

    height={300}

   />

  </div>

 );

};

export default MyComponent;

Key Differences:

• Automatic Optimization:
• The Image component provides automatic image optimization, meaning it automatically optimizes and serves images in modern formats like WebP to improve loading times.
• Lazy Loading:
• Image supports lazy loading by default, loading images only when they come into the user’s viewport.
• Responsive Images:
• With the width and height attributes, you can specify the dimensions of the image, allowing Next.js to generate responsive images for various screen sizes.
• Image Formats:
• Image can automatically choose the best image format based on the user’s browser, providing efficient image delivery.
• Priority Loading:
• The priority prop in Image allows you to prioritize the loading of specific images, which is useful for critical images above the fold.