A JP2 file is a compressed bitmap image created using JPEG 2000 (JP2) Core Coding. It supports any color bit depth and image metadata and may be compressed with lossy or lossless compression. JP2 files are typically used for storing digital photos and medical images, such as CT and MRI scans.

JP2 file open in Apple Preview 10.1 The JPEG 2000 standard was developed in the late-1990s by a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) committee to replace the JPEG standard released in 1992. It provides several improvements over the JPEG format, but the main improvement is the incorporation of a wavelet compression algorithm instead of Digital Cosine Transform (DCT) compression used by standard JPEG images. Apart from digital photos and medical images, the JPEG 2000 compression standard is used for a large number of alternate applications. Some examples include digital cinema, broadcast media, and surveillance video. NOTE: JP2 files may also be saved as .JPF or .JPX files.