# NativeEncoding

> ⚠️ **This plugin is experimental and subject to change.**

The NativeEncoding plugin provides native image encoding capabilities to Babylon, allowing raw pixel data to be encoded into standard image formats (PNG, JPEG, WebP, etc.).

## Prerequisites

A **Blob implementation** must be registered before using this plugin. The Babylon polyfill provides one that can be initialized from C++ using `Babylon::Polyfills::Blob::Initialize()`.

## Limitations

Currently, **only PNG encoding** is supported. If a different MIME type is requested (e.g., "image/jpeg"), it will be ignored.

## Design

Unlike a traditional polyfill which would implement Canvas's `toBlob()` or `toDataURL()` methods, NativeEncoding exists as a plugin because:

1. **No standard Web API exists** for general-purpose image encoding separate from Canvas
2. **Simplicity** - Exposes only what Babylon actually needs: direct pixel-to-bytes encoding
3. **Efficiency** - Avoids extra routing through the Canvas API via intermediate data structures
4. **Modularity** - Image encoding is a separate concern from 2D canvas rendering
5. **Extensibility** - New codecs can be added in the future without bloating other components

An encoding function is exposed on the `_native` global object, similar to NativeOptimizations.

```typescript
interface INative {
  EncodeImageAsync: (
    pixelData: ArrayBufferView,
    width: number,
    height: number,
    mimeType?: string,
    invertY?: boolean
  ) => Promise<Blob>;
}
```

It should be wrapped by higher-level Babylon.js APIs (e.g., DumpTools) for common workflows like asset exports and screenshots.