Rendering compared

The same equations, rendered four ways. The first three come from this service and share a single conversion: LaTeX becomes MathML, that MathML is laid out as SVG, and the SVG is rasterised to PNG. The fourth is the original CodeCogs renderer, which runs a real LaTeX installation and converts its output with dvisvgm.

The interesting comparisons are between the columns rather than down them. MathML is laid out by the browser and reflows with the text around it; SVG and PNG are laid out here and arrive fixed. The byte counts under each are what the reader actually downloads.

The final column is requested with \displaystyle prefixed, since that renderer sets inline style by default and would otherwise put the limits beside each operator rather than above and below it — a difference of instruction, not of capability.