What is ICNS?
ICNS is the macOS icon container - what sits inside an .app bundle. Since Lion it stores its images as ordinary PNGs at a handful of sizes, which is why reading one means picking the biggest member and writing one means rendering several.
What is PNG?
PNG is the web's lossless image format: compression that never degrades the picture, and a real alpha channel for transparency. It is the right choice for screenshots, logos, line art and anything with sharp edges or text.