Microsoft’s new HD Photo format to replace JPEG

March 8, 2007 · Filed Under Silicon Valley · Comment 

Microsoft will soon submit a new photo format to be the de facto standard for digital images to the international standard body. If things goes accordingly, the HD Photo format would replace Jpeg in a few years time. Love it or hate it, Microsoft has incorporated HD Photo format into Windows Vista, Adobe System on the other hand has agreed to support the new format by releasing a plugin for CS3 and CS2.

Although JPEG is aging, it has been modified to help keep it up to date. The latest JPEG 2000 format features better image quality while also supporting lossless and lossy compression. The original JPEG did only lossy.

If the HD Photo format is an open system where Microsoft does not collect royalty fees and rights to it, then it is about time the world move on. Jpeg is a 15 years old format that seems to be irrelevant in this century. Hopefully Apple Inc would follow suit and support the format.

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