Microsoft’s HD Photo Almost a Standard

We posted back in March about Microsoft’s newest photo format, HD Photo, formally known as Windows Media Photo, although it’s tentatively being called “JPEG XR”. In short, it’s supposed to provide superb image quality without hogging half as much disk space. Vista already has support for the file format, although I don’t believe it’s being used other than internally right now. In the coming months, sixteen national standards groups will vote on whether or not the format will become a standard. If successful, and considering the fact that it’s set out to replace the JPEG format, it might not take too long before it becomes commonplace.

The “XR” in the name refers to the extended range of tones that the format can represent compared with traditional JPEG, one of many advantages Microsoft claims for the technology. JPEG can describe each component of red, blue and green color in a pixel with 8 bits of data; because cameras typically shoot images with 12 bits of data, that means conversion to JPEG typically throws away information a photographer might want, such as details in shadowed faces or the subtle folds of white clothing. JPEG XR can store 16 or 32 bits of data per color for each pixel.

Source: USA Today