Microsoft Aims to Replace JPEG Format

Microsoft is aiming to offer a higher-quality alternative to JPEG, saying Thursday that it planned to standardize its HD Photo graphics format. The new format is said to offer better quality, less data loss, and advanced functionality.

Compression with HD Photo is twice that of JPEG with fewer artifacts, the company claims. Due to this, images are clearer and half the size of those saved in the popular format.

The entire image is preserved in the file, which would allow photographers to make higher quality adjustments to the color and exposure of the image. Additionally, HD Photo would allow the user to decode only information needed for a specific region, or manipulate the image as compressed data.

A beta version of a HD Photo plug-in for Adobe Photoshop has been developed in conjunction with Adobe. Users would be able to read and write to the format from within the software.

Both Windows and Mac versions of Photoshop are supported, with the beta Windows plug-in already available on the Microsoft Download Center. Final versions, which would be free to download, are slated to be released by May of this year.

Microsoft has also released a developer kit that allows the technology to be integrated into other applications. The format is natively supported in Windows Vista, and is similarly supported in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 by downloading a small update.

"With HD Photo, we're taking a new approach to creating and editing photos that simply isn't available to photographers with today's formats," Microsoft consumer media technology corporate vice president Amir Majidimehr said.