Will Windows HD Photo Format Replace JPEG?

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In the new Windows Vista, Microsoft will be pushing its own image format – the HD Photo format – to replace the ubiquitous JPEG, currently the world’s most widely used image file standard.

“Our ultimate goal is that it does become the de facto standard people are using for digital photos,” said Josh Weisberg, Microsoft’s director of digital imaging evangelism.

But if previous efforts to supplant JPEG are any indication, that ambition may prove to be a very tough challenge. Even the Joint Photographic Experts Group itself tried to replace it with JPEG 2000 offering better compression quality, but to no avail, bringing to mind the efforts of the PNG file format to fix some issues with GIF, but did not replace it either.

“Replacing JPEG is a massive, massive undertaking, as JPEG really works well for people,” acknowledges Kevin Connor, Adobe’s senior director of product management, whose company is building support for Microsoft’s HD Photo format.

Imaging guru Eddie Tapp however believes new digital camera owners can benefit from HD Photo with its better file quality.

[Via: CNET.com]

Published by Chris Malinao

Chris teaches Lightroom as workflow software to photography students at the FPPF, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation. He also teaches smartphone photography.