Software giant Microsoft today announced that its HD Photo image technology, formerly known as Windows Media Photo, would be considered by the Joint Picture Experts Group (JPEG), the group that gave us the JPEG image format.

Microsoft has already tentatively titled the format “JPEG XR” and hopes that it will enable consumers to use cameras, printers, software and display technologies that are all interoperable.

The company says that the new image compression technology was shipped with its Windows Vista operating system from launch and offers higher image quality and better compression efficiency than other formats.

The HD Photo technology was first submitted to JPEG, which as since been included in a new project submitted to JPEG members for approval. According to Microsoft, JPEG XR would form only part of a larger project called JPEG Systems the group would be called to work on to improve the standardisation between consumer and professional photography needs.

“Microsoft is very pleased that the JPEG working group is considering HD Photo as a new standard, and we are committed to working cooperatively with JPEG and its affiliated standards organizations to ensure that this file format serves the needs of the next generation of consumer and professional photographers,” said Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft.

HD Photo came out of Microsoft’s research group and was developed by the Core Media Processing team.

One of the key features of HD Photo is its ability to decode only part of its file information that is needed, a feature used by web imaging applications such as Google Earth and Microsoft’s Windows Live Earth. Another feature is its incorporation of both lossless and lossy compression in the one design.

The ballot deadline for approval of the JPEG Systems project is expected to be October 2007 with the finalisation and publishing of the standard due late in 2009.

“We greatly appreciate the contribution Microsoft is making to the IT ecosystem with the development of HD Photo,” said Dr. Daniel Lee, convener of the Joint Photographic Expert Group. “We are voting on consideration of this new file format for standardization because we believe it will foster breakthrough, innovative products and services in the photography and printing industries that will have widespread value for consumers around the world.”

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