Microsoft Takes Aim at JPEG

jaqian

Might interest people.

found via Slashdot:

Microsoft Corp. will soon submit to an international standards organization a new photo format that offers higher-quality images with better compression, the company said today.

Full story: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012518

rymus

I'll await the firmware update for the camera

sineadw

Hmmm.. wonder what the licencing will be.

rymus

knowing microsoft... when you subscribe you get to take 100 photos with your camera.. then you have to buy packs of 36 in the form of a firmware upgrade so your camera will work again.

sineadw

Sounds about right:mad:

magicbastarder

i imagine any licencing (if any) will be paid by whomever makes the device, or writes the software.

sineadw

Thats what I meant about the licensing - Jpeg is open source (at the moment). Just interesting having seen what's happened to PNG and ODF.

Diarmuid

magicbastarder wrote:

i imagine any licencing (if any) will be paid by whomever makes the device, or writes the software.

yes, but that added expense will be passed on to you, the consumer of the device/software.

magicbastarder

granted, but i would be surprised if the charge was punitive - microsoft know people will not pay top dollar for this given that several well-established free formats already exist.

put it this way though - would you spend €900 on a camera which supports TIFF, RAW and JPEG, or €915 on the same camera which supports TIFF, RAW, JPEG, and this new format, which is superior to JPEG, if the hype is to be believed?

Shiny

From what I have read, they are placing very little restrictions
on the format and they cannot charge too much for licensing
either.

Otherwise, why would anyone bother with them?

Even if the quality is better.

rymus

anyway, we already have a format that's superior to jpeg... or erm, maybe microsoft haven't heard of raw.

(and lets not launch into another raw vs. jpeg debate)

PaulieC

MS is looking to supplant jpg with HD the way they tried to do with MP3 and WMA. As it turns out, consumer is not necessarily interested in higher quality or smaller size (e.g. Betamax Vs. VHS). Once something becomes a 'standard', it's almost impossible to change.
RAW is not really interchangeable with JPG for most consumers, who just want bright, punchy pix straight out of their P&S cameras. MS is trying to get in on the bottom floor of the whole HD thing.

Fenster

It seems like so much wasted effort to me, another quasi-proprietry standard from Microsoft, fie.

aidan_walsh

MS is looking to supplant jpg with HD the way they tried to do with MP3 and WMA.

Thats pretty much it. Its not exactly a coincidence that the projects original name was Windows Media Photo. The new name also smacks of bandwagon marketing ("Oh look love, this camera does HD pictures. Must be much better than the old ones").

melekalikimaka

if the open faster than jpeg they might be onto a winner

leinsterman

melekalikimaka wrote:

if the open faster than jpeg they might be onto a winner

... I hate to sound cynical but I don't think Microsoft build anything for speed ... more often then not their software upgrades offers the same functionality with a few useless new features, a new GUI and sucks the resouces out of your PC forcing you to upgrade ...

anyways ... I don't trust Microsoft ... they are always looking for new ways to take our money ... but give us little value in exchange for it ...

PaulieC

I hate to sound cynical but I don't think Microsoft build anything for speed ... more often then not their software upgrades offers the same functionality with a few useless new features, a new GUI and sucks the resouces out of your PC forcing you to upgrade ...

leinsterman wrote:

anyways ... I don't trust Microsoft ... they are always looking for new ways to take our money ... but give us little value in exchange for it ...

Yes, Microsoft are so unlike any other company in that regard :rolleyes:

melekalikimaka

leinsterman wrote:

anyways ... I don't trust Microsoft ... they are always looking for new ways to take our money ... but give us little value in exchange for it ...

the r & d they could put into this would be hard to beat, i've no doubt it'll do well, once they set themselves a goal they usually achieve it, as long as quality is kept, i don't really mind

Dara Robinson

Oh I can smell Microsoft forcing their "conviniant" product on us. More and more reasons to migrate over to Apple are popping up every day

melekalikimaka

Dara Robinson wrote:

Oh I can smell Microsoft forcing their "conviniant" product on us. More and more reasons to migrate over to Apple are popping up every day

<cough> acc format </cough>

magicbastarder

Dara Robinson wrote:

Oh I can smell Microsoft forcing their "conviniant" product on us. More and more reasons to migrate over to Apple are popping up every day

they're going to drop JPEG support from the OS?

PaulieC

hardly. you can say what you like about MS, but they're not stupid enough to do that. They support many image types, not just jpgs.
They've already struck deals with Adobe to support the new format in PS.

trooney

Bit off topic (a lot actually), but was just wondering if that's the real 'Master Of The Universe' or is somebody just using that as an alias???

Dara Robinson

trooney wrote:

Bit off topic (a lot actually), but was just wondering if that's the real 'Master Of The Universe' or is somebody just using that as an alias???

wooosshhhhhhh (that the sound of this flying over my head) ..... Random

magicbastarder wrote:

they're going to drop JPEG support from the OS?

as cambo_gueno said no. and I would be extreemly suppirsed if they did, in the near future. In the long haul, they want a Microsoft world... will they get it?

sineadw

I think it is the one and only Trooney. We're not worthy, etc..

Aidan's a bit of a legend Dara. Hard to define. Just a legend.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446269/plotsummary

PaulieC

Dara Robinson wrote:

In the long haul, they want a Microsoft world... will they get it?

let's hope so for the sake of my stock options

trooney

sineadw wrote:

I think it is the one and only Trooney. We're not worthy, etc..

Everybody is worthy. Just that some are more worthy than others :cool: ...

I'll get me coat...