Time of Jpeg is over?

14th March 2007

At the exhibition of Photo Marketing Association in Las Vegas, Microsoft introduced its new graphics format HD Photo, which is considered as a substitute for JPEG. The new format, previously known as Windows Media Photo, is noticeable for its high degree compression, good quality and advanced features. Developers of the new format assure that having twice more compression than that of JPEG, images in HD Photo has fewer artifacts. All images are saved in files so that photographers can make color correction and exposure. In addition, when working with HD Photo one will be able to decode only the information needed for a particular fragment. Beta version of the plug-in HD Photo for Photoshop was developed in conjunction with Adobe. With this addition, users can open files in a new format, and save them in HD Photo. Plug-in supports Photoshop for Windows and Mac, and the beta version for Windows is already available from the Microsoft Download Center. The final versions for the both OS are expected in May and will be free.