Microsoft shows off JPEG rival

CNet News ^ | 24 May 2006 | Joris Evers

[Starter]

The problem with Jpgs is this:

"Forgent Sues Over JPEG Patent"
02:00 AM Apr, 24, 2004 EDT
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63200,00.html

Forgent Networks said Friday it sued 31 major hardware and software vendors, including Dell and Apple Computers, for allegedly infringing on its claim to an algorithm used in the popular JPEG picture file format.

(snip)

The last report that I heard of this lawsuit was 2 years ago, so I don't know the current status. But given some of the software lawsuits that have occurred recently, Microsoft seems to trying to minimize their exposure to lawsuits by veering away from universal formats. (IIRC, there was a similar lawsuit about Gif usage that caused the increased usage of JPGs. In the past two years, I've seen a number of people who work with graphics drop the jpg and go over to the PNG format "just in case.")

Plus, there's still that whole "possibly grabbing a chunk of the digital camera market" thing.

[kenth]

Yep. Though I would be happy if more of the camera makers offered more formats than just jpegs. A lot don't even offer the ability to tweak the compression settings. It seems silly to tout a high res camera, then use lossy compression.

Imagine, having to request a license for each photo while trying to view a webpage...

[zeugma]

(IIRC, there was a similar lawsuit about Gif usage that caused the increased usage of JPGs. In the past two years, I've seen a number of people who work with graphics drop the jpg and go over to the PNG format "just in case.")

Hmmm... Does Microsoft support transparency in PNG files yet? Last I heard they did not. Perhaps this new format is why they have been dragging their feet for so long on PNG.

[zeugma]

Yes, I'm talking to myself...

Looks like IE7 will support alpha transparency in PNG files... Details here.

I'd be interested in seeing comparisons between PNG and WiMPs

[ShadowAce]

Can WiMPs be animated like GIFs?

[aimhigh]

Steven Wells, a part-time professional photographer, said he sees promise in the new file format.

A real professional photographer wouldn't use a compressed format. They aim for detail.

[cowboyway]

This must be a gay thread because only gays use Gatesware.

[zeugma]

I have no idea if you can animate WiMPs. I would imagine not, as with the additional color depth (gifs are 256 colors), they would probably be huge.

[cowboyway]

This must be a gay thread because only gays use Gatesware Gaytesware.

[antiRepublicrat]

The companies that make watermarking software charge a fee per image. If Microsoft gets into this business, it will just be another competetor.

Microsoft is already in the general industry. Bill Gates founded Corbis, the #2 stock image company, which controls the Bettman and UPI image archives, among others.

[antiRepublicrat]

It's the standard for high-content images (photos, etc.). GIFs serve an entirely different purpose (low-content-- logos, etc.).

For the Web. But in pro and print work stuff is different. Microsoft is also aiming at the pro crowd, and luckily they don't have a monopoly there. Their attempt at a PDF competitor is not doing well, because they forget it's not just about some software, it's about a huge publishing workflow where both hardware and software is geared to PDF and PS.

Aside from an OS used by some, Bill Gates doesn't have much of a presence in that industry, except for Corbis. Expect Corbis stock images to start being available in this format as an option, and later as the only option.

[Echo Talon]

here is a screenshot i took off dvd with PCLinuxOS its a good picture pretty large size and small size in kb's