Microsoft will challenge JPEG compression for a piece of the burg...
Microsoft will challenge JPEG compression for a piece of the burgeoning digital photography market by pushing a still- photo codec of its own. At this week’s Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle, the software giant unveiled its Windows Media…
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Photo platform, to be part of the forthcoming Vista OS and also to be made available to Windows XP users. Its crucial claims for WMP are great detail, color depth and contrast compared with the reigning JPEG and JPEG 2000 codecs when compressed at the same level. As an example, Microsoft showed photos in 24:1 compression that were visibly superior to JPEG at the same ratio. Because of WMP’s greater efficiency and smaller file-size, Microsoft will tout it for cellphones, PDAs and shirtpocket digital cameras where storage space and battery power are at a premium. In addition, the smaller file-size enables quicker printing and digital transfer of images between hardware devices, Microsoft said. It made many of the same arguments for Windows Media Audio -- greater music fidelity in the same file-sizes as MP3, or equal quality in smaller file size. Microsoft didn’t reveal licensing terms for WMP, but as with WMA and VC1 compression for HD optical discs, said it wouldn’t impose licensing terms that would stunt widespread adoption.