Microsoft submits HD Photo to standards body
Link: Microsoft submits HD Photo to standards body
Microsoft is planning to submit its HD Photo image format to a standards body in the hope that it will become a neutral industry standard rather than a purely Microsoft technology.
The company hopes to establish HD Photo as a higher-quality replacement for the widely used JPEG standard.
Microsoft will announce details of the move on 8 March at the Photo Marketing Association trade show in Las Vegas.
Although the standardisation of HD Photo would mean Microsoft loosing control of HD Photo, it would also give the company an influential position in the digital photography market.
Microsoft’s standardisation plan is inline with earlier changes to its HD Photo policy.
In November 2006, Microsoft liberalised the licensing policy for the software and changed its name from Windows Media Photo to the more generic HD Photo.
The company also said that HD Photo technology is covered by the Open Specification Promise - under which Microsoft promises not to assert its patent rights. This makes HD Photo more attractive to open-source programmers.
