Microsoft’s HD Photo file format is one step closer to being accepted by JPEG. The standardization of HD Photo or JPEG XR will make certain that software, display, printer and camera companies will be able to develop products on a consistent basis and ensure interoperability across all products and platforms.
Developed by Microsoft’s Core Media Processing team, HD Photo will focus on the current and future needs of digital photography. Vista users are already familiar with the end-to-end digital photography format and I’m sure they’ll tell you about the better image fidelity, superior image compression efficiency and adaptable editing features. Finalizing and publishing the new standard takes up to a year, so don’t expect to see JPEG XR until Q4 of next year if it even gets that far.
Microsoft’s HD Photo Technology Is Considered for Standardization by JPEG [CNN]
What about JPEG2000?
I heard about Adobe doing a digital negative standard. Are these two related? One thing the current jpg is missing is the ability to store caption with the photos. Now all the photo software keep the caption alongside with a photo, not in the jpg file itself. So the caption is not transferable. Any new standards should address that issue.