Microsoft's HD Photo to become JPEG XR Standard

Ahhh... Microsoft giving back to the community. :) Surprising though, because you would think with Apple on the imaging/video forefront that they would be the ones with the new image standard.

A new attempt to provide a higher-end sequel to the ubiquitous JPEG image standard is officially under way.

The multiple countries participating in the Joint Photographic Experts Group, which created the JPEG standard, have approved an effort to make Microsoft's HD Photo format a standard called JPEG XR, said Bill Crow, who has led Microsoft's HD Photo effort and who just took over the company's Microsoft Live Labs Seadragon imaging project. XR stands for "extended range," a reference to the format's ability to show a wider and finer range of tonal gradations and a richer color palette.

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9810024-39.html