Looks like Microsoft has developed a new picture format designed to compete with the standard JPEG format. The benefits are said to be a higher amount of compression to save space, but without the artifacting found in JPEG files. Interesting read, more interesting will be who adopts the format over time.

In his presentation, Crow, program manager for Windows Media Photo, showed an image with 24:1 compression that visibly contained more detail in the Windows Media Photo format than the JPEG and JPEG 2000 formats compressed at the same level.

Still, the image in the Microsoft format was somewhat distorted because of the high compression level. Typically digital cameras today use 6:1 compression, Crow said. Windows Media Photo should offer better pictures at double that level, he said. "We can do it in half the size of a JPEG file."  Not only does compression save storage space, which is especially important for devices such as cell phones and digital cameras, a smaller file can also print faster, transfer faster and help conserve battery life on devices, Crow said. "Making a file that is smaller has all kinds of benefits."