Microsoft Releases Free HD Photo Plugins for Adobe Photoshop Software

The latest release updates the Windows version and marks the first release of the plugin for OS X.
Does the world need another file format for capturing and managing digital images? Microsoft thinks so, and has accordingly introduced HD Photo (formally known as Windows Media Photo). According to Microsoft, HD Photo is ideal for digital image editing and storage, and "unlocks the potential for digital photography on devices, applications and services." The format, which Microsoft has been working on for five years, seems to be getting some traction, with the Joint Photographic Expert's Group (JPEG) recently announcing a new work item for the standardization of HD Photo as a new file format, to be called JPEG XR.
Including both lossy and lossless compression, HD Photo is said to provide compression with "up to" twice the efficiency of JPEG and with less artifacts, while retaining the full dynamic range and color gamut data from a camera’s sensor. It also offers the ability to decode only the information needed for any resolution or region, and allows manipulation of the image as compressed data. Changes made to common color balance and exposure settings are said to not discard data, making it easier to later reverse those changes. According to Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Consumer Media Technology Group at Microsoft, “HD Photo fully preserves the original image fidelity with high dynamic range while still allowing for significant improvement in compression size.”
HD Photo is natively supported in Windows Vista, with a free download available to add support within XP. HD Photo is also included in Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0. Microsoft released a first beta version for Windows earlier this year for Photoshop CS2 and CS3, which added the ability to read and write HD Photo files from within Photoshop, as well as including support for high dynamic range formats. Plugins for XP and Vista have now been enhanced, notably with dialog boxes more in line with those within Photoshop itself, as well as support for much larger images without encountering memory limits. The Mac version is functionally identical, while adding support for thumbnails of HD Photo images in the OS X finder, something missing within Photoshop itself.
The Windows and OS X versions are available for free download on the Microsoft site. A related blog is worth checking out for background information.