Recently, I have been looking at the changes which have been taking place in the image capture industry and noticed a new image format which is coming out called JPEG XS. My initial reactions to the announcement was simple, another day, another image format. But, when the potential of the new image format began to sink in, I began to imagine the potential for camera makers wishing to improve the performance of their cameras.

According to the Joint Photographic Experts Group, the format has been created to optimize streaming of image content which was previously uncompressed. It makes for faster streaming and requires less power to do so https://jpeg.org/jpegxs/index.html. Thus, the video reproduction is incredibly fast. It is aimed more at the video streaming market but I can already see potential for professional videographers who may use this for video work and may have a wireless tethered device for recording the video. The speed for recording would certainly have to be incredible fast to keep up. But, a videographer could stream and record live simultaneously without high grade equipment.

Now, if only the same concept could be applied to photographers who take photographs in both RAW and JPG format. This could potentially allow for faster burst modes if I understand the technology correctly. Further, the images captured in his format are considered to be lossless resulting in higher quality images. Of course, the downside to this is more storage space is going to be required. But nowadays, space requirement is not as much an issue as throughput is. One may also argue that the best way to increase the burst mode for any modern DSLR is to remove the mirror and opt for a mirrorless camera. But, I certainly like the idea of applying the technology to that of a mirrored camera as it requires less power to operate. Either way, the ramifications of this new image format is going to be pretty impactful and I look forward to it.

The announcement of the new JPEG XS format initially had me thinking another day, another image format. But the promises of the new format have the potential of improving video capture and streaming, as well as increasing the burst speeds of cameras. I would love to see this applied back to DSLR cameras if possible. But, either way, the ramifications of this new image format have the potential of being imapactful on the image capture industry.