Twenty companies led by Canon Inc have clubbed together to create the Camera Image File Format (CIFF) forum to support a new format for storing and managing images in digital still cameras. The format is compliant with JPEG compression readers but is incompatible with the existing Exif standard supported by established digital camera giants Kodak and Fuji. Industry watchers believe a format war is brewing that could lead to Betamax/VHS type confusion amongst consumers. However officials at Kodak this week said that although the situation was undesirable it was not that bleak. Canon has introduced a competing image file format but it is similar to Exif. Both formats have the same ISO JPEG standards so software applications can be read by either format. This shouldn’t affect consumers as much as some people say it will, said Hal McLenon marketing manager at Kodak’s digital and applied imaging department in Rochester New York. Canon was not forthcoming with information about CIFF but both formats are aimed at governing how files are stored in the removable memory cards of digital still cameras and are designed to create interoperability between cameras and peripheral computer equipment including printers, as well as services provided by photo finishing labs. Where they differ is in their capacity to store information along with the image. According to McLenon, the latest version of the Exif format is compatible with Kodak’s flashpix digital format. It has also been designed to store audio clips taken at the scene of a picture and let users store metadata ie information about the picture and how it was taken. The format also offers users the ability to create and store thumbnails of images so that they can be found more easily when browsing. Kodak and Fuji had hoped Exif would act as a universal standard and as such have given all licensing rights of the standard to a forum of 28 companies including IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Agfa and Hewlett-Packard. CIFF Forum members include Nikon, Minolta, Casio and Olympus. MF.
