BitJazz Press Releases
October 4, 1999

BitJazz Ships Lossless Photo-Quality Compression
for Archival, Print, and Internet

Advanced Technology Previously Only for Photoshop,
Now for Hundreds of QuickTime Applications and QuarkXPress

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - October 4, 1999 -- BitJazz Inc. today announced it is shipping its long-awaited PhotoJazz™ v2.0 for Mac, with v2.0 for Windows due next year. The product's acclaimed BitJazz technology offers unrivalled lossless compression, averaging 2.5X for photo-quality images, with zero degradation in image quality. Version 2 adds support for QuarkXPress, QuickTime, and 16-bit channels.

New Markets

Version 1 was accessible only through the PhotoJazz Photoshop plug-in. The new PhotoJazz XT QuarkXPress extension brings BitJazz technology to print. And the new PhotoJazz QT QuickTime components bring it to the web and other new media.

Its losslessly compressed 16-bit channels are ideal for high-end photography and computer-generated imagery, as well as medical, scientific, and remote-sensing imagery, all commonly needing more than 8 bits/channel.

Quality & Reliability

With 100% lossless compression, embedded ICC profiles, and CRC data-integrity verification, the BitJazz compressor overcomes the problems of image degradation, unreliability, and poor color fidelity of lossy compressors such as JPEG. PhotoJazz maintains complete image fidelity throughout publishing and archival workflows.

Efficiency

For photo-quality images, PhotoJazz offers the highest compression ratio on the market, by a large margin. Using PhotoJazz, a 1536x1024-pixel photo-quality RGB image typically transmits in 14 minutes instead of 35 over a 28.8Kbps line, and takes up only 1.8MB archival space instead of 4.5MB.

BitJazz uses the same amount of memory for any size image and compresses 3X as fast as PNG.

Versatility

PhotoJazz supports all high-quality image modes, including RGB, CMYK, Grayscale, and CIE Lab, as well as multiple spot-color and alpha channels, with up to 16 bits per channel. It is available for both Mac and Windows.

Leveraging QuickTime

Apple's cross-platform QuickTime successfully integrates other media standards, public and private, open and closed. Applications using QuickTime's interface support all those standards with no extra effort. BitJazz leverages QuickTime from the other end, supporting all those applications with no extra effort.

PhotoJazz v2.0 lets users embed PhotoJazz images in standard QuickDraw PICT files and QuickTime movies, making PhotoJazz images accessible in essentially all graphics applications on the Mac.

"BitJazz's lossless compression technology is a great complement to the existing compressors shipped in QuickTime, the industry standard for digital media," said Mitchell Weinstock, senior QuickTime product manager at Apple Computer, Inc. "Artists and desktop publishers now have another QuickTime-based tool for creating top-quality images. We are excited to see developers like BitJazz continue to move the QuickTime standard forward."

"Being able to losslessly compress image files in any QuickTime-savvy application on all personal computing platforms is a real win for our customers and partners," said Andreas Wittenstein, BitJazz's founder.

Pricing and Availability

BitJazz has added the QuarkXTensions module and QuickTime components to its PhotoJazz product line as a free upgrade to all users. The free PhotoJazz Reader/Tryout is available for immediate download from http://www.bitjazz.com/.

PhotoJazz™ Expert, the new high-end US$99 solution, has full write capability for all color modes, including the new 16-bit channels. PhotoJazz Pro, which sells for $79 (down from $99), outputs 8-bit channels only, while PhotoJazz Lite, $29 (was $49), outputs RGB only.

Using the BitJazz SDK, developers can incorporate the PhotoJazz interface directly in their software free of charge, and their users can read PhotoJazz images free of charge. For more information on developer licensing of BitJazz technology, email partnerbitjazz.com.

About BitJazz

BitJazz Inc. is emerging as the market leader in lossless image compression technology and development for key digital imaging markets, including electronic publishing, graphic design, photography and other digital arts, as well as the medical, satellite and communications sectors. For additional company and product information, please visit http://www.bitjazz.com/.

BitJazz and PhotoJazz are trademarks of BitJazz Inc. All product and service names profiled herein are trademarks and service marks of their respective companies. Trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are hereby recognized and acknowledged.