Volume 5, Number 5 – October 2008

I3A’s “Eye on Standards” newsletter is issued every other month, to keep you informed and up-to-date on Standards activities and breaking news, as well as on important I3A membership activity.  If you have comments or questions, please send a message to Editor@I3A.org or to Jim Peyton, I3A Director of Standards and Technology, JamesP@I3A.org.

From the Director's Desk

James A. Peyton

Metadata – I3A to drill down on "the problem"

By James A. Peyton, I3A Director of Standards and Technology

Over the past several years I3A – among others – have struggled on how to address the issue of persistence of metadata in digital images. The problem is that metadata spans a wide variety of use cases and affects the same wide variety of users. From photofinishing to editing to preservation, metadata plays a key role. Consumers, software vendors, camera vendors, professional photographers and image banks all have a key stake in how metadata is used, edited and preserved in the imaging chain. With so many variables it has been difficult to get a clear picture on how to solve the metadata "problem."

A case for Consumers

At the "Birds of a Feather" session at the Imaging Innovation Conference in June, I3A Europe Representative Jean Barda put forth the case that the average consumer has a compelling need to preserve metadata that affects the ability to catalog, tag and preserve images. Mr. Barda suggested that I3A address consumer level metadata so that the consumer could be assured of preserving throughout the process of capture, editing, sharing and storage.

In early August, Management Committee Member Dan James (Digimarc) prepared an idea document that addressed the issue of consumer use of metadata. Mr. James states: "Metadata gets lost and improperly modified all the time, but it’s not immediately apparent to the vast majority of consumers. As long as they can do what they’re trying to do, many consumers really don’t realize that there’s a problem under the covers. If their original EXIF data gets lost, but they have an image management solution that helps them tag and organize their images (and this proprietary metadata persists inside this application), then they may not realize there ever was a problem."

He further asserts that there are really no consequences if metadata is altered or even stripped from an image. There are cases where editing software strips key metadata in certain situations. This is considered illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and in our role as the leading imaging organization he urged I3A to address the issue.

Consumer Photo Metadata Initiative

While recognizing that other stakeholders (professional photographers, etc.) are concerned over metadata persistence, I3A proposes to address Consumer Photo Metadata from an image management perspective. For Consumers, Metadata can enable the mass market to participate in new usages (e.g., location aware image management) if the industry agrees on what metadata needs to be preserved to improve the consumer usages in image management.

Mr. James proposed that I3A make compliance to any Consumer Photo Metadata standard or best practices tangible and demonstrable. Mr. James cited examples of de facto industry standards such as USB and TWAIN, where if the product did not comply, the device would not work. Pressure is then brought to bear on manufacturers to comply or lose customers.

I3A is in an excellent position to define Consumer Photo Metadata and compliance guidelines. Our work in ISO/TC42 – specifically the revision of the ISO 12234-2 TIFF/EP standard can provide a standards-based backbone for developing and driving plug-fests and interoperability test kits. If I3A can drive industry consensus for a specific metadata initiative, then a plug-fest is an effective way to enable industry compliance to any standards or best practices developed by the our initiative.

As always, your thoughts are welcome, we would like to hear from you so that we can begin this important work.

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Hot Topic: Shutter Speed

article on shutter speed

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Working Group Reports

Report from TC42/WG18 and JWG20/22/23

report from Cologne

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Report from JWG17 – Dental Radiographic Film

annual report

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ISO Standards Actions

New Published Standard

ISO 14524:2008(E) Photography — Electronic still picture cameras — Methods for measuring opto-electronic conversion functions (OECFs)
Scope: This International Standard specifies methods for the measurement of Opto-electronic Conversion Functions (OECFs) of electronic still picture cameras whose output is encoded as a digital image file. The OECF is defined as the relationship between the focal plane log exposures or scene log luminances, and the digital output levels of an opto-electronic digital image capture system. This standard applies to both monochrome and colour electronic still picture cameras. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 14524:1999), which has been technically revised.

ISO 18938: 2008 Imaging materials – Optical discs – Care and handling for extended storage
Scope: This International Standard concerns the care and handling of digital optical discs during use. It addresses the issues of physical integrity of the medium necessary to preserve access to the recorded data (information). Included are recommendations for handling procedures to maximize the effective life of optical discs. Faulty handling, packing and transporting techniques and methods often cause physical damage to the discs and to the content recorded thereon. Extending the longevity of optical discs requires the identification of appropriate handling methods and well-developed and implemented training programs.

Open for Comment

ISO/WD 12234-2 (v2.5) – Electronic still picture imaging – Removable memory – Part 2: TIFF/EP image data format
Scope: This part of ISO 12234 specifies the TIFF/EP data format.

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ANSI Actions

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requires that its standards shall be kept current and relevant by means of timely revision or reaffirmation within five years from the date of its approval. Obsolete standards shall be withdrawn; ongoing standards must undergo periodic maintenance or continuous maintenance.

Continuous maintenance procedures ensure timely, documented consensus action on change requests for established standards. In the event that no revisions are issued for a period of four years, action to reaffirm or withdraw the standard is required.

Standards Submitted for Periodic Review

ANSI/I3A IT2.39-1998(R2004) Photography — Black-and-White, Continuous-Tone Films — Photographic Modulation Transfer Function
Scope: This standard describes a method for measuring the photographic modulation transfer function of blackand- white, continuous-tone films that have an emulsion coated on one side of a transparent support.

ANSI/I3A IT2.40-2003 — Photography (Film) – Root Mean Square (rms) Granularity of Film (Images on One Side Only) – Method for Measuring
Scope:This standard describes a method for the determination of the granularity of photographic films by scanning with a suitable microdensitometer. Continuous-tone black-and-white and color materials coated on a transmitting support may be measured by the procedures described. The concept of granularity applies to both reflecting and transmitting materials, and techniques that are basically similar to those described in this document can be used to evaluate reflection materials.

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Standards Submitted for Withdrawal

No documents were submitted for withdrawal during this period.

SMB/TAG Standards Actions

For Systematic Review

ISO procedures require that Technical Specifications be reviewed at a minimum of every three years. Interim changes must be approved by the Standardization Management Board. Specifications that no need for revision or amendment at the time of the scheduled review need to be confirmed for a further period or withdrawn.

No documents were submitted for approval during this period.

For Approval

Approval of Dr. Alexey Kabalnov as a USA expert on TC42/WG5 and WG5-TG3

For Approval of Reaffirmation

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requires that its standards shall be kept current and relevant by means of timely revision or reaffirmation within five years from the date of its approval.

No documents were presented for approval during this period.

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I3A Community

Share Your Best Shots With I3A

The I3A community is stocked with great photographers and people who appreciate great photography. A new feature of the I3A Web site is a place for I3A members to show and share their favorite shots. Members are especially invited to submit photos taken at I3A events. Send your photos to editor@i3a.org.

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Membership Updates

Updates to membership of the I3A Standards Management Board (SMB), ISO/TC42 Working Groups (WG) and Technical Committees:

Paul Hubel - Apple, joined IT10

Alexey Kabalnov - Hewlett Packard, joined IT9

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Member Resources

The MarketPlace is a service for I3A members. There you will find I3A's publications, including white papers, Initiative specifications and standards, most available free to members. You will also find special offers on products and services available only to I3A members.

New this month:

• DX Codes – 135-Size Film, September 2008
• Imports – First Six Months 2008
• Exports – First Six Months 2008

Access the MarketPlace at: http://members.i3a.org/members/marketplace/.

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I3A Job Board

As the leading global imaging industry association, I3A is a focal point for the entire industry, drawing the active participation of members and interested parties from around the world and across all segments of the photographic and information imaging markets. That's what makes the I3A Job Board the best place in the world for employers to find the most qualified people – and for job applicants to pursue their career goals, no matter what their interest or specialty.

Posting a job is easy. Simply click here and follow the instructions. I3A will review your submission and, if accepted, it will be posted on the Job Board for 30 days.

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Imaging Technology Briefs

Low-Power Liquid Lens
Lenses made of liquid have interested researchers and engineers for decades because of the technology’s ability to quickly change shape and focal length. But traditional approaches, which use an electric current to change the surface shape of a liquid, require a lot of power. Now, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, NY, are proposing a type of liquid lens–made of only two drops of water–that changes shape when bombarded with sound waves. Using sound requires much less power than previous methods and could, with improvements in resolution, make the lens attractive for use in small surveillance cameras and cell phones.

A Face-Finding Search Engine
Today there are more low-quality video cameras–surveillance and traffic cameras, cell-phone cameras and webcams–than ever before. But modern search engines can’t identify objects very reliably in clear, static pictures, much less in grainy YouTube clips. A new software approach from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University could make it easier to identify a person’s face in a low-resolution video. The researchers say that the software could be used to identify criminals or missing persons, or it could be integrated into next-generation video search engines.

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Upcoming Standards Meetings

To arrange to attend any of these meetings, please register on the members’
Web site or contact the Standards Department at i3astds@i3a.org. Meetings without a named location are conference calls.

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Industry Events

As a service to its members, I3A provides a listing of events affecting the imaging industry.

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We distribute our newsletter around the 15th day of each month with a content deadline the week before. Please send your news for consideration in our newsletter. To share your comments about this newsletter or to submit information, send a message to Editor@I3A.org.

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