Although it is apparently not officially sanctioned by the JPEG Group, XDepth is touting its own platform as an extension to the commonly-used picture format.

The technology, developed by Costa Rica-based Trellis, is said to add high-depth and high dynamic range to JPEG. The technology can be used through a plug-in being made available for Adobe Photoshop at no charge.

Trellis says this method is much easier than creating a new format altogether. Since it is built upon an already well-established format, broader adoption will be much easier to attain.

"XDepth HDR files in fact are readable by any web browser, photo retouching software, image viewing and browsing application, and generally by any software supporting Jpeg," it says.

According to the XDepth website, the technology provides very high quality in a small size. An equivalent photo in the HD Photo format would be some 12 times bigger, and the uncompressed HDR image would be 173 times larger.

Future incarnations of the technology will aim to continue full compatibility with JPEG, while at the same time allowing photographers to use higher-quality HDR imagery in smaller file sizes.