JBIG compression standard struggles for identity

Developed nearly a decade ago by IBM (Armonk, NY,

http://www.ibm.com) and others, the JBIG compression standard gained renewed interest last year when more than a dozen major imaging vendors formed the JBIG Alliance (http://www.jbig.org). Since then, few new vendors have actually deployed the technology in their products.

One exception is Advanced Technologies International (ATI, Milpitas, CA, http://www.ati.usa.com). ATI has been offering JBIG compression on its high-speed (60 ppm) laser printers for two years.

While John Knight, ATI president, spoke highly of the compression standard, he revealed the difficulty he's had becoming an alliance member. "I personally have found a lot of trouble getting through," he reported. "We tried to join the JBIG Alliance, so I called the group, and I never heard back from them. I'm not even sure I'm a member yet."

The group has put much of its recruitment effort into its Web site. However, nowhere does the site discuss some of the more tangible benefits of the compression standard itself. According to Knight, service bureaus deploying JBIG compression instead of Group IV have a distinct advantage, especially bidding for backfile conversion contracts. "I see it as an advantage in a bid to a customer in a vast backfile contract," said Knight. "The savings can be enormous." He cited large contracts that have saved more than $500,000 due to the reduced storage requirements. The JBIG standards boasts data compression that is superior to the present Group IV standard, offering file sizes that are 20% smaller in size and have improved image quality.