ISO/IEC 21122 represents the full JPEG XS suite of standards and consists of five parts, being the Core Coding System (Part 1), the Profiles and buffer models (Part 2), the Transports and container formats (Part 3), the Conformance testing (Part 4), and finally the Reference software (Part 5).
Since its initial release in 2019/2020, JPEG XS has revolutionized real-time, near-zero-latency compression with visually lossless quality, making it indispensable in the broadcast and pro-AV industry. The 2022 second edition expanded its capabilities with new profiles and coding tools designed for efficient compression of raw Bayer (CFA) images and videos. It also introduced support for lossless compression of images (up to 12 bits per color channel) and added profiles for 4:2:0 sub-sampled video content for pro-AV.
Today, the JPEG Committee announced the finalization and publication of the third edition of JPEG XS, covering Parts 1 through 4, now available for purchase. The reference software (Part 5) is expected to be released before the end of 2025.
This third edition marks a significant milestone by introducing the Temporal Decorrelation Coding (TDC) mode—a robust wavelet-based inter-frame decorrelation tool. TDC enhances compression efficiency, particularly for screen content and overlay regions where traditional codecs often struggle. Notably, TDC achieves this with only a modest increase in complexity and without affecting the end-to-end latency of the system.
Initially developed for pro-AV applications, TDC has demonstrated its versatility across various use cases and is available today, reinforcing JPEG XS's position at the forefront of low-latency, high-quality compression standards.
Source: Article by Tim Bruylants, intoPIX and co-chair of JPEG XS standard, published in January 2025.
