NIST is planning to accept the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for CAD/CAM product-definition data. This will constrain CAD/CAM graphics systems paid for by the U.S. government. For information, contact Daniel Benigni at (301) 975-3266. [Brian Robinson, EE Times, 10/14.]

Silicon engineers are starting to have success in combining analog and digital functions on one substrate. In a similar vein, Sony Corp. has a prototype system for storing monochrome images on CD ROM in analog rather than digital form. Holographic format is used so that no focusing optics are required and there is no need for error detection and correction logic. Processing, transmission, and viewing could all be done with optical components. A 512 x 512-pixel image can currently be stored in a 500 x 500 micron-square region, compared to digital storage with 1-micron pits on tracks spaced 1.6 microns apart. The CD ROMS can be duplicated for under $1. [Richard Doherty, EE Times, 10/14.]

I was right about the graph reversal for EE Times' discussion of fractal compression. Iterated Systems claims reduced mean square error over DCT compression for all image sizes, with dramatic improvement on images smaller than 100 x 100. [EE Times, 10/14.] (Mean square error is a weak perceptual measure, though, and 100 x 100 is usually too small to be useful.)

The Independent JPEG Group has released preliminary free JPEG image-compression software. (Arithmetic coding is not included, due to software patent restrictions, but an alternative compression scheme gives results that are within 10%.) JPEG and PBMPLUS image formats are supported, with partial support for GIF. The C source code, documentation, and test files are available for anonymous FTP from file /graphics/jpeg/jpegsrc.v1.tar.Z on uunet.uu.net. [Tom Lane (tgl@cs.cmu.edu), comp.compression, 10/8.]