ICC launches new working groups
The recent meeting of the International Color Consortium in Scottsdale, Arizona saw the organizational sessions of new Working Groups for Digital Photography and Proof Certification, approval of the charter for a new Digital Cinema Working Group, adoption of the latest version of the ICC Specification and election of a new technical secretary.
The Digital Photography group came together to hear a series of detailed presentations by professional photographers and photofinishing specialists, who outlined their current workflow practices, experiences with different options and their views of what the digital photography industry needs to achieve better color management.
At the conclusion of the session, the group voted to organize itself as a formal Working Group of ICC and develop a draft charter for review at the next ICC Steering Committee meeting in February. The Working Group also agreed to develop a white paper on color management in digital photography.
The Proof Certification Working Group noted that current digital proofing procedures lack standardization and rely on a variety of calibration and color management procedures with little or no support from the ICC. The new Working Group agreed to coordinate with other organizations in developing reference gamuts, develop requirements for proof certification and define procedures which could help improve agreement between measurement and visual assessment.
The Digital Cinema Working Group had its charter approved by the Steering Committee in Scottsdale. The Working Group reported on a variety of site visits and meetings it had held with leading cinema production companies, leading it to identify a specific list of industry needs ICC could meet through its specification process. The Working Group agreed to work in early 2005 on describing exactly how ICC profiles can be used in the motion picture environment, what obstacles or ?pain points? exist in developing profiles specific to motion pictures and other issues.
In other actions during the Scottsdale meeting:
The Consortium noted the retirement of its technical secretary, Tony Johnson, and thanked him for his service. Dr. Phil Green of The London College of Communication was elected technical secretary.
Plans were announced for a one-day ICC Developers Conference to be held in Scottsdale, Arizona in November 2005.
The results of two ballots were reported, including one vote in which ICC adopted Version 4.2 as the latest version of the ICC Specification.
Four new members were enrolled in ICC, bringing the total membership to 69.
The International Color Consortium was established in 1993 to create, promote and encourage the standardization and evolution of an open, vendor-neutral, cross-platform color management system architecture and components. The outcome of this cooperation was development of the ICC profile specification, now in use by leading vendors of color management solutions.
NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies serves as administrative secretariat. Complete information about the work of the ICC is available on its web site, www.color.org.
