The end result is, you are able to do a full screen presentation, but you really did all the work in a very small frame which, generates a very small file, which gives you the ability to stream in very low levels."

The implications for such a compression breakthrough in still images and photographs are impressive when one realizes that the Mona Lisa could be scanned and compressed using iViewit's technology, and allow the user to zoom in almost infinitely into the image to see all the detail in the Master's brush strokes. The only thing preventing how far you zoom in is file size.

Bernstein explained, "The images on the iviewit.com site are around 400kb, which gives you a magnification of about 20 to 30 times. A 1mb file size, will give you a magnification of up to 100 times, 2mb gives you a magnification in the 500-600 range, and it goes up exponentially from there. But you have to realize that the current state of digital cameras prevents us from achieving the same depth quality that you could get from film. So our only true limit we have is film emulsion."

With this in mind, still cameras in the near future will be able to ask you how far in you want to zoom on your picture and that will determine the file size that is generated.

Photography and Art scholars are not the only ones who can benefit from this technology. The same technology can be used in the medical and manufacturing fields to store huge amounts of data generated from MRI's or 3D CAD walkthroughs.

The next logical step in the iViewit.com story is streaming video. The same efficiency equation can be applied to video (sans zooming capability) to create files 1/16th the size of video encoded by other means. When demonstrated in Hollywood, Ellen DeGeneres used iViewit's formula for her Ellen Americana 2000 Tour, in which she streams a daily diary of her travels.

Compare these two images zoomed in 10x (lower image is compressed using iViewit). While little blurring has occured (near the speedometer). Click image for 20x comparison