HighMat files

[frank13]

I have a over a 1000 HMT files photos that are in a Highmat format on a CD. How could they be converted back to their original state,to be used with a regular photo editor.

Any suggestions
Frank13

 

[craig]

I have no idea what a HMT file is. Try dragging the files over the photoshop (or any image editing/viewing) icon. Then you will have to Save as... in your preferred format. Could get tedious, but I am sure you can create a script or something.

 

[frank13]

I thought that someone in a photo forum may have heard of a solution or have an answer to my current problem.
Below is a link with some INFO on the subject.
Thanks for your response,

frank13

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Oct/gee20021021016889.htm

 

[RacePhoto]

I have a over a 1000 HMT files photos that are in a Highmat format on a CD. How could they be converted back to their original state,to be used with a regular photo editor.

Any suggestions
Frank13

Funny, when I searched to find a solution I kept finding a guy named Frank, with the same 1000 photos and the same problem. Let me guess, it's you and this is really a problem created by CD formats we never asked for or needed, that are no longer supported.

Anyone run into this with SVG files? (OK off topic, but it's another "great idea" that's no longer supported)

It's more of a playback and CD format than an image format. Which may help. In other words your files may all still be JPGs but you just can't get at them.

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Oct/gee20021021016889.htm

HighMAT, or High Performance Media Access Technology, is a new CD format that aims to solve the problems currently associated with accessing data on CDs. The format is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft and Panasonic that hopes to get HighMAT accepted as the de facto standard for CDs in the future. FujiFilm is the first company to sign on to use HighMAT.

Current CD formats store data about video, images, and information in general within each individual file. This makes it tedious to access and search through a CD full of pictures, for example, as each has to be accessed to find out what it is. HighMAT solves this by storing all information about what is stored on a CD in a single file. This single file can be read once by a CD player/reader so that all information about data stored on the CD is known straight away. This speeds up access to any type of data on the CD. If successful, HighMAT will also solve the problem of competing CD formats, of which the two most popular are CD-R and CD-RW.

Microsoft has committed itself to the format by announcing that the next releases of Windows Media Player 9 Series and Windows Movie Maker will come with HighMAT support built-in. Panasonic plans to equip CD and DVD players with the standard next year, and FujiFilm has also announced that it will be supporting the new format in the future.

(note: article is 2002)

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And this in 2006

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831240/en-us

INTRODUCTION
This article discusses the new HighMAT extension for the Microsoft Windows XP CD Writing Wizard. By using the new HighMAT extension, you can create easy-to-use HighMAT CDs of digital photos, music, and videos. The CDs are optimized for easy viewing and for sharing on CD and DVD players that use the HighMAT logo.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft has discontinued development on the HighMAT technology. Therefore, the HighMAT extension to the Microsoft Windows XP CD Writing Wizard is no longer offered by using Windows Update. The wizard update is still be available to any interested customers. To obtain this update, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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What is (was?) Highmap...

http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/highmat/index.html


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Hope that helps you on your way. Since I have no Highmap cds and don't plan on every having one, I can go further and figure out how to extract the files.

I suggest you get the XP update and Windows Media Player 9 and see if that fixes it for you. Maybe you can copy all the pictures to your hard drive and burn them onto some nice, normal, usable format of CD or DVD.

Good Luck!

 

[frank13]

RacePhoto,
Thanks for your reply.
I will check it out and hope that I get lucky.

Frank13