This page is an entry in the Key.

VUO (Verifiably Unaltered Original)
CUO (Confirmed Unaltered Original)

  • 1. What is a Verifiably Unaltered Original?

    It is a photograph that is encrypted immediately after recording so that it later can be verified as not having been further altered.

    The VUO is focus maximized — no digital bokeh blur — and can undergo no changes such as non-optical perspective correction.

    Numerous companies and organizations are racing to bring to market the capability of recording verifiably unaltered originals.

    That industry trend is expected to accelerate as the public increasingly focuses on the need for trustworthy images.

  • 2. What is a Confirmed Unaltered Original?

    The VUO turns into a “Confirmed Unaltered Original” after the VUO has been confirmed (verified) as not having been altered.

    The terms “VUO” and “CUO” were created by TTG in 2020 in anticipation of future technologies. If a different “umbrella” term for this concept is embraced by most or all manufacturers and users, references will be changed accordingly on this website.

  • 3. How do VUOs and CUOs work?

    • The Verifiably Unaltered Original and the Confirmed Unaltered Original are one and the same file, identical in appearance. The only difference is the non-verified status of the VUO vs. the confirmed status of the CUO.

    • There is no way to have a CUO for any image unless it was recorded as a VUO.

    • VUOs could become common — produced in the millions — but there’s no need for them to evolve into CUOs except when “proof” is needed about what was done to a photograph.

    • That means that a photographer could theoretically record thousands of VUOs with only one (or none) of them going through the verification process to become a CUO.

  • 4. What is meant by “unaltered” and by “original”?

    See { #2111 } and this brief.

  • 5. What good is a VUO/CUO?

    The purpose of a VUO/CUO is to serve for comparison purposes as the “before” version of an image that has been modified and put before the public (the latter is the “after” image).

    A precise visual comparison will reveal whether the published (“after”) image underwent any manipulations that are not on TTG's Allowable Changes list or are disqualified by the Trust Test.

    Once the photo is recorded, no other data is needed to make the comparison.

    For more information about VUO/CUOs, see #2104-2114.