Uploaded image size differs from actual image size SOLVED

When I post my images here on NSN or Flickr and they are slightly larger then the actual image I uploaded
and that makes them look a bit softer then they really are. However when I upload an image to 500px it is the
same size as my actual upload but it is much softer then my original?

To compare the images I open Window Photo Viewer and then Photoshop (Actual Pixels) & drag the image along side the uploaded image.

NSN & Flickr = slightly larger & softer.
500px same size & softer.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Michael Wolf

NSN scales the image to your browser window. To see it actual size, simply click on the image.

Thanks E.J.

I do realize that and I did that but that is where the problem is.
When I view my uploaded images at full size they are either too big & soft
or just plain soft.

I have just uploded the same image to BPN and it also "resizes" the image slightly larger & softer.
However when i right click & DL the image it is saved the same as my original.


I have a 30" Mac Cinema
resolution set at 2560-1600

I just looked at your Harrier and it looks great. I'm wondering if you have some sort of Internet or computer accelerator installed on your computer. Those usually downrez or compress images to speed up your computer's display of them.

E.J. Peiker wrote:I just looked at your Harrier and it looks great.  I'm wondering if you have some sort of Internet or computer accelerator installed on your computer.  Those usually downrez or compress images to speed up your computer's display of them.

E.J.

How can I telll if I have an accelerator installed on my computer or internet?

I also heard back from a friend who mentions the same thing but puts it at the other end of the PC?
Here is his reply.

Hi Michael,

I think what you're noticing is what I call the "facebook picture effect". That's my term for it anyway. Facebook long ago decided that people didn't really care so much about the quality of the image, as long as they could see the image faster. So they would reduce the image size from the original and save it as a lower quality jpeg. When someone wanted to look at the picture they would be presented with the smaller and lower quality version, except that it would be shown at the same size as the original. The picture was being "blown up" if you will. To most people they never even notice the difference, but to facebook; they've saved a little tiny bit of network bandwidth. Multiply that bandwidth savings over billions of image requests and you're starting to talk real money.

So, 500px joined that same bandwagon almost two years ago and flickr has done the same thing over the past year. When you view images on these sites, you are almost always getting a blown up version of a smaller image, rather than the original.
In the case of 500px they are showing you a 900x600 pixel version of your original 1000x667 image. It's scaled up to look like the 1000x667 original, but it is 900x600 in reality.

Flickr does the same thing, and I can't tell exactly what base resolution they are using. According to the source code on the web page they are using a 640x427 version of your original, but there is a lot of code that is difficult to read on their site, so it may be different. Also I think flickr compensates for your monitor size. If you have a bigger monitor it presents a larger image. I have a 24" monitor and on mine it presents the image at the original 1000x667 resolution. You have a bigger monitor, so it may be showing you an even bigger scaled up image. I took the image that flickr displayed for me and compared it to your original. Attached is a black and white file showing the differences. All the white pixels have changed from the original, all the black ones have not. As you can see there is big difference, particularly on the bird itself.

Thanks,
Jay


For the image above it is on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridanaturephotography/8517295924/in/photostream

Facebook absolutely destroys the image quality of anything uploaded, even when using the high quality option. Your posted file size is typically about 1/4 of the size that it was when you uploaded it. But that doesn't explain why you are having this problem when you look at your iamges after you uploaded them to NSN which does not do that.

You would have to look at your start-up programs services, et to determine whether or not you ahve an internet accelerator installed. not typically something we can diagnose from this end. But if you use AOL, or have used any of the online services that promise to make your pC faster, there's a good chance you do and simply uninstalling that service would get rid of that. These compression programs are and were very popular in the days of dial-up internet but aren't as common today.

E.J. Peiker wrote:Facebook absolutely destroys the image quality of anything uploaded, even when using the high quality option.  Your posted file size is typically about 1/4 of the size that it was when you uploaded it.  But that doesn't explain why you are having this problem when you look at your iamges after you uploaded them to NSN which does not do that.

You would have to look at your start-up programs services, et to determine whether or not you ahve an internet accelerator installed.  not typically something we can diagnose from this end.  But if you use AOL, or have used any of the online services that promise to make your pC faster, there's a good chance you do and simply uninstalling that service would get rid of that. These compression programs are and were very popular in the days of dial-up internet but aren't as common today.

E.J.

Thanks again for the reply.
I do not use AOL and do not use any services to make my PC quicker.

Can you or anyonne give me an idea of what else to look for on my PC to fix the problem on my end?
Is there any software that can find it? Any programs I should see if I have installed?

Thanks,
Michael

Michael, do a screen capture of an image that you uploaded here and then put it here and also give us the link ro the image that you originally uploaded. that will allow me to see if there is a difference on my end.

Thanks to E.J. my issue was resolved.

It seems somehow I increased the display size of my Internet browser.  
For most browsers that is done by hitting Ctrl +.  It’s usually done to get a bigger font but some browsers make everything bigger when you do that.
So I hit Ctrl – until the NSN images size matched my original image that I had opened next to it.
The window was only two minus clicks away and it was minor for everything except critical detail on my images.

Thanks again E.J. !


Here is what I saw on my end.

Flicker "Actual Image" on left vs the true image in Windows Viewer on right.

Glad it's solved - FWIW hitting Ctrl - 0 immediately resets the browser to the normal view.

Glad you figured it out Michael. I normally run 150% (for my old eyes) in Internet Explorer and I have to make sure I either reset to 100 or use the shadowbox (which doesn't work for every image depending on the resolution used) when using Naturescapes to evaluate the image sharpness properly.