Why are images WAY too large, these days?

Theophan

This didn't use to happen, but for some reason, recently people are posting HUGE image files, probably the original size taken by their cameras, and even though I have a pretty fast connection (27 MBPS measured this evening), it can take 10 or 15 minutes for an image to load.  It's like we've gone back to the days when we connected by a modem on a telephone line. I downloaded an image someone posted this evening, and it was 2448x3264 px, and was 2.4 MB in file size.  When I resized it to a still very large 1000 px width, the file size was 360KB (i.e., 0.36 MB), DRASTICALLY smaller than the one someone posted.  It would have loaded in a flash.

I don't know whether it's because the forum has never been set to automatically shrink such a huge image, and it's only recently that people are uploading such gargantuan images, or whether forum management changed how the forum software processes images, but I'm not going to wait 10 minutes for a picture to load!  I'll just skip it.

Does anyone know why this is happening, and whether the forum admins can set the forum software to automatically display a reasonable size image, and maybe allow the huge image if someone clicks on it?

Theo

NCEggSmoker

I've wondered about this as well. If It was my post then my apologies.  I've been uploading from my phone and I just assumed the photos would be scaled down to a forum appropriate size. Maybe I should be resizing before upload though this seems like a bit of a pain. Any thoughts from others would be helpful. 

Begger

I keep photo files UNDER 1 meg.    And even though they are large in pixel dimensions, I save as a low quality JPG.   

I'll consider saving full-frame as 600x900 pixels and crops accordingly.  Maybe that way I can save at a higher quality and remain under 1 meg.

clifkincaid

I also post from a S4..it says the images have been resized for the boards. TEST pic

clifkincaid

Image fits perfect on my phone. Is this one of those 10min load pics you're talking about?

NPHuskerFL

@Theophan This just started happening since the last update to the forum formatting. Several changes were made. That was just one of them. 

FanOfFanboys

Sounds like forum setting, i have not had the issue yet
but if you have a 27mbps connection then a 2.4mb picture loading should not take 10-15 minutes. maybe 10-15 seconds, but not minutes. might be some things on your end you can adjust as well. someone smarter than me can probably chime in

Monaarts

Looks good to me!

UncleFred

An observation:  When I post a large picture, I click on the picture after it's in the comment block and drag the upper corner diagonally downward, thereby making the picture "fit" the message width.  I THINK by reducing it this way, I am also reducing the size of the picture file so that it loads faster...

Theophan

Many thanks for all of the helpful replies!  I agree that if my own personal connection speed were the only factor, a 2.4 MB picture should still load fairly quickly.  But remember that I'm only downloading one, or maybe a few pictures at a time.  But the Forum's server that's delivering the pictures to me is trying to deliver who knows how many other similarly large pictures to who knows how many other people at the same moment!  My guess is that maybe depending on the time of day, the server is slowing down under the load of trying to serve maybe hundreds of gargantuan files at the same time.

I'm sort of relieved to hear that it might be because of a change in forum settings, because maybe that means someone will notice this problem and fix it by changing some setting so that it automatically makes huge images a reasonable size for the web.

Thanks again!

Theo

Ladeback69

Theophan said:

This didn't use to happen, but for some reason, recently people are posting HUGE image files, probably the original size taken by their cameras, and even though I have a pretty fast connection (27 MBPS measured this evening), it can take 10 or 15 minutes for an image to load.  It's like we've gone back to the days when we connected by a modem on a telephone line. I downloaded an image someone posted this evening, and it was 2448x3264 px, and was 2.4 MB in file size.  When I resized it to a still very large 1000 px width, the file size was 360KB (i.e., 0.36 MB), DRASTICALLY smaller than the one someone posted.  It would have loaded in a flash.

I don't know whether it's because the forum has never been set to automatically shrink such a huge image, and it's only recently that people are uploading such gargantuan images, or whether forum management changed how the forum software processes images, but I'm not going to wait 10 minutes for a picture to load!  I'll just skip it.

Does anyone know why this is happening, and whether the forum admins can set the forum software to automatically display a reasonable size image, and maybe allow the huge image if someone clicks on it?

27 MBPS is about what I had when I had AT&T and it took a long time to get photos to post in the old system.  I have Google Fiber now and I get 300 to 400 mbps.  It only takes seconds to do it now.