New Front Page

[Brian Beezley]

Here's something odd: none of the four images on the home page is sharp. But when I click on them, the original image is fine. I haven't read the whole thread. Perhaps someone has already mentioned this.

Brian

 

[Amin]

Here's something odd: none of the four images on the home page is sharp.

That is because the images are being resized to their rendered dimensions and compressed by pagespeed module:

Image Filter and Option Reference | PageSpeed Module | Google Developers

To see the home page without pagespeed, try this link: Mu-43.com - Micro Four Thirds User Group

It makes a big difference in loading speed on small screens and phones but can make the images look unsharp on some screens.

On my current home desktop screen, it is the difference between this 166kb 800px jpeg which looks sharp: https://www.mu-43.com/data/featured_threads/icons/88/88969.jpg?1483826024

and this 38kb smaller webp which looks less sharp: https://www.mu-43.com/data/featured....jpg,q1483826024.pagespeed.ic.LZJ5HBKryO.webp

Ideally pagespeed would take into account connection speed, pixel pitch, etc, but I can't do that in my current setup and have prioritized speed over image quality for the front page.

 

[Brian Beezley]

Does this happen on other mu-43.com images? I haven't noticed it before. Is there a setting where I can disable this function?

To me the front page images are very unappealing. If I were a full-frame fanboy and visited the site, I might move on without investigating further since the images confirm my prejudice!

Brian

Edit- now the images look better. I only scanned the references you provided, but I remember something about visiting a page several times before something kicks in.

 

[Amin]

if you are playing around with the home page....vertical space is at a premium... so why does a picture of me and all my stats waste that space in the top right.

Got it to work this time. Thanks for reminding me to try again!

On my iMac and 9.7" iPad Pro, I prefer 6.

I think I prefer 6 or 8 as well.

 

[Amin]

Does this happen on other mu-43.com images?

For unregistered guests, it does, but generally not to the same extent. For members, no. The only place where logged in members see images compressed and resized by pagespeed is the home page.

Is there a setting where I can disable this function?

No, there is no such site setting. You might be able to find a browser extension or something like that.

If I were a full-frame fanboy and visited the site, I might move on...

Is that a point in favor of leaving it like this or changing it?

Seriously, though, I keep going back and forth over whether to prioritize speed or image quality.

 

[wjiang]

Seriously, though, I keep going back and forth over whether to prioritize speed or image quality.

Perhaps for the front page showcase prioritising image quality is preferable, especially when there's a cap on the number of images anyway so it can't possibly get that heavy.

 

[Brian Beezley]

Seriously, though, I keep going back and forth over whether to prioritize speed or image quality.

I can imagine. I normally don't visit the front page myself. But I think you'd want to put your best foot forward for people who have never visited the site before even if it takes somewhat longer to load.

How about fewer but nicer images? Like four as currently configured.

Brian