is it a formatting step that an image goes through when uploaded? I’m tired of converting image after image back into jpg, so if there’s like a step I can take to avoid it being a webp, it would help to know

  • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    Minor niggle: the ‘deep fried effect’ isn’t because jpg throws away information every time, it’s because the compression algorithm averages pixel boundaries, and that averaging multiplies with each compression pass.

    It can actually bloat the size of the file by adding information – adding data to previously null pixels, whereas png would keep them clean.

    e: it achieves this through pixel averaging (fuzzing), which is why you’ll see grey artefacts bleeding into the pixels around line art. This is magnified with each compression.

    • Slotos@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      9 months ago

      You’re conflating “data” with “information”.

      Repeated re-encoding loses information. “The compression algorithm averages pixel boundaries” is a perfect example of losing information.
      That it sometimes results in more bits of data is a separate phenomenon altogether.