Overriding browser image auto-scaling

[Daniel L. Bateman]

I've noticed that browsers like IE6 do an auto-scaling thing to make
images larger than their browser window fit inside the browser window.
Of course it's a quick-and-dirty resize rather than a resample, so it
doesn't look very good. My gut feeling is that many people don't
realize their browser does that for them and will simply conclude that
the IE scaled images are poor quality.

Is there any standard or non-standard way to override this behavior
and request that the browser display the image at a 1:1 pixel ratio?


-Dan

 

[Augustus]

I've noticed that browsers like IE6 do an auto-scaling thing to make
images larger than their browser window fit inside the browser window.
Of course it's a quick-and-dirty resize rather than a resample, so it
doesn't look very good. My gut feeling is that many people don't
realize their browser does that for them and will simply conclude that
the IE scaled images are poor quality.

Close all IE windows except one (just to make sure the changes stick)

Then go to TOOLS >> INTERNET OPTIONS

and click on the ADVANCED tab

Scroll down until you find "ENABLE AUTOMATIC IMAGE RESIZING" and clear the
check box (this should be under the MULTIMEDIA heading)

Click OK and then you should be good to go

 

[DU]

I've noticed that browsers like IE6 do an auto-scaling thing to make
images larger than their browser window fit inside the browser window.
Of course it's a quick-and-dirty resize rather than a resample,

I am not sure I understand what you mean. MSIE 6 automatic image
resizing feature is scaled proportionally and accordingly to the image
proportions. I.e.: an 2000px wide by 1000px high image will be resize as
a 1000px wide by 500px high (or so: just approx. numbers) in MSIE 6 for
Windows in an maximized browser window in 1024x768 scr. res. How could
it be otherwise?
In that given example, the ratio is 2 to 1. If the ratio was 3.842 to 1,
it would be scaled down accordingly to these proportions. Again, how
could it be otherwise?

so it

doesn't look very good. My gut feeling is that many people don't
realize their browser does that for them and will simply conclude that
the IE scaled images are poor quality.

Can you give an url demonstrating what you mean, what you refer to?

Is there any standard or non-standard way to override this behavior
and request that the browser display the image at a 1:1 pixel ratio?


-Dan

DU
--
Javascript and Browser bugs:
http://www10.brinkster.com/doctorunclear/
- Resources, help and tips for Netscape 7.x users and Composer
- Interactive demos on Popup windows, music (audio/midi) in Netscape 7.x
http://www10.brinkster.com/doctorunclear/Netscape7/Netscape7Section.html

 

[Toby A Inkster]

I am not sure I understand what you mean.

He means that the algorithm used to scale down the picture results in a
crappy quality picture.

Consider a 2 pixel by 2 pixel block (part of a larger image!) that looks
like this:

Black pixel White pixel
White pixel Black pixel

If scaling down to a quarter of the size (i.e. half height, half width!)
IE will scale this down to either a single black pixel or s single white
pixel. This is the same algorithm used by browsers if you resize an image
using height and width attributes of the <img> element[1].

What would be nicer would be if it were scaled down to a grey.

[1] Except in Opera, which allows the user to toggle between
quick-and-dirty resizing and nice resizing. (File > Preferences >
Multimedia > Smooth zooming of images)

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

I've noticed that browsers like IE6 do an auto-scaling thing to make
images larger than their browser window fit inside the browser window.

Yes (though I'm not aware of browsers other than IE that do that).

But it's not really an HTML issue at all. It specifically happens when
HTML is _not_ involved, i.e. a browser is asked to access an image resource
directly. (Whether this is caused by following a link to an image in an HTML
document or otherwise is immaterial.)

This in turn means that although HTML did not create the problem, it can be
used to circumvent it. Instead of linking to an image (<a href="foo.jpg">
My photo</a>), link to an HTML document that has the image embedded (via
<img>). IE won't auto-scale the image then. The HTML document could
minimally contain just the <img> element, but you might as well make it
valid by including a <title> element, which in practice creates a name that
appears on top of the browser window, and you could include CSS to remove
the default page margins, and you could add some image caption, copyright
statement, and whatever you like.

 

[Daniel L. Bateman]

Yes (though I'm not aware of browsers other than IE that do that).

Mozilla Firebird does sometimes.

But it's not really an HTML issue at all. It specifically happens when
HTML is _not_ involved, i.e. a browser is asked to access an image resource
directly. (Whether this is caused by following a link to an image in an HTML
document or otherwise is immaterial.)

This in turn means that although HTML did not create the problem, it can be
used to circumvent it. Instead of linking to an image (<a href="foo.jpg">
My photo</a>), link to an HTML document that has the image embedded (via
<img>). IE won't auto-scale the image then.

Ah, is that the difference? I was never sure what the criteria for
IE6 resizing an image was. I just didn't like it when it happened.

Thanks for the info.

-Dan

 

[Mark Parnell]

Sometime around 30 Oct 2003 13:03:01 -0800, Daniel L. Bateman is reported
to have stated:

Mozilla Firebird does sometimes.

As does Mozilla itself.