pixelated images

sara505

Please help.I just purchased a new computer and suddenly my web site looks horrible, as do the images at the top of the d-grin site. In fact, some of the icons on my desk top have ragged edges.

I experienced this one other time, at a friend's house on her computer. I got an e-mail answer from smug mug at that time, but can't remember the solution.

I should mention that I own two other computers, both using the same Verizon DSL connection, with no problems.

I called Dell tech support, was taken down a long road of reinstalling windows....

I checked the resolution on this machine, it is set at the highest setting, as are my other two computers.

What to do? This computer is worthless to me if images look like crap.

Thanks!

sara505

sara505 wrote:

Please help.I just purchased a new computer and suddenly my web site looks horrible, as do the images at the top of the d-grin site. In fact, some of the icons on my desk top have ragged edges.

I experienced this one other time, at a friend's house on her computer. I got an e-mail answer from smug mug at that time, but can't remember the solution.

I should mention that I own two other computers, both using the same Verizon DSL connection, with no problems.

I called Dell tech support, was taken down a long road of reinstalling windows....

I checked the resolution on this machine, it is set at the highest setting, as are my other two computers.

What to do? This computer is worthless to me if images look like crap.

Thanks!

Oh, by "looks horrible" I mean totally pixelated.

jfriend

What are your video parameters?

sara505 wrote:

Please help.I just purchased a new computer and suddenly my web site looks horrible, as do the images at the top of the d-grin site. In fact, some of the icons on my desk top have ragged edges.

I experienced this one other time, at a friend's house on her computer. I got an e-mail answer from smug mug at that time, but can't remember the solution.

I should mention that I own two other computers, both using the same Verizon DSL connection, with no problems.

I called Dell tech support, was taken down a long road of reinstalling windows....

I checked the resolution on this machine, it is set at the highest setting, as are my other two computers.

What to do? This computer is worthless to me if images look like crap.

Thanks!

Chances are that this has something to do with the video setings on your new computer. Can you post this screen shot from your computer or tell us what your settings are? What you want to see here is a high enough screen resolution and enough colors to render quality images.

sara505

jfriend wrote:

Chances are that this has something to do with the video setings on your new computer. Can you post this screen shot from your computer or tell us what your settings are? What you want to see here is a high enough screen resolution and enough colors to render quality images.

my settings look just like the above. highest res, highest color quality

sara505

sara505 wrote:

my settings look just like the above. highest res, highest color quality

I have seen this nasty effect one other time, on a friend's computer, and it made me wonder, 'how many people are looking at images like these and don't even know they are awful?'
I was given an explanation by someone at smug mug--something about internet speed, I believe--but it was a while ago, so I can't really remember.

jfriend

Screen shot?

sara505 wrote:

I have seen this nasty effect one other time, on a friend's computer, and it made me wonder, 'how many people are looking at images like these and don't even know they are awful?'
I was given an explanation by someone at smug mug--something about internet speed, I believe--but it was a while ago, so I can't really remember.

Can you post a screen shot that shows the problem?

sara505

jfriend wrote:

Can you post a screen shot that shows the problem?

It won't show the problem on your computer. Just imagine an image that is all pixelated. I even see the pixels in the images at the top of this page.

jfriend

Screen shot could be useful

sara505 wrote:

It won't show the problem on your computer. Just imagine an image that is all pixelated. I even see the pixels in the images at the top of this page.

Maybe, maybe-not. If you're screen is indeed in a high res mode, then a pixelated image looks pixelated because it's not effectvely using all the pixels on your screen to render smooth lines and surfaces and is instead rendering blocks of pixels for some reason. A screen shot will capture the actual pixels from your screen and should show the problem on anyone's computer when viewed at 100%.

If your screen is not actually in a high-res mode, then we might also be able to tell that from a screen shot. Up to you. I'm just telling you what I'd look at next in order to help.

SteveM

What type/brand of computer? Dell, Gateway, custom/home built and what kind of videocard?

sara505

jfriend wrote:

Maybe, maybe-not. If you're screen is indeed in a high res mode, then a pixelated image looks pixelated because it's not effectvely using all the pixels on your screen to render smooth lines and surfaces and is instead rendering blocks of pixels for some reason. A screen shot will capture the actual pixels from your screen and should show the problem on anyone's computer when viewed at 100%.

If your screen is not actually in a high-res mode, then we might also be able to tell that from a screen shot. Up to you. I'm just telling you what I'd look at next in order to help.

okay, I guess I don't understand what "post a screen shot" means.

sara505

SteveM wrote:

What type/brand of computer? Dell, Gateway, custom/home built and what kind of videocard?

It's a Dell Inspiron e1505, don't know what kind of video card, where would I find that info?

jfriend

Screen shot

sara505 wrote:

okay, I guess I don't understand what "post a screen shot" means.

To capture a screen shot, you can get a representative messed up image in the top-most window and then press Alt-PrtSc. This will capture the pixels on screen and copy them to the clipboard. You can then open your image editor, create a new empty image and then paste the clipboard into that image. Crop, if necessary, then save to JPEG, upload to your gallery and link it here. That will give us a view of the exact pixels that were on your screen.

sara505

jfriend wrote:

To capture a screen shot, you can get a representative messed up image in the top-most window and then press Alt-PrtSc. This will capture the pixels on screen and copy them to the clipboard. You can then open your image editor, create a new empty image and then paste the clipboard into that image. Crop, if necessary, then save to JPEG, upload to your gallery and link it here. That will give us a view of the exact pixels that were on your screen.

I can't do that. This is a brand new computer, I have not installed editing softwear, and can't find whatever they packed easily. This is all so vexing, I can't begin to tell you. My image editing softwear is on the other computer, but there is nothing wrong with those images.
All I know is, all of my web graphics are messed up. Pixelated. It's not on regular images that I have copied and pasted from my website onto the desk top--only graphics to do with the web--the words and the images, well, not words that have been typed, but everything else. "Digital Grin Get the Shot" is pixelated. All of the images, in the banners and in everyone's web site, especially the thumbnails, are pixelated.

sara505

sara505 wrote:

I can't do that. This is a brand new computer, I have not installed editing softwear, and can't find whatever they packed easily. This is all so vexing, I can't begin to tell you. My image editing softwear is on the other computer, but there is nothing wrong with those images.
All I know is, all of my web graphics are messed up. Pixelated. It's not on regular images that I have copied and pasted from my website onto the desk top--only graphics to do with the web--the words and the images, well, not words that have been typed, but everything else. "Digital Grin Get the Shot" is pixelated. All of the images, in the banners and in everyone's web site, especially the thumbnails, are pixelated.

I have been trying to copy a screen shot, to no avail. All I can say is, all my images on the web are pixelated. When I copy an image from my website into a folder on the computer it looks fine. Everything on the web is pixelated, and even the icons on my desk top are jagged. Very very discouraged.

Andy

sara505 wrote:

I have been trying to copy a screen shot, to no avail. All I can say is, all my images on the web are pixelated. When I copy an image from my website into a folder on the computer it looks fine. Everything on the web is pixelated, and even the icons on my desk top are jagged. Very very discouraged.

Hi Sara,

I'm also responding to your email at the help desk.

I'm terribly sorry that you are having trouble with your new computer! Rest assured, your images on SmugMug are *not* pixelated, they look great, we've all had a look at your site and there are no problems on our end - I say this not to gloat but to reassure you that all is well

Now, I think you have some sort of setting on your monitor, or video card, that is not set right. I also wonder if you have any accelerator software, toolbar software, or other "add-ons" that may be affecting video performance? Is there anyone in your neighborhood, or a friend, or family member that can have a look?

I ca

Andy

Question - our system shows you are on a "media center PC" is this correct - there might be special video/ resolution settings for that, please double check your manual?

jfriend

Some IE settings?

sara505 wrote:

I have been trying to copy a screen shot, to no avail. All I can say is, all my images on the web are pixelated. When I copy an image from my website into a folder on the computer it looks fine. Everything on the web is pixelated, and even the icons on my desk top are jagged. Very very discouraged.

I'm stumped so this is one last guess. If the images look fine in some circumstances, but not in others, then it's less likely to be a video card setting and more likely to be an application setting in the applications that don't look good. If you are using IE for your browser, then you might want to play with some of the IE display options. If you go to Tools/Options, click on the advanced tab and scroll down, you'll get to this set of options. You might try some different settings for the relevant options and see if it helps your browsing experience in any way.

sara505

jfriend wrote:

I'm stumped so this is one last guess. If the images look fine in some circumstances, but not in others, then it's less likely to be a video card setting and more likely to be an application setting in the applications that don't look good. If you are using IE for your browser, then you might want to play with some of the IE display options. If you go to Tools/Options, click on the advanced tab and scroll down, you'll get to this set of options. You might try some different settings for the relevant options and see if it helps your browsing experience in any way.

Hi John. Finally, I got through to someone at Dell who took me right to the solution: DPI. The dpi was set too high. Yay Thanks for your efforts!