Cover Image Formats & Heavy Handed Replacement

[rlm82x]

In the hope that a particular contributor who is being heavy handed and somewhat rude in their changing of images and the "Reason" provided reads this.

I have seen a lot of covers replaced in the moderation queue of late, from PNG to JPG versions. I wholeheartedly agree that a lot of the changes have been for the better (no tangible reduction in quality, smaller file size). However, JPG as a format is not a magic solution for all images. Please note that the two file formats are different in how that store colour information. This means that in some cases, as we've seen with your own submissions, an image may be smaller as a PNG, or, the quality reduction is too significant as a JPG. Please remember some users make use of Big Box on large screens; the artefacts you see in compressed JPG images on blocks of colour are horrendous in this situation. A case in point is on the Nintendo Switch logo (top left). The developer (and owner) of Launchbox [GamesDB] chose to allow both formats; if the site want's to change to a 'file size only' method then it is up to them to implement that change in the Guidelines and Rules. For now, I urge you to please consider that the format used should be what is appropriate in that particular circumstance; please don't just spam replace on the assumption that a particular format is best in all cases (indeed, some of your submissions increased the file size or reduced the quality significantly).

As I said, the "Reason" submitted is often rather rude, with factually incorrect information (statements such as "JPG's scale better" - which is incorrect again because it's completely subject to the individual image). I'd like to urge all of us to remember that someone has gone to great effort in submitting information here (particularly in the case of reconstructions and personal fanart). I'm sure most of us have gone through a learning curve. Let's not put members of our own community off by developing "moderation brutality".

[kurzih]

I totally agree with you that the format used should be considered what is appropriate to have for each image type and I think also depending on the source and age of the platform. A combination/balance of best quality and best usage experience is at least what I would hope for. And as you said, if there would be only JPEG allowed, then you couldn't even upload anything else. For example, you can't upload gif (vga source) screenshots, because the system doesn't technically allow it.

Looks like someone got confused about the meaning of scalability, which at least on my part I've been "promoting scalability" with screenshots as (native) PNG, not JPEG.

Random assumptions have been an issue in moderation from time to time, there seem to be unwritten rules sometimes that come from a personal opinion into a "rule" in the moderation opinion field. That's why it's good to double check from the devs/owner once in a while. Like I did for Wikipedia URLs, since there was some really strong opinions/assumptions that got turned into a wild west situation despite the common sense of the name of that metadata field.

On the other hand the uploader would hopefully think on top of image quality the overall Launchbox/Bigbox user experience before uploading the most perfect looking image despite how much space it takes. For example it might not be best for the user experience to download at worst 8-9MB sized 1920x1080 background images from the database when they would look almost identical (without any significant quality loss if properly saved in high quality (or Max) JPEG) and would take 30-40% less space and load quicker. Just make the calculation: 6-9MB per BG images x 30 000 games (my total is over 60 000, but I guess that 30k is something many have). That's quite some number for just background images: around 18-24GB. But even saying that, I would find it wrong to replace a big PNG image with a significantly lesser quality JPEG image - that would also ruin the user experience.

And finally, I'm using this opportunity to give feedback about something that ruins a bit of my own user experience, which might not be an issue for some of you, but is to me: some of those backgrounds have sadly the wrong aspect ratio, the main visuals have been force-stretched to just fit a certain size/template. Love to have the correct/original aspect ratio in all cases, despite if it means black bars on the sides etc.

PS. We've had this conversation before with PNG on screenshots and also mentioning those cover and background images, please see this thread where I defended PNG for scalability:

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by kurzih

[rlm82x]

Some really great points there kurzih, thanks for adding your voice. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments about appropriateness (and aspect ratio).

I noticed the previous discussion which made some excellent points. I raised this as a new post in the hope that the person may see it. Without the ability to see who is making the changes (and just as importantly, leaving the "Reason" messages - whilst not all rude, some most certainly are...almost verging on [passive] aggressive with the excessive capitalisation and use of "SMH"), I couldn't see any way to get in touch. Misinformation and rudeness have no place in a community resource such as this; it's not just the quality of the content available but perhaps the willingness of community members to continue contributing.

Thanks for your thoughts - and directly linking that other post here. Hopefully the good points made there will help more people understand the differences and benefits, free from asserted assumptions and personal bias.

[diamondgeezer]

Im so glad others feel the same as i do about this person i reported him before that almost led to him being banned for his toxic comments so now i just skip anything he puts up with a bad comment in CAPS and if enough people do that he might just learn he cannot speak to people like he does .He is always quoting LB rules but im sure speaking the way he does to people is not allowed either..