On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 18:47:29 +0000 (UTC),
wrote:

One image I have, it was a huge scanned image, 4000x4000, in ACDSee,
there were a lot of rough edges that I can see, but on ThumbsPlus, the
image were reduced nicely and everything was very smooth and sharp. If
I shrink the image in using ACDSee to screen resolution, it is also
displayed smoothly.

First off, you can't compare two displays unless they are both
displaying at the same resolution. If you zoom in on the ThumbsPlus
display to the same level of magnification as you use in ACDSee
you'll see identical image quality, just as you noticed.

Second, any seasoned photographer and graphics editor knows to turn
off any display resampling so they can see the true resolution and
detail of their photos from the actual pixels. Image display
resampling methods alters this when you zoom in to view the photo.
It smoothes them out, makes them look much nicer than they actually
are. In effect, you're looking at your photos through rose-colored
glasses.

Unless you're using the software for a slide-show ONLY, there's
absolutely no reason you should turn on any resampling algorithms
for viewing your images. Turn off all resampling for image displays,
or you'll never see all the errors and faults in your photography
that everyone else will see when you send your digital photos to
them. They're not going to put on the same rose-colored glasses that
you are so fond of just to make your images look better. Resampling
methods should ONLY be used for upsizing and downsizing images for
final output, never at any other time.

I wonder how many people forget to turn it off image display
resampling in their browser when looking at camera test photos and
editing software reviews online? This probably accounts for much of
the conflicting opinions that I read. Opera browser allows me the
option to turn off resampling, that's why I use it.