***Questions about download speeds and file sizes****

[AndyS]

A question arose about file sizes in the Photo Contest. The assumption is that the current rules requiring 1024 width and 675k in size is due to slow download speeds associated with dial up connections. 30 files at 20+ mp could choke a slow connection.

Please respond with your connection speed and if you have had any issues with viewing large files. If you don't know your speed try https://www.speedtest.net/ or another test sight.

If we could dispense with re-sizing entries it would streamline entering but we certainly do not want to exclude anyone with a slow connection.

If you take part in the contests or visit here to enjoy the work of us photogs please help us out with your experience.

I'll close this post after Monday @ 5 PM.

[mnhtnbb]

1. It's not about connection speed

It's about perceived advantage to larger photos.

[msongs]

2. most pics can look fine on the internet with reduced file sizes (as in KB not dimensions)

[consider_this]

3. I will say that...

In the few times i have entered, I have been very bummed to take care to reduce down to the file specs, resulting in an inferior version of my photo, and either don't enter, or do so realizing it looks badly vs some others - yet I became further dismayed when I realized many of the entries each month (and usually the best looking ones) far exceed the guidelines.

For me, this dismay is not about unfairness in competition (as I personally view these 'contests' as just a nice way to share and view some great photos), but that adhering to size limits in many cases degrades what we are able to share.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

12. It is frustrating.

We can strive to produce the highest quality images, only to see them get soft when we reduce the file size.

Almost all phones and digital cameras can produce sharp photos with good size files now. I'm not sure if anyone really needs to have the playing field leveled to such an extent.

[Ptah]

4. If my screen is large enough (pixels) this is how the entries would compare.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. the big one is mine.

OOPs!

[Ptah]

10. Why did you ignore the rules?

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

13. That's an interesting question.

[It assumes I deliberately and/or knowingly ignored the rule. More accurately it happened because I rarely if ever check the size of my entry. I have participated in lots of contests and only had to resize once or twice. In fact,I still haven't verified that my photo is too large.i It looked fine on my PC. The same size as the others.

[Ptah]

15. OK.

In fact, I still haven't verified that my photo is too large.

More accurately it happened because I rarely if ever check the size of my entry.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

11. I saw that it was too large

When I was doing the preliminaries. However, you weren't the only one. About half the entries didn't meet the size limits.

[ShazzieB]

5. I don't have any trouble viewing large images.

Speedtest says my download speed is 20.59 Mbps at the moment. Doesn't sound overly impressive by today's standards, but it gets the job done for me. I never have a problem downloading images posted in this group.

I really feel for anyone who still has to rely on a dialup connection. I haven't had one in over 20 years, but I remember what it was like all too well. It sucked, and having to tie up the phone line to go online sucked even more. The day DSL became available in my area was a very happy one for me.

[Ptah]

6. To clear up my response to file size referenced in you OP.

The yellow rectangle is the size of my computer screen, relative to the images from this month's contest.

I think any image submitted should be no larger than a typical screen size (1366 x 768 in my case).

[HAB911]

7. I always assumed the guidelines were to limit server memory usage

with a high percentage of users viewing all the photos at once. Shows how much I know!

I think the comments about screen size are pertinent too, my smugmug account registers the viewing screen size of visitors and honestly I don't know how the site comes across on a small screen, I have a 30 inch monitor. I try now to standardize all my photos to 6048 x 4024, native for my Z.

Regarding speed, I have two networks, Spectrum is 375mbps down and 8.3 mbps up. Frontier is 101mpbs down and 113mbps up so speed problems are nonexistent for me.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

14. I didn't think that was the issue.

We're just posting links to the hosting sites, not the actual photos. I didn't think bandwidth would be an issue.

[urbanhermit]

8. I pay for a 1G connection

but in actual usage I average about 150 Mg downloads and 50 uploads.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

16. Sorry it took so long to test my connection.

Speed Test says my download is 194.9 and my upload is 11.75.

That's pretty good, isn't it? LOL!