Windows wallpapers have horrible compression?

[Bubbleawsome]

I have a picture that I want to use for my background. When I load it up anywhere at all it looks fine, as soon as I set it as my background it fills with banding and compression artifacts. Is there any way to keep windows from doing this?

 

[Ketchup]

I am guessing it is huge. Try using the resize option in MS Paint. See if it comes out the way you want, then save it at that size.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

It is 1080p.

 

[Ketchup]

Have you tried playing with the picture position settings?

Picture is 1080? What is the screen?

 

[corkyg]

1080p is a video thing. Deal with actual resolution. Actually, 1080p is pretty low for such imagery.

 

[Ketchup]

1080p is a video thing. Deal with actual resolution. Actually, 1080p is pretty low for such imagery.

Good point corkyg. I assumed he meant 1920 x 1080, but what does the Screen Resolution button say your actual resolution is, and if you hold your mouse over the image (don't click on it), what does it say the dimensions are?

 

[Bubbleawsome]

The screen is 1920x1080 and the picture I am using is a screenshot taken on the same PC in full screen at 1080p.

This picture;

That picture is compressed a little more than the original one on my PC, being uploaded to imgur.

 

[ninaholic37]

Some tricks I read here that might work:

1. Right-click the image in Firefox and select "Set as Desktop Background"
2. Save it in BMP format, then rename it to JPG and set as Desktop
3. Download a Paint program that can save it as JPG with 96-99% quality

According to users there, those tricks stop Windows (XP-7) from compressing further, but I don't have Windows here and haven't tried it personally.

 

[Ketchup]

So I pulled up your picture in Windows photo viewer, and the fog/smoke looks a little fuzzy. The ship looks fine. I set it as my background, the same.

It is defined as 1920x1080.

I will say this. Anyone with a little know-how can blow up a picture to that resolution. It could still have been taken at a lower resolution and blown up after the fact. The only thing that would accomplish is making people think the picture is better than it really is.

Not saying that was done here, just saying that it is entirely possible. Especially considering that the file itself it about half the size of the 1920x1080 images I use for backgrounds.

 

[tidy]

.

 

[Ketchup]

....What OS are you using? Look around the stars, there are obvious compression artifacts when using the PNG file in Windows 7.

You say artifacts, I say fuzzy.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

So I pulled up your picture in Windows photo viewer, and the fog/smoke looks a little fuzzy. The ship looks fine. I set it as my background, the same.
It is defined as 1920x1080.
I will say this. Anyone with a little know-how can blow up a picture to that resolution. It could still have been taken at a lower resolution and blown up after the fact. The only thing that would accomplish is making people think the picture is better than it really is.
Not saying that was done here, just saying that it is entirely possible. Especially considering that the file itself it about half the size of the 1920x1080 images I use for backgrounds.

It is true 1920x1080. Took it myself.
It's native format is .bmp, and I think Imgur lets you download in either .jpg or .png. I think it relates to the below issue and the one ninaholic mentioned.

I know this phenomenon. Windows degrades some formats when you apply them to the desktop. I can see it in your image. The same happens if I convert it to BMP - it looks worse as wallpaper. Windows seems to handle JPEG best for wallpapers.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/7w6fkj68rakg2ot/XQ6BL2b.jpg
You're hard pressed to tell the difference between lossless and max JPEG in that image anyway.
What OS are you using? Look around the stars, there are obvious compression artifacts when using the PNG file in Windows 7.

After converting it to a .png from .bmp the issue is gone! I guess windows hates using .bmp for a wallpaper.

Thanks all of you!

 

[tidy]

.

 

[Elixer]

Since I ran into this myself, and was experiencing artifacts, the fix is pretty easy.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"JPEGImportQuality"=dword:00000064

Seems MS automatically degrades quality to 85% for jpgs.

More info here.
http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-disable-wallpaper-jpeg-quality-reduction-in-windows-10/

 

[Magic Carpet]

Nice fix. Thanks :thumbsup:

 

[sweenish]

No, You said "fog/smoke looks a little fuzzy", I said compression artifacts around the stars.

Which is the same thing. What's around the stars?

The stars are not in clear space. Geez, of all the nits to pick, you chose the one where it is literally the same thing.

 

[tidy]

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[Hugh Jass]

Now that we have a fix for that (in post #14)...is there a fix for W10 screwing with the image that is set for the lock screen?

I can take a 1920x1080 image that is as crystal clear as possible and when I set it for the lock screen it seems to get blurry, fuzzy and actually looks as though the image has been zoomed in on a bit.

I can test this theory by using a 1920x1080 image with a watermark in one of the corners as a test image. When I set it to be the lock screen instead of being able to see the watermark as you would think, the watermark actually is shifted off the screen as if the image has been zoomed in on.

And yes...my monitor's native resolution is 1920x1080.

Very irritating and I hope I can find a fix for this as easy as the one posted above for the desktop image issue.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Now that we have a fix for that (in post #14)...is there a fix for W10 screwing with the image that is set for the lock screen?=

Yeah, even the stock one is blurry on my PC. Are you using multiple monitors?

 

[Hugh Jass]

Yeah, even the stock one is blurry on my PC. Are you using multiple monitors?

Yep.

Main monitor is 1920x1080.

Second monitor is 1280x1024.

Maybe that is what is causing it. Because now that I think about it I don't remember it being an issue until I added the second monitor.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Wish MS would get around to fixing the dual monitor situation with W10.

First you have to go through a convoluted routine to even set different wallpapers for each monitor, then the lock screen no longer shows on both monitors as it used to in earlier iterations of the OS and now this issue with a blurry, lower res lock screen due to a second monitor with a different resolution.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Wish MS would get around to fixing the dual monitor situation with W10.

First you have to go through a convoluted routine to even set different wallpapers for each monitor, then the lock screen no longer shows on both monitors as it used to in earlier iterations of the OS and now this issue with a blurry, lower res lock screen due to a second monitor with a different resolution.

I'm having the exact same issue with the exact same resolutions. How do you set different wallpapers? I didn't know that was possible.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I'm having the exact same issue with the exact same resolutions. How do you set different wallpapers? I didn't know that was possible.

Here ya go:

First, tap the Windows logo key + R to open the Run window, then type (or copy and paste) the following:

control /name Microsoft.Personalization /page pageWallpaper

Once that's in place, click OK or tap your keyboard's Enter key. That should take you straight to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Personlization > Desktop background. This section was a normal part of Windows 8, but is hidden in Windows 10 — you can't manually find it in the Control Panel or the Settings app's Personalization options.

In this window, you can select from the images shown or browse for other images on your PC. If you see any images with check boxes, deselect them. Once you're ready to set your background images, right-click the image you want on your first monitor and select Set for monitor 1. Then do the same for the second display, only choosing Set for monitor 2, and so on if you have additional monitors.

Once everything's configured to your liking, click Save changes and you're done. Unfortunately, you'll have to use the Run command to return to this hidden part of the Control Panel each time you want to change your background images.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2984...pers-for-multiple-monitors-in-windows-10.html

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Here ya go:



http://www.pcworld.com/article/2984...pers-for-multiple-monitors-in-windows-10.html

Awesome! Thank you

 

[Hugh Jass]

Awesome! Thank you

No problem.