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Websites should not use dithered images

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Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#41

Post by krisrm »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

Interactions like this are why I spend my "social media" time on hacker news. Good on you for building the tool in the first place, and for being willing to admit a mistake.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#42

Post by marginalia_nu »

rjmunro wrote: post #28
magicalhippo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dithering isn't a compression algorithm[1]. It's an algorithm that adds noise to effectively increase bitdepth when downsampling. In the case of images, it makes color-reduced versions not look terrible. Adding noise is almost always a bad thing for compression. The undithered images would compress much better. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither

If added noise is the aesthetic effect you are going for, it's probably better to ship a low quality (<50) JPEG of the original image and add the "dithering" in the client by overlaying noise there.

Dithering is fairly expensive operation. Please don't do it client-side each time a resource is fetched.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#44

Post by cbarrick »

That 6 kB WebP looks awful. This seems a bit apples-to-oranges.

To make the argument that WebP is better than dithering, the author should compare the 30 kB dithered image to a 30 kB WebP. Or even compare to a smaller WebP that lacks obvious compression artifacts.

In the comparison as given, I would not say that the WebP is a better image.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#45

Post by Taywee »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

> I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

There's really no better way to learn, in my experience.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#46

Post by kstrauser »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

That username is :chef’s kiss: .

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#47

Post by robertlagrant »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

You have the absolute best possible nickname for this post as well. Why bother doing things based on good premises when bad premises can feel this good?

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#48

Post by chmod775 »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

You're not as wrong as you think.

Dithering allows you to display images with a limited color palette, thus reducing the file size.

However the image formats chosen here don't really benefit from that.

Dithering is particularly effective in bitmap formats that use a palette (GIF, for instance). Just make sure your gif is actually saved with less bits-per-pixel than your original image.

It's however true that these formats that benefit aren't exactly modern, and there would be better ways of saving the same image.

At the end of the day, dithering can still be aesthetically pleasing. There might yet be a use for your app.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#49

Post by mastax »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

My life would be better in general if I were more willing to make mistakes in public.

Re: Websites should not use dithered images

#50

Post by WithinReason »

DitheringIdiot wrote: post #32

nathaniel here, writer of the article this article is referencing. If it's okay with you I'll update the original with a link to this at the top. It's sort of hilarious that I made an whole app based on a premise that is basically just wrong. I wish I could say I've learned my lesson, but I'll probably continue to make enjoyable mistakes like this for the rest of my life.

The app is still cool and useful, just not for its original purpose.

(Interesting choice of username!)

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