Desktop wallpapers - JPG or BMP?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-05-25 03:05am

Which is better to use as wallpapers?

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2004-05-25 03:58am

I would say that a .jpg is better because .bmp is often much larger.

Larger images on the desktop equals more memory in used for the image that could be used for something else.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2004-05-25 04:16am

I usually use PNG. It's a lossless format, so the quality on the picture would be just as good as with BMP, but it would still be substantially smaller for most images. Best of both worlds.

Executor32 · Post by **Executor32** » 2004-05-25 04:26am

I usually use BMP, because jpgs get converted to a bitmap automatically by windows when you use them for a wallpaper.

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2004-05-25 04:29am

I hate active desktop ... so BMP it is.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2004-05-25 04:42am

Executor32 wrote:I usually use BMP, because jpgs get converted to a bitmap automatically by windows when you use them for a wallpaper.

Ahh I learn somthing new everyday! Did't know that.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-25 04:54am

I use BMP since JPG compression algorithoms reduce imaga quality.

Vohu Manah · Post by **Vohu Manah** » 2004-05-25 07:30am

I use JPGs.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-05-25 10:15am

.jpg. i simply have too many wallpapers to store them all as .bmp format.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-25 10:27am

JPEG or PNG if I can get the original that good.

sketerpot · Post by **sketerpot** » 2004-05-25 11:43am

evilcat4000 wrote:I use BMP since JPG compression algorithoms reduce imaga quality.

If possible, use PNG. Most good image software can convert BMP to PNG, and PNG is lossless (no reduction in quality), they're smaller, and they might even load faster if your CPU can decompress faster than your hard drive can read.

For software to do this, if you don't have some already, I recommend Irfanview or the Gimp.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2004-05-25 12:03pm

sketerpot wrote: For software to do this, if you don't have some already, I recommend Irfanview or the Gimp.

MS Paint from at least Windows 2000(I'm not going to touch Win9x to check) can handle the .PNG format.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2004-05-25 12:13pm

Whatever format it's in, it should be this.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-25 12:41pm

Alferd Packer wrote:Whatever format it's in, it should be this.

Yay!

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-05-25 04:53pm

Most wallpapers nowadays are very high quality jpgs.

If only png One Piece walls existed

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-25 10:45pm

ggs wrote:
sketerpot wrote: For software to do this, if you don't have some already, I recommend Irfanview or the Gimp.
MS Paint from at least Windows 2000(I'm not going to touch Win9x to check) can handle the .PNG format.

Windows XP version of paint can also handle PNG format.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-05-26 12:33am

Well, it is implicit that if W2K's paint will handle it, then XP's paint will.

I usually use PNG if I'm making my own but most on the 'net are JPEG just due to lossly compression advantages (though there is a lossless JPEG mode).

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-05-26 01:15am

JPG, but I don't use desktop backgrounds anymore. No point in switching file formats, and I keep the original jpg to edit, so no need for PNG.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-05-26 01:18am

I have also found that near 100% quality and 1x1x1 subsampling provides good results for using JPG for screenshot, since PNGs have intolerable compression, which is painful over dialup.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2004-05-26 04:12pm

Executor32 wrote:I usually use BMP, because jpgs get converted to a bitmap automatically by windows when you use them for a wallpaper.

Erm...only if you use your browser to open them and hit "set as background" via right-click....

Active Desktop = teh suck so BMP it is.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-05-26 07:59pm

Unless you use XP, active desktop is unstable as hell. So for XP I recommend JPG, but for 98/ME it's better to use a plain old BMP.

About the memory issue, JPGs are decompressed in memory to some extent and take a lot of memory and processing power.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-27 02:02am

Even on Windows XP active deskstop can be unstable in certain On my computer it becomes unstable when Bridgecommander crashes while playing multiplayer.

starfury · Post by **starfury** » 2004-05-28 02:54pm

BNP, using constantly causes computer to crash

starfury · Post by **starfury** » 2004-05-28 02:55pm

I mean using Jpeg often made my computer crash, the BNP tends to be very stable.