Fast download or quality pics

which do you favour?

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Guy...
09/01/2004 at 15:08
OK not really an outdoorsy post but I have permission from the boss to ask :)

I'm in the process of installing a second web cam on my site which will be looking up at Scafell Pike ( pictures day AND night along with zoom due to new technology ) and the process got me thinking.

Do those of you who use dial ups prefer a quick loading pictures at the exspense of image quality or would you prefer a stuning high quality image which takes a while to download?

As a benchmark the Gable cam on my site is not a full quality yet and is still compressed, but I could have a better quality image again, and I think the image I have at the moment is one of the sharpest on the net.

Anyway, instead of trying to guess I thought I would ask............answers on an electronic postcard.

Oh and more news about the Scafell Pike cam as soon as it goes live , which will be the end of next week I hope.
Hodge
09/01/2004 at 15:28
How often will the new webcam update? If it's every couple of minutes or so, then I'd opt for better quality pics, even with my 56k at home.
Jon Doran
09/01/2004 at 15:32
As a spoiled broadband user, I'd go for quality, but then download times aren't a big issue for me...

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Evil Genius Darren
09/01/2004 at 15:36
Same here, but anyone using a 56k modem will notice a slowdown
Hodge
09/01/2004 at 15:40
Oh yeah, and how big are the pics likely to be? 50 - 100kb, 100 - 200kb, 200+kb?
Hedgehope Aztec
09/01/2004 at 16:07
Erm, I think the choice to have either would be the answer.
Guy...
09/01/2004 at 17:55
Mike

Yep that would be good but the cameras are in themselves servers, so I program the camera the image quality to upload to my web site server.

This means I am unable to give the choice of 2.

And Hodge the cams update every 10 min ( Great Gable during daylight only, Scafell 24/7)
Orange Alex Ford
09/01/2004 at 19:39
Well...on broadband so, well I'd say quality pics!
Richard Watkiss
09/01/2004 at 21:03
Quality. What is the point to getting pictures quickly if you can't discern what the hell you're looking at?
Guy...
09/01/2004 at 22:44
Richard

That's my point, I would rather wait and get good.......I think I will crank the Gable cam up to full power quality wise and see what the response is, before I decide what to do with th Scafell pike cam
Richard Watkiss
09/01/2004 at 22:48
Guy - damned good plan! Nothing pisses me off more than looking at a view from a webcam and not knowing if it's cloud, snow, badly set up camera contrast, rain on the housing, a flotilla of UFOs en route to vapourise Dubya, etc etc etc.

Well, plenty of stuff pisses me off more cos I am a grumpy ol' git after all but I hope you know what I mean.
Guy...
10/01/2004 at 10:23
To be fair though Richard if its raining then you will get rain on the housing, there is little you can do about that.

My unit has the wiper blades but they just keep the glass clean, if it rains you will see rain on the glass and to my mind that's no bad thing, it gives the viewer a sense of what it is like

other than that I'm with you:)
Jules aka Bat Girl
10/01/2004 at 10:42
I like quality pics but I think you have to be carefull not to make it too long a down load for people with older computers.

I have as my wallpaper right now an image of your web cam of gable in the snow with the early morning sun , beautifull but shame about the quality. I know a web cam isnt meant for making wallpaper out of but It was a perfect moment when I loged on.
Richard Watkiss
10/01/2004 at 10:43
Ah, exectly, that's part of the point - with better quality display you can tell if the image is obscured and, as you say, it's raining other than the picture just being plain crap.

Otherwise, thanks for your webcammerage. I don't get to the Lakes much at all but I do like to stir up old memories by going to the site and looking at the pics. Nice.
Guy...
10/01/2004 at 11:07
I've uped the quality today, but pointless looking as the light is so crap the quality won't come through.

Julie if you ever find a picture that is as you like just email me and i can alway walk out the door round the corner take a pic and email it to you !

The new camera quality though will however be better as the iris will be auto, which means it can adjust to different light levels. Where as at the moment the iris is set to pin hole and i can only adjust conditions via software.

Of course if the technology is great I may send the gable cam off to the states to have the new lense fitted (when I can get a sponsor with a spare £350 for the upgrade and another £100 for a new larger external housing)
Jules aka Bat Girl
10/01/2004 at 11:18
Thanks Guy, Great Gable via the traverse was the first mountain I ever climbed and is still my favorite, I was about 12 and I was hooked, I could not believe I had been walking and running on the moors and dales for 4 years and not known such an amazing thing existed as the mountains, how had I managed to get so old and not known about it, some times I wish I was 12 again.
Im coming to Wasdale for the last week in July so I will see you then hopefully,do they let dogs in the pub? I have been on the wasdale web but when I try to e-mail the pub to ask I get site not found .
Guy...
10/01/2004 at 11:52
I think the pub web site is having a few problems at the moment, all to be sorted soon as I'm taking it over :)

Yes they do let dogs on a lead into the public bar, officialy they say no due to the open kitchen but there is no problem for controlled well behaved dogs at all.

Mine goes over on her own just to check for left overs !
Drew
10/01/2004 at 15:52
Is there any chance of having small pictures at the quality of the Gable one now, and an enlarged pic, of better quality? You say about them being their own servers so I doubt it's possible, but the qulaity at the moment is great, however it's nice to be able to see a bigger picture, and obviously the higher the resolution, the better!
Guy...
10/01/2004 at 16:33
drew

if you click on the the image you do get a bigger picture now, which is easyier to study. But same quality
Evil Genius Darren
10/01/2004 at 16:35
Guy, not being a webcam guru like yourself, but what's with the speckly effect? looks like duff pixels.
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