Why do Internet forums reduce image sizes?

Question

I am not talking about posting on an existing forum. I am referring to making my own forum.
The problem is I wish to post images that are 460px wide and 2085px deep which contain 9px size text. When I create the image and view it full size, the text is fine in terms of being able to read it. However, having created a forum first on Proboards and then on Lefora, I find that both reduce the size of the uploaded image so the text is unreadable. All I want is a forum that will allow me to post this size of image without reducing it. On Proboards, I deliberately chose the "Post images full size" option in the Admin CP but it still reduced the size.
Is there any forum that will genuinely allow users to post a 459x2085 image and leave it full size?

Answer 1

I'd suspect it's the browser re-scaling the image on display as much as anything.





2085 high is far bigger than even a full HD screen at 1080 height, so the web browser will scale it down to fit.



I've just done a quick check looking it some large images found via Google, and that is what happens - If you try and display any image larger than the viewing browser's screen area, it will automatically be rescaled for display.



It can then be downloaded and viewed full size offline, but the browser itself is trying to show the whole image on screen.





One of the problems designing web sites is making sure everything still works with the lowest-resolution display likely to be in use.



Currently, most sites base that on 1024 x 768 screen size, with the main 'content' column about 900 pixels wide.





Another concern with large images is simply that they are large files - and will take a long time to download and display, as well as using a lot of the user's bandwidth.



Not everyone has fibre optic speeds, and if it's something to be viewed world wide, quite a lot does not even have broadband..



Again, site designers normally reduce image sizes to the smallest practical and use progressive JPG encoding, so the site responds quickly to page changes.



Having to wait a minute or two for each page change is a good way to get rid of users.

Answer 2

Because multiple images can be shown so if they are all massive you'd never load the page which inturn leads to a downturn of clients an dinturn leads to a pointless site or a waste of effort which ever you like.

Answer 3

Because no one wants to scroll down 20 images barley able to read the text.

Answer 4

Because they want to save space on their servers.

Answer 5

Because they have a limited bandwith cap