Default 2.2 theme. Images to optimised PNG?

[corby2004]

I am just wondering. Is the 2.2 version of phpBB going to convert all it's static images to the PNG format. If there are plans to do this then I would be willing to contribute, by converting the GIFs to PNGs and then fully optimising them.

[Graham]

Speaking from an end-user perspective on this, I think that I would prefer to see them remain in GIF format for now. Yes, PNG can produce smaller files, but there are still issues especially with transparency when it comes to using PNG images with MSIE, which like it or not does make up the largest single amount of traffic to any of the sites I'm involved in.

[haravikk]

As long as the gifs are altered to be background independent then leaving them as gifs would be fine, but some people may wish to create simple subSilver clones with slightly different background colours which result in 'fuzzy' edges to some images. In this case .pngs may be better as they allow for nice smooth blending with any background colour. Unless of course the .png problems with IE are worse than I think.

[Legoguy]

There is a simple workaround for IE using a DX rendering method.

http://webfx.eae.net/dhtml/pngbehavior/pngbehavior.html" target="_blank

(if you apply that workaround, it's a good idea to remove the size of the image and just change "scale" in the filter to "image.")

but if you really really want the best way to do it, get Mozilla Firefox

[DoD]

Yup, MSIE cant display the transparency in PNG's. With phpBB always wanting cross brower compatability, (and MSIE being the most used) its not gonna happen... i doubt they would officially accept your style with PNG images.

And of course, the simple solution is to get a half decent browser. (like opera )

[Not Radio]

Yup, MSIE cant display the transparency in PNG's. With phpBB always wanting cross brower compatability, (and MSIE being the most used) its not gonna happen... i doubt they would officially accept your style with PNG images.

And of course, the simple solution is to get a half decent browser. (like opera )

Or a full decent browser like Mozilla (and variants) that handle table attributes properly.

[DoD]

Or a full decent browser like Mozilla (and variants) that handle table attributes properly.

No... just something that isnt made by Microsoft!

[kuato]

Microsoft doesn't like anything associated with the word "free". PNG has no licensing issues unlike GIFS. It's not a technical issue of MSIE unable to support PNGs, I'm sure they could code it to do so if they wanted to in 5 minutes. They won't though because of the GIF vs PNG licensing bullcrap.

[A_Jelly_Doughnut]

The .gif format no longer has a patent against it (at least here in the US)

[Not Radio]

Or a full decent browser like Mozilla (and variants) that handle table attributes properly.

No... just something that isnt made by Microsoft!

When Opera renders tables in a sane fashion (i.e. handling all of the attributes correctly), maybe I will call it decent.

Microsoft doesn't like anything associated with the word "free". PNG has no licensing issues unlike GIFS. It's not a technical issue of MSIE unable to support PNGs, I'm sure they could code it to do so if they wanted to in 5 minutes. They won't though because of the GIF vs PNG licensing bullcrap.

There's no licensing conflict at all. One is free, the other is not. You can still use GIF's freely, regardless of whether or not the license has expired. You do need to pay royalties if you are distributing software that encodes GIF's.