IOS – How to view high-res images in iPad 3 without downsampling

iosipad

I'm Korean and I like reading web comics on the web. Korean web comics (or as called here "webtoons") tend to have large images, and something like 500×12000 JPEG images are not uncommon. But as you know, Safari on iOS downsamples JPEG images larger than 2 MP (or 5 MP in iOS 6) and even 5 MP is not enough in this situation.

I tried several alternative ways to view large images in my iPad with no luck.

  1. "Save Image" in Safari and view it in Photos app
  2. Use other browsers (Chrome, Opera Mini, Terra, Mercury, Puffin, etc.)
  3. Use other apps (GoodReader, Evernote)
  4. Download the image in PC, share it using Dropbox, view it in iPad using Dropbox app: the worst quality ever

I haven't tried the iPhoto for iOS yet since I don't want to pay for something that I'm uncertain whether it can solve my problem or not.

The image I've tried to view on iPad is this one, which is about 7.6 MP. Although the dimensions of the image are huge, the size of the image is only about 3.9 MB. I don't understand why this image should be downsampled to be viewed on the new iPad, considering its computing power.

I wish to know whether iPhoto can help or there is any way to view large images in my iPad at all. Thanks in advance for any help you are able to provide.

Best Answer

There are a handful of workarounds for saving images without being downsampled, use what works for you:

  • Tap and hold the image to save it to Photos app as high resolution, despite being downsampled in Safari
  • Save the image to iPhoto
  • When publishing images, use PNG or progressive JPG
  • Email images to the iPad

This is a well documented quirk in Safari on the retina iPad, it could be a bug or just a way to make the web browsing experience more fluid given current limitations of hardware. Who knows, but it’s easy to get around for now.

Source: OSXDaily

You can also report issue to Apple.

Related Question