gif not png avatars in threads?

[tag]

Maybe I missed a memo but is there a reason that the avatars are converted to gifs when viewed in threads? My avatar is displayed as a png file in my profile and in the Members List, but in threads for some reason it is converted to a gif file. The end result makes my avatar look pretty nasty since it has shadows and transparency.

Is this a glitch or something or should I go and change my avatar to not use transparent .pngs?

 

[irmongoose]

This recent change has been a let down.


irmongoose

 

[iBlue]

as png's are usually larger files it's probably to save bandwidth due to recent increase in activity here. (*cough*iPhone*cough*)

You can save as .gif yourself and use a background or a "matte" coloured "eeeeee" and the edges/dropshadows/etc will match the background in the avatar area instead of defaulting to black.

 

[Knox]

Until recently avatars have been served using vBulletin's 'image' script which can handle multiple formats because it has direct access to the files you upload. This adds a large amount of unnecessary load to the servers so they are now being served by independent, 'high performance', servers. Unfortunately it means that the servers can't tell what format you uploaded, so they're all being converted to GIFs.

I'll see if there's anything I can change to help but don't hold your breath

 

[squeeks]

my avatar is just a link, but i see it says i can take up to three hours to appear on certain pages