iPod Why is non-embedded artwork taking up 500% more space on iPod Classic

[Max Dread]

[Original Post here. Updated Post below]

Hi all

I loaded a bunch of albums onto my iPod Classic using Foobar's iPod Manager (foo_dop). The mp3s on my PC do NOT have artwork embedded. Rather, there is a cover.jpg file per album stored in the folder along with the mp3s.

Everything is displaying fine on the iPod, so there is no issue as such. I am just trying to save as much space on the iPod as possible and so want to make sure that foo_dop did not embed the artwork whilst doing the transfer.

Is there any way I can check for sure?

[If it helps to know, in the preferences for foo_dop, I have "Add artwork to files sent to iPod" ticked. In source script I have "cover". The two items below this are unticked.]

UPDATE:
Just to add, on my iPod I have the following sizes in the Artwork folder:

ArtworkDB - 482kB
F1055_1.ithmb - 24MB
F1060_1.ithmb - 150MB
F1061_1.ithmb - 4.51MB

Yet all of the jpegs on my PC hard drive total 34.5MB.

So now I'm not too sure what's going on!

Cheers

Max

 

[Max Dread]

[Updated Post]

Hi all

I have since been able to verify that the album artwork is not being embedded in the transfer process. I looked at the metadata properties for some of the mp3s on there and no artwork was showing. I just have one cover.jpg file per album on my PC.

If anyone has a moment (anyone who does not embed artwork that is), would you mind comparing your computer's Hard Drive and your iPod in terms of how much space they use for the same artwork?

I know we're not talking big numbers here. But if this continues, when the iPod is full I estimate it will be using around 500MB for album art more than my PC.... Unnecessarily.... That's another 10-15 albums worth of music. Plus, I'm a perfectionist with a hint of OCD.

Cheers

 

[Max Dread]

Well, an update has come from another forum and I thought I would post it here in case others stumble here in the future searching for an answer to the same question.

Apparently, the non-embedded artwork on the iPod is in an uncompressed format instead of JPG and therefore takes up more space. Seems a bit odd, seeing as I am loading jpegs onto the iPod. I can only presume the iPod decompresses them at some stage.

Cheers