1. use only smooth gradients for your background (LOL)
2. remove most of your pixels
3. assume that the browser will interpolate for you (Also LOL)
If this had been called "pictures of smooth gradients don't need to be high res if your viewer interpolates them sufficiently well" then it would be accurate and sound a lot less noobish.
about 3: most browsers have a good interpolation method for smooth images. It's a safe assumption if you have time to read all the documentation and you drop the support for IE6. (Perhaps IE6 can also interpolate correctly. I don't know and I'm not going to try to find the docs. IIRC I once had problems with the autostretching of the background image in IE6.)
Which is great if you have an astoundingly blurry image, and useless if you don't.
Mesh gradients were slotted for SVG 2.0 but the feature has since been removed from the roadmap.
http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/gradient-meshes-and...
I think the general idea is safe enough -- images of gradients are probably going to look fine upscaled in any algo that would actually get shipped. But there's no guarantee that tomorrow Mozilla won't decide their new mission statement is to spread the gospel of nearest neighbor.
Why is this on the front page?
Don't repost too much, read the part of the FAQ about reposts https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
If you repost too much the mods may notice and ban your account, your site and other nasty stuff.
Also, try to stick to the original title https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
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About this post: I think it would have been better to use another title like "How to use browser interpolation to reduce smooth mage size by 93%". The current title is misleading.
This person also knows very little about web browsers. Warning: Do not follow their advice when making your website.
> When the small image is enlarged, the browser uses an interpolation algorithm to fill in the missing image data.
"the browser". Hah. As if there's just one.
There is also a way to have a size reduction for somewhat intricate backgrounds: background-repeat.
That said: Sorry if you only found this out in 2019.
