These instructions may vary depending on the version of AOL that you are using.

AOL's web browser does not automatically display images at their best quality level. Images viewed on computers with AOL installed often look torn, blurry, yellowed, grainy, or have entire portions of the image removed.

Why?

In an effort to keep their costs low, AOL compresses images beyond that intended by the original web designer. It is estimated that this additional compression shaves off only about 15% of the size of an image. On an average web page, this savings cuts your download time by only 4 or 5 seconds, but taken over the whole network of users, AOL can save a lot of money on their own bandwidth costs.

We have personally seen times when this additional compression makes entire portions of images disappear. It is likely that if you are an AOL customer, you are not seeing everything a web page has to offer, including ours.

How to fix it:

AOL gives you an option to view web graphics in either "Compressed" or "Uncompressed" mode. The "Uncompressed" graphics mode is the better setting. Here are the instructions for setting your AOL web browser to display graphics at the better quality level:

Windows:

1. Click on "My AOL" in the AOL Toolbar at the top of the screen.

2. Choose "Preferences" and then click on the "WWW" icon.

3. On the "AOL Internet Properties" settings click on the tab for "Web Graphics".

4. Make sure that the "Use compressed graphics" box is NOT selected. The box should be BLANK.

Click the "OK" button and close all windows that were opened.

Important: To force the AOL browser to use your new settings, you must clear your browser of the old versions of these images. To do this, go to Preferences > Advanced > Purge Cache.

Mac:

1. Click on "My AOL" in the AOL Toolbar at the top of the screen.

2. Choose "Preferences" and then click on the "Web" icon.

3. Make sure that the "Use compressed images" box is NOT selected. The box should be BLANK.

Using More Colors

The second reason that your web browser might be doing a poor job of displaying photos is that your PC may be setup to display at only "256 color" mode. The full version Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape will display photos clearly at the "256-color" setting, but AOL's web browser will display photos with a "yellowish" and "blurry" quality in "256-color" mode.

If your PC can display at a higher level than "256-color" mode, then you can improve your AOL web browser's image quality. Here's how to increase the color-mode level on your PC:

Windows:

1. Open the "Display" control panel by right-clicking on the Windows "Desktop" or by going to "Settings" in your START menu, choosing "Control Panels" and then double clicking on "Display."

2. Click on the "Settings" tab on the far right of the box that appears.

3. Under "Color palette" select either "High Color (16 bit)" or "True Color (32 bit)". Don't use 256 (8-bit) colors if you're given the option to increase it to a higher level.

4. If given the option, choose to have the new settings take place without restarting your computer.

5. Close all the menus you opened and you are done!

Mac:

1. OS X: In the Apple menu, choose "System Preferences" and then click on the "Displays" icon

OS 9 or less: In the Apple menu: choose "Controls Panels" and then "Monitors" or "Monitors & Sound"

2. Under the "Colors" selection box, pick "Thousands" or "Millions"