Needless to say, WhatsApp is one of the easiest ways to send photos to your friends and family after a day out. But the thing is, when you send an image through the app, it goes through a lot of processing. And during this processing, the size, resolution, and, most importantly, the quality gets degraded.
Well, things changed with the latest update. WhatsApp finally lets you send photos in HD resolution. That means the processing that takes place when you send images through the app will no longer take a massive quality hit.
About the HD Resolution Photo Sharing on WhatsApp
According to WhatsApp, the “HD” photo-sharing option means the images can be up to 4096 x 2692. But even with the update in place, you can send photos of the standard quality. In that case, the processing will resize everything to a regular 1600 x 1052 resolution. However, resolution is not the only thing that matters.
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What really made WhatsApp not that great in terms of photo sharing is compression. In the standard resolution, a lot of compression took place to make the image file have a smaller size. Although WhatsApp did not officially say how much compression takes place in the HD photo option, it is lower than the standard mode.
That means the file will still be lower in size than the original. And with that, WhatsApp is basically making it easier for users to view and download the sent photos.
With the update, you will see a new HD icon when you share a photo. When you press it, you can select between the two quality presets. No matter which one you choose, the images will be end-to-end encrypted.
Wondering when will you get the WhatsApp HD photos update? It is currently rolling out to all users worldwide. However, it could take a few weeks to land on every device. And after this, WhatsApp will work on the HD videos feature.