Complete Urban Area Add-on

[aaltomar]

Originally posted by TomServo@May 20 2005, 08:50 PM
I wouldn't say 256 color palete. But they are sharper and better color matched. So, they are running the images through some kind of algarythem at terraserver before posting them.

Here is the image from terraserver:
[attachmentid=765]

And the USGS hosted image:
[attachmentid=766]

You would think both images would be the same quality wise..

Quoted post

There's more difference in the medium resolution pictures, say level 5. Changing between the two (for example in Washington), I can "clearly" see the separate pixels in EROS imagenary but not in Terraserver pictures. The EROS ones are way too sharp and contrasty, too much dark pixels, it doesn't blend as well as Terraserver ones.

Anyways nice to have a choice. B)

[TomServo]

Well, here is the thing thing.. it is not really a "choice" it is a "I want this imagery now.. not months or longer before terraserver gets it up". The imagery terraserver uses is FROM the USGS site THIS imagery is being displayed from.

Terraserver gets a box of data tapes each month, and that imagery is the USGS 1-meter and Urban Area.

Maybe I should tweak the add-on so that terraserver "has this imagery" locations are marked differently.

Terraserver may not even display all the areas.. they may not do the BW imagery or the IR imagery. Time will tell.. if and when terraserver gets all the imagery on there.

[aaltomar]

I'm not really complaining here, thanks for bringing them available.

edit: Are you using a CRT or a TFT in your computer? Imho TFTs are not up to par with CRT in producing the finer differences. I have a dual setup, but WW doesn't run even adequately on my extended desktop, so I can't confirm it being worse than my CRT.

[TomServo]

That's ok. I would not have noticed that terraserver processes the images more to clean them up.

Thanks for that Add-On, it works great!

Maybe you should put a note at the download page for users with a non-english Windows. They have to unpack the exe-file instead of execute it to put the files in the correct program directory.

Or you use the %program files%-variable.

[TomServo]

Have to check that.. I don't use an installer builder.. just an exe zip file.

[jovada]

Why do you change the cache folder? This is the only reason why I won't install this add-on. Is this really necessary??

[Progressland]

Originally posted by jovada@May 24 2005, 10:49 AM
Why do you change the cache folder? This is the only reason why I won't install this add-on. Is this really necessary??

Quoted post

If you install the add-on, your cache will not be a problem (it will not be deleted or anything like that). A new folder called 'USGS Urban Area (Direct)' is created within the /Cache/Earth folder. What TomServo was referring to when he said that this WILL affect your cache is when I changed the layer names to put the city names at the front. Thus, if you had already installed the add-on and wanted to keep the data you had downloaded, you would need to move the data to the newly-renamed folder.

-Jason

[jovada]

Originally posted by Progressland@May 24 2005, 11:02 PM
Thus, if you had already installed the add-on and wanted to keep the data you had downloaded, you would need to move the data to the newly-renamed folder.

-Jason

Quoted post

Aha! Thanks!


edit:
It doesn't seem to work: I see all the city markers, but when I zoom in, no imagery is loaded...

[Nowak]

From what i can see they only differ in resampling algorithm, maybe cubic vs nearest neighbor.