w descriptors and sizes: Under the hood

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Chris Coyier on (Updated on )

Eric Portis digs into how the browser decides which image to downloads when you give it <img srcset="" sizes"">. Notably, a browser can do whatever it wants:

Intentionally un-specified behavior lets browsers provide innovative answers to an open-ended question.

Still, calculations happen based on what you give it and you can still do a good job with that part.

The very weirdest part about all this is that the sizes attribute can alter an images “natural width”, which can lead to unexpected upscaling, a thing we’re trained to loathe. If you’re in that situation, you can either…

  • use an inline width attribute
  • set an inline style with a max-width
  • embrace the fact you might experience occassinal upscaling

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