Digitized newspaper display issue

[jeffb313]

I'm with a museum and we recently had our microfilmed newspaper collection digitized by a company in Maryland.  When I received the files, I was disappointed to see that each page initially shows a very crisp and clear text display, along with ASCII characters but no photographs, followed several seconds later by the full digitized image, including photographs.  This file is about 400 megs and is of 100 pages.  If I load the uncompressed file, which is 1.2 gigs (also of 100 pages), the page displays much better.  Sometimes the full page loads instantly but most of the time the page loads in "chunks" of about 25% but it doesn't take long - less than one second.  Neither the digitization company nor I have the slightest idea why this behavior happens.  I can't see how it is an Adobe issue and I don't think it is a computer memory issue, either.  The computer I'm using has 8 gigs of memory but the computer at the museum has 12 gigs.  The files display the same on both computers.

The first file that I received, over a year ago, had issues with the image not fully loading and getting "stuck" such that I would have to go forward or back 6 to 8 pages to get the problem page to load.  That issue seems to have gone away but now I have this clear text/digital image display issue.

If anyone can explain why this occurs, I sure would appreciate it!  As it stands, it looks like the only way around the issue is to accept the uncompressed files.  If it makes any difference, these files have been processed with an OCR program so that they are keyword searchable.

Thanks!!

Jeff

[Test Screen Name]

Have you tested on a faster computer? The most effective compression methods in PDF are very hard work to decode.

[jeffb313]

What specs would you recommend for the "faster computer"?  I'll try to find one to see what happens with the files.

[Test Screen Name]

A CPU with faster clock speed. Or just check task manager to see if CPU is max on one core.

The chances are that this archive quality collection may need reducing to lower quality for today’s consumers.

[jeffb313]

I've observed the problem carefully and I'm pretty sure the only solution is to ask for uncompressed files.  I'm not maxing out the CPU, not even close.  The highest I've gotten is 41.4%.  The problem occurs very randomly - sometimes I have the problem with a CPU figure of 6% and sometimes with a figure of 24%.  This leads me to believe that the problem is, as you say, the compression.  I'll ask the digitization company to give me uncompressed files.  I find it very annoying to see and experience the delay in viewing the images.  I have the space for bigger files so that will have to be the answer.  Thanks for your assistance!