Windows Photo Viewer strange behaviour

So I post processed a recent render in Photoshop, and it was looking great. Then I saved it and double clicked the saved .PNG in windows which opened it in windows photo viewer. The image was nowhere near as sharp or crisp as it was in Photoshop....

I initially thought it was the way I had saved it , but then I noticed that when windows initially loads the image, you get the actual sharp image for a split second , and then it blurs it. 

Anybody know what that is all about?  it does it with both .PNG and JPEG saves and is really frustrating. 

Below is a screenshot of part of the render in Windows photo viewer on the left and Photoshop on the right. The difference is minimal but spoils the overall look of the whole render.

You can notice the difference the most on the fabric on the chest of the grim reaper where the light is catching it.  

  • Shawn Blanch(blanchsb) replied

    frikkr  Windows 10 forums are complaining about this bug for years now. You are not alone. 

    Is this the Windows 10 Photos App (Not to be confused with Windows Photo Viewer)? Some issues with that app result in the behavior you are seeing. I didn't peruse all of the forums to find the fix, sounds like a good number are using Picasa or 3rd party apps haha. I'm sure there is some kind of fix but if it isn't found easily I will bet it is buried in a thread on a Whirlpool Dishwasher forum somewhere........(needle in the haystack type of gold nuggets)

  • Matthew Fricker(frikkr) replied

    blanchsb I have no idea , it is just whatever app/viewer opens when you double click an image in windows 10 . Thanks for clearing tha up , it's good to know that it is not an issue with my PC 

    Thanks :) 

  • Shawn Blanch(blanchsb) replied

    frikkr Then it is most likely the Photos App that everyone is complaining so much about (comes as the 'new' default photo viewer). There are various amounts of success depending on image resolution (1024 x 1024 has better results versus 1031 x 783) Someone made a comment about an optimizing algorithm that is truly causing it in the background but I have seen many posts that say they are still having issues.

    I just bought a Windows PC and am not happy to know this either. I plan on getting a good reputable 3rd party app even if I have to pay for it.  I really like Snagit because it has some great commentary features and works with screen captures well too. I think it can open png images on it's own, but I have yet to see if resolution issues are on it. I have that on my work computer and will try some comparison to see if it suffers at all.

  • Matthew Fricker(frikkr) replied

    blanchsb Thanks :) 

    Let me know if you come across any decent replacements.