America Online utilizes graphics compression software that speeds up the delivery of web pages to its members by compressing images and various multimedia applications.
Images that are BMP, GIF or JPG are converted into the proprietary Johnson-Grace image format .ART. All AOL members have the option of deselecting "Used Compressed Graphics" in their Web Preferences.
Q. OK, I have deselected "Use Compressed Graphics" in my WWW preferences and the images still look the same! What am I doing wrong?
A. This is a Caching issue. In your WWW preferences you can set your history to "0" pages and clear the History. You must also delete the files in your Temporary Internet Files folder.
Holding down the "Control" key on your keyboard and simultaneously mouse-clicking on the Browser Reload icon while the browser window is active will also clear your proxy cache and display the latest data from the website.
In short, if you are an AOL subscriber you can turn off "Used Compressed Graphics" in your Web Preferences to disable the compression feature. Download speeds may be slightly slower.