Needs More JPEG

Confirmed 112,908

About

"Needs More JPEG" or "Needs More JPG" is a sarcastic expression used to mock low resolution or coarsely compressed^[5] images and videos, in a similar vein to the use of phrases like "recorded with a potato" or "my left ear enjoyed this very much".

Origin

On August 30th, 2006, Newgrounds Forums^[7] member Ginogino13 replied to a post containing a poorly compressed sprite image with the phrase "Hmm… needs more JPEG" (shown below).

Etymology

The ironic use of the phrasal template [X] Needs More Y stems from the well-known catchphrase "Needs More Cowbell", a memorable quote said by Christopher Walken in a 2000 Saturday Night Live sketch parody of VH1's “Behind the Music” documentary on the studio recording of the 1976 song "(Don’t Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. Some of other notable variants include "Needs Moar Sauce" and "Needs More Lense Flare".

Spread

On July 24th, 2008, user Misery Gloom on the imageboard Plus4chan^[8] commented "Needs more jpeg artifacts" in response to a lossy rule 34 illustration. On February 13th, 2009, Fark^[9] user scavenger replied to a post with the phrase "Needs more jpeg artifacts." On December 25th, 2010, DeviantArtist^[10] Quivin commented "Needs more JPEG artifacts" on a Minecraft illustration submitted by user xSaria. On December 15th, 2011, Java-Gaming Forums member theagentd replied to a post about Java video playback with the phrase "Needs more JPEG compression artifacts" (shown below).

On April 4th, 2012, a poorly compressed image with the caption "Needs More Jpeg" was uploaded to Imgur,^[11] which gathered upwards of 57,000 views over the next three years (shown below, left). On June 28th, Redditor TooBrokeToGiveAShit linked to the image in a comment on the /r/funny^[1] subreddit (shown below, right).

On February 14th, 2013, the domain for the site NeedsMoreJPEG.com^[3] registered, which allows users to upload images to be compressed with a large number of artifacts. On May 27th, YouTuber RobJohn37 uploaded a video titled "For when someone posts a compressed image/uses Windows XP to save a jpeg," featuring poorly compressed video footage of the King of the Hill character Hank Hill saying "Do I look like I know what a JPEG is?" (shown below). In the next two years, the video gained over 1.8 million views and 1,000 comments. On May 14th, 2014, YouTuber Типичный сисадмин reuploaded RobJohn37's King of the Hill video with the title "Needs More JPEG."^[6]