An interesting discussion, Stephen.
Ahhh ... but that's the thing: a JPEG doesn't throw away 75% of the pixels. JPEG compression, at least as as I understand it, retains every pixel. What it does is throw away some of the colour information (on the theory that the human eye is quite good at telling the difference between different brightness levels, but not very good at detecting fine graduations in colour).
So have we lost information? Yes.
Have we lost useful information? Probably not. After all, our output devices (graphics cards, screens, LCD screens in particular, printers, and projectors - especially LCD projectors) are not very good at reproducing fine graduations in colour in any case.
I guess the next step is to try an actual experiment. (And I won't for one moment criticise what works for you - if it's working, don't even think about changing it!)
But speaking of beautiful colours, I think it's time I posted a picture of the Gang Gang Cockatoo I saw the other day, just because she was indeed so beatiful. I'm off to the gallery.
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