[waitwhat]

But the compressed version actually exposes more detail.

No. It really doesn't.

It adds a couple of visual filters (brightening, sharpening) before recompressing, but these don't "expose more detail", but rather all three steps actually introduce additional errors. Errors that trick they eye into seeing a "better" image, but errors nonetheless.

[sharoncarmel10]

JPEGmini does not apply any filters on the photo, no pre processing whatsoever. JPEGmini went through BT.500 certification, the result was that given 2 images 1. source 2. recompressed, the tester could not tell which is the source and which is the recompressed. Enjoy.

[CJefferson]

I'm not sure what BT.500 certification is, but I can certainly tell the difference on some (not all) images, when recomposed.

Are you attached to JPEGmini? If so, would you be willing to bet that I cannot tell if a photo of my choice has gone through your system and been compressed?

[waitwhat]

I'm on a 3G connection today, so relied on this thread for before/after images. Unfortunately, it seems that the original poster had labelled his photos the wrong way around...