[retroencabulato]

Other than pathological examples, PSNR is pretty useful for gauging the quality of photographs, and is very common in literature. Problems aside, it would have been nice to see some rate-distortion curves.

I agree eye balling the results is just as important, but I don't believe everyone should adopt this method because one dude thinks it looks better. Personally, I dislike the blocking artefacts around the neck and badge of the high-res image, even if some details are sharper.