Apparently windows developers knew what they're doing when they invented the multisized .ico format. The problem is that rescaling images smoothly is very expensive and if it's not smooth, it looks like you know what. And if you don't, have a look:
As the image shows, the icon scaled by Swing looks as crappy as the one scaled with MSPaint, while GIMP scales it beautifully. My question therefore is:
What's the best solution to display the icon nicely in Java, Swing - even if the original icon resolution is huge (250x250 in this case)?
Should I distribute multiple icons with multiple sizes? Can I use Windows icon that supports multiscale? Can I enable better scaling methods in Swing?
