Problems with display of preview - and Adobe's tech support.

Question

Hello, all.
After quite a bit of struggle I am still experiencing problems with the way Bridge CS5 displays previews. Previews are displayed with rather low quality. By that I mean low resolution that causes images to appear pixelated and out of focus. I've tried every possible setting in Bridge (or at least I think I have) but nothing seems to work. The setting that forces Previews to be built to the specific monitor size of the computer used doesn't work for me as I spend equal amounts of time working between my Macbook Pro 17" and my Apple 30" cinema display that have different resolutions. I've tried this setting and the preview images created on the notebook would not display at all on the 30" display.
I have contacted support only to find it is nearly non-existent. A voice obviously from someone located in India answered and kept asking what I considered to be basic questions and must have used the word "apologize" at least 20 to 30 times (no exageration) during the 1 hour and 43 minutes we were on the phone to accomplish nothing other than to "register" my complaint.
What is happening to Adobe ? This is not a joke, a rumor or an angry comment but rather a serious question from a user who has built a professional workflow based on the use of Adobe's products. I have been an user of the Adobe Creative Suite since its very first version and of the individual applications even before then. Bridge is one of the applications I use the most in my workflow that involves the organization of my large database of medical images I keep from my treatments and research. So this is very serious to me. I am now on the phone with Adobe waiting again to speak with someone in technical support. I was told the average waiting time would take between 35 and 50 minutes and I didn't think it would be possible but so far I have been on hold waiting for 1 hour and 7 minutes and someone has yet to answer the phone. What is happening with Adobe ? Is the company about to go out of business ? The last time I remember experiencing such a lack of support from a company I did so when contacting Polaroid and we all know what happened to it.
To make matters worse I have twice contacted Adobe and asked their technical support agent to remove a phone number that they seem to have mistakenly written as a contact number in my files. More than one month after I registered my support request I finally received an e-mail stating that had tried to contact me at the phone that isn't mine and shouldn't be a part of my records despite the fact I have instructed them twice to remove. There are serious legal implications here as I am bound to confidentiality when it comes to the medical information I manage with my Adobe applications and the idea that someone in technical support may accidentally share this information with a stranger while calling the wrong number is a serious problem.
What is going on ?
Outside of this forum I have no idea who to contact and if it is even worthwhile doing so as it may prove to be a huge waste of time.
Bridge has been a problem application since its inception. In fact the only version of Bridge that seemed to have worked (somewhat) right out of the box was the first one. I have experienced problems with Bridge with every single new version. Previews that don't display properly, crashes, folder hierarchy indicators not displaying properly, and others. The same images display fine if I open them in Apple's OS X Preview or Photoshop CS5. The problem is restricted to Bridge. All images are RAW high-quality images from a professional Canon EOS 1Ds MK II camera with a 17 megapixel full size sensor, and they always look stunning on everything else.
What is one to do ???
Sorry about the long post but I am one frustrated user who doesn't know what else to do.
Thanks,
Joe

Answer 1

Hi again, Steve.
In answer to your questions:
> What view are you using for the Slideshow (centered, fit screen, fill screen, 100%)?
Centered.
> What is the slide duration set to in Slide Show Options, does changing it to manual help?
I have it always set to manual.
> What are you're Preferences> Advanced> settings for 'Software Rendering' and 'Monitor Previews' (checked or unchecked)?
I've tried both choices for both options. My usual default options are 'Software Rendering' unchecked as I have a new Macbook Pro (only a few months old) and the graphics card is powerful enough to handle the previews and 'Monitor Previews'  also unchecked.
> What are you're Preferences> Cache settings for Options (Keep 100%..., Automatically Export...)?
' Keep 100% Previews in Cache ' option - checked
' Automatically Export Cache to Folders When Possible ' option - unchecked
> What resolutions do you have set for both the 17" MBP and 30" ACD?
Their native resolutions: 1920 x 1200 for the MBP 17" built-in display and 2560 x 1600 for the 30" cinema display.
> In the Mac System Prefs.> Energy Saver... do you have the Automatic graphics switching checked off ?
No. I have this option checked for both Battery and Power Adapter.
On Bridge's interface upper right hand corner I have also selected using one of its pull down menus the following options:
' Always High Quality ' and ' Generate 100% Previews '
Any ideas ???
Thanks,
Joe