The claims on how it works are not exactly correct in my case.

Your first pic of the DVII comes out severely distorted - stretched across the monitor width, about 1/2 inch high. However, the one just below it comes out fine.

If I log in, usually they all come out fine but not always. In this case, both your pix come out fine when logged in.

Does not matter which browser I use. So I automatically open them in a new window and never look back. Always works. besides, I have no way of knowing or influencing how the pics were originally posted.

The upgrade message is something I see as well. It's always been related to Photobucket. I've not explored that although I suspect that the poster has the pic stored there and has embedded a link to it. And if we don't have a paid for Photobucket account, we don't get to see it.