I'm testing a Highslide JavaScript image viewer. It streamlines the use of thumbnail images. The content expands within the active browser window versus a separate window making it faster to view all the images, vs individual click on each thumb.
After opening the image, the user can scroll further down or leave the page without closing it. If a user has disabled JavaScript or is using an old browser, the browser redirects directly to the image itself. Once you open an thumbnail image in a post, there are several options (as shown by symbols in the upper right hand corner ; if you hover your mouse over the icon, it will give a brief description:
* Autoresizes full-size image for browser window
* Slideshow for images on page (generally start on first image to invoke slideshow)
* Prev/Next with arrow keys
I think it offers an advantage to viewing the thumbnails in a post.