In what ways can web developers ensure a smooth user experience while high-quality images are being loaded on a webpage?

One way to ensure a smooth user experience while high-quality images are being loaded on a webpage is by implementing lazy loading. Lazy loading delays the loading of images that are not visible on the screen until the user scrolls to them, reducing initial page load time and improving performance.

// Lazy loading implementation in PHP

echo '<img src="placeholder.jpg" data-src="high-quality-image.jpg" class="lazy-load" />';