title: Why is setting a XAML Image Source to URI faster than using HttpClient to get the Image?
body: <p>I'm building a Windows Store App and learning XAML at the same time. I have remote images at a http URI that I want to show in a GridView. </p>
  
  <p>My original solution involved using <code>HttpClient</code> to download the image byte array from the URI, get a <code>RandomAccessStreamReference</code>, construct a <code>BitmapImage</code>, and then set the XAML <code>Image</code> control's source property to the constructed <code>BitmapImage</code>. However, this solution proved to be rather slow (1-2 full seconds to get a single image).</p>
  
  <p>My next solution was to bind the raw URI directly to the XAML <code>Image</code> control's source property directly, which the XAML engine seems to take upon itself to resolve. What used to take 10 seconds to load about 8-10 images suddenly was instant.</p>
  
  <p>Does anyone know how exactly the default URI converter for the XAML <code>Image</code> control resolves the remote image data? It's entirely possible that my first solution was just poorly implemented, but the discrepancy is large enough to pique my curiosity.</p>