I can't find a suitable word to describe the downsides of using HTML tables for displaying images here.
But there are alternatives allowing a lot of details without bandwith problems.
And less so
I had to use the latter multiple times in the past and it was kind of bothersome moving characters by hitting the bar.
But a nodelet-hack to extend the ability of the local markup to show base64 or SVG could be an easy proof of concept.
Alas I doubt that's our top priority here.
FWIW here a POC:
The Perl Onion as Base64
<img width="50px" height="50px" src="data:image/gif;base64,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==">
The Perl Onion as SVG
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="#000000" width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 32 32" version="1.1">
<title>perl</title>
<path d="M17.291 28.797c-0.389 0-0.349 0.76 0.066 1.289 0.385 0.489 1.132 0.707 1.132 0.329-0.252-0.656-0.664-1.203-1.189-1.611l-0.008-0.006zM14.706 28.718c-0.155-0.003-0.282 0.174-0.408 0.536-0.079 0.272-0.243 0.499-0.461 0.654l-0.004 0.003c-0.155 0.037-0.268 0.175-0.268 0.338 0 0.192 0.156 0.347 0.347 0.347 0.005 0 0.010-0 0.015-0l-0.001 0c0.26-0.023 0.49-0.133 0.666-0.3l-0.001 0c0.55-0.551 0.722-1.027 0.476-1.324-0.138-0.167-0.257-0.253-0.361-0.255zM16.017 28.369c-0.259-0.007-0.37 0.435-0.37 1.397 0 1.172 0.022 1.231 0.426 1.174 0.376-0.052 0.432-0.187 0.482-1.12 0.040-0.764-0.024-1.124-0.228-1.295-0.082-0.081-0.188-0.137-0.307-0.155l-0.003-0zM17.375 9.062c0.042-0.009 0.168 0.141 0.314 0.381 0.727 0.778 1.523 1.473 2.384 2.083l0.048 0.032c3.599 2.728 6.568 5.456 5.094 10.22-0.549 1.51-1.384 2.8-2.446 3.861l-0 0c-0.502 0.598-1.144 1.063-1.875 1.348l-0.032 0.011c0.24-0.452 0.515-0.843 0.832-1.194l-0.005 0.005c1.406-1.708 2.259-3.918 2.259-6.326 0-0.262-0.010-0.522-0.030-0.779l0.002 0.034c-0.663-3.014-2.34-5.558-4.647-7.318l-0.030-0.022c-1.137-0.992-1.892-1.914-1.884-2.301 0-0.020 0.006-0.031 0.016-0.034zM16.485 3.346c-0.145 0.736-0.229 1.583-0.229 2.449 0 0.411 0.019 0.819 0.056 1.22l-0.004-0.052-0.005 3.647-0.927 3.505c-0.574 1.662-0.905 3.576-0.905 5.569 0 1.44 0.173 2.84 0.5 4.179l-0.025-0.12c0.695 2.744 0.992 3.288 1.953 3.561 0.578 0.189 1.080 0.43 1.541 0.728l-0.026-0.016c0.917 0.611 1.739 0.542 3.384-0.289 2.213-1.042 3.968-2.752 5.041-4.866l0.028-0.061c0.479-1.005 0.759-2.184 0.759-3.428 0-1.172-0.248-2.285-0.695-3.291l0.020 0.052c-1.32-2.211-3.16-3.988-5.358-5.194l-0.073-0.037c-2.694-1.79-3.262-2.268-3.926-3.305-0.271-0.367-0.434-0.828-0.434-1.327 0-0.167 0.018-0.33 0.053-0.487l-0.003 0.015c0.033-0.517 0.118-0.999 0.251-1.461l-0.012 0.048c0.126-0.298 0.086-0.334-0.252-0.227-0.324 0.102-0.424 0.034-0.523-0.356-0.076-0.305-0.14-0.464-0.189-0.455zM14.605 2.559c-0.232 0-0.284 0.324-0.284 1.772 0.002 0.071 0.003 0.154 0.003 0.238 0 0.771-0.081 1.523-0.236 2.248l0.013-0.070c-0.389 1.139-1.438 2.165-4.34 4.242-1.834 1.227-3.35 2.78-4.499 4.588l-0.037 0.063c-0.494 1.069-0.783 2.321-0.783 3.639 0 3.505 2.037 6.535 4.992 7.969l0.053 0.023c2.010 1.124 3.696 1.562 3.696 0.957 0-0.157-0.067-0.284-0.151-0.284-0.602-0.294-1.114-0.6-1.598-0.943l0.035 0.024c-2.801-1.473-4.678-4.364-4.678-7.692 0-0.136 0.003-0.271 0.009-0.405l-0.001 0.019c0.187-2.38 1.088-3.839 4.731-7.646 3.143-3.285 3.352-3.701 3.356-6.61 0.001-1.77-0.045-2.131-0.282-2.131zM15.549 1.045c-0.184 0-0.258 0.859-0.314 3.645-0.072 3.564-0.087 3.675-0.636 4.878-0.746 1.441-1.59 2.684-2.561 3.815l0.022-0.026c-0.762 0.865-1.419 1.849-1.935 2.915l-0.034 0.077c-0.409 0.946-0.646 2.048-0.646 3.206 0 1.111 0.219 2.171 0.617 3.14l-0.020-0.055c0.719 1.587 1.759 2.915 3.045 3.95l0.021 0.016c1.172 1.003 1.533 1.145 1.714 0.678-0.080-0.493-0.294-0.926-0.604-1.271l0.002 0.002c-0.495-0.727-0.983-1.567-1.413-2.442l-0.055-0.124c-1.722-3.647-0.872-6.676 1.124-10.026 0.949-1.363 1.638-2.98 1.957-4.726l0.011-0.075c0.091-0.828 0.143-1.788 0.143-2.76 0-1.703-0.159-3.368-0.463-4.983l0.026 0.166z"/>
</svg>
UPDATE
You can copy either code into your Free Nodelet Settings to see the effect. (Don't forget to activate the free nodelet to be shown in your nodelet tab)