Picture view does not download a thumbnail photo at a time.

What Picture View does is to go through each newsgroup, gathering pictures, and collating them. It takes each of the pictorial posts, regardless of the format in which it was posted, (UU or yEnc or whatever) and converts it into a
photograph that occupies approximately 1/15th of your screen when you see that page. Then it displays that page in the equivalent eponymous newsgroup.
If there are more than 15 photos posted to a given newsgroup in any one day, it takes the overage and begins a new page. If there are 30 photos, these are displayed on two pages. Anything up to 45 photos will be displayed on three pages, and so on.

When you go to Picture View, you can view all of the pages at no cost. However, if you give them the $8 per month fee, you may then click on a photo and have it instantly enlarged; instead of taking up slightly less than 1/15th of the page minus borders and numbers and so on, it will expand to cover the entire monitor screen.
This way, you only enlarge the photos that you want to see.
However, even the free demonstratioin reveals identifying information on the photo so that you can go to a news service, download the photo, and see it there, minus borders and advertising and whatever (At PictureView the expanded photos in the members section cover the entire screen).
The first time I saw this in action was not on a computer but on a web appliance that had a 28-bit modem; it needed 15 seconds per page to download at that speed. A 28-bit modem will therefore allow you to preview 4 pages per minute, or 60 photos per minute. Downloading (or enlarging) is unlimited.
For people with download limits, this is a Godsend, as it is, also, for people who value their time.

With a 56-bit modem or cable modem it is the same thing; you see 15 photos at a time instead of one.
it is not only 15 times as fast as looking at a single photo it also prevents the downloading of pictures you don't like (which nevertheless count against the download limits at places such as Easynews).
If you don't like a picture don't click on it.
That's the real advantage: instead of clicking on a line of text with who knows what hidden behind it you are clicking only on photos; photos that you like, and want to see.

To be truthful, I canceled my News account; Pictureview is faster, cheaper, and better for photo viewing.
The only drawback is that they censor themselves.