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CopyPixels and browser speed limits

Can it be true that Flash Player running in the Opera browser on Windows XP is more than 4 times faster than Safari on the Mac? It certainly looks like that and I need some help testing...

graffiti.jpg

I'm currently working on a project where I need to offset some bitmaps and I stumbled upon a very interesting speed difference among browsers. I'm shifting a bitmap along X and Y using the copyPixels function. This is apparently the fastest way to set an offset on bitmapData, but the browsers seems to have their own speed limitations? The difference between Safari on OSX and Opera on XP is downright scary...

The test file is set to play at 900 fps, so the results you are getting will be the maximum of what your browser is capable of. If you have the time write a comment with the results you are getting and I'll add it to the table below. Make sure you specify your CPU speed and that you don't have other software running that'll steal CPU time (such as Spotify). Here is the test file and for those in need of an image scrolling class, here's the AS3 class and the class to create the test as well. (The image is a neat graffiti I found just up the street from Bill's in Brighton).

PS: I know the Flash IDE can't be set to more than 120 fps, but in a Flex actionscript project you can set it to 999fps without any problem...

Browser OS CPU speed Player version Fps result
Firefox Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 54
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 9.0.124.0 55
  Mac OS 10.5.6 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 60
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 34 (?)
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2.1 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 49
Safari Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 60
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 9.0.124.0 62
  Mac OS 10.5.6 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 53
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2.1 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 43
Opera Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 19
  Mac OS 10.5.5 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 9.0.124.0 14
Firefox Win XP 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 133
  Vista Ultimate 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 130
  Vista 64bit 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 136
  Win XP 2.5 Ghz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 139
  Vista Ultimate 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 134
  Win XP 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,10 72
  Win XP (Parallels) 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 137
  Vista 64bit 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 136
  Win XP 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10.0.12.36 130
Chrome Vista Ultimate 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 120
  Vista 64bit 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 80
  Win XP 2.5 Ghz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 115
  Win XP 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,10 104
  Vista 64bit 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 80
Opera Win XP 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 279 (!)
  Vista Ultimate 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 134
  Vista 64bit 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 166
  Win XP 2.5 Ghz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 240
  Win XP 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,10 180
  Vista 64bit 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 142
Safari Win XP 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,10 144
IE8 Win XP 2.5 Ghz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 63
IE7 Vista Ultimate 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 64
  Vista 64bit 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 65
  Vista 64bit 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 136
  Vista Ultimate 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 64
  Vista Ultimate 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 9.0.115.0 64
  Vista 64bit 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo 10,0,12,36 65
IE6 Win XP 2 x 2,8 GHz Quadcore Xeon 10,0,12,36 63
Webkit Nokia N800 0.33 Ghz TI OMAP 2420 9.0.48.0 8 :-)
Webkit PS3 3.2 Ghz CELL 9.0.124.0 65

Posted by Jensa on December 18, 2008 03:02 PM |

A word from our sponsors :)

Comments

CPU: 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Firefox:
OS: Mac OS 10.5.6 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 53

Safari:
OS: Mac OS 10.5.6 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 60

Posted by: Anonymous | December 18, 2008 03:36 PM

Safari & Macs suck!

Posted by: Anton Granik | December 18, 2008 04:58 PM

True Anton :)

Too bad I'm on a Mac and it still is a second rate citizen with Adobe. Then again - doesn't the entire Adobe dev team use Macs? Strange...

Posted by: Jensa | December 18, 2008 05:09 PM

CPU: 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Firefox :
OS: Mac OS 10.5.6 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 52

Safari :
OS: Mac OS 10.5.6 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 60

Firefox in parallels Desktop:
OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 137

...


Posted by: gally | December 18, 2008 05:30 PM

Vista Ultimate, Firefox 3.0.5, player 10,0,12,36: 134 fps

Posted by: George | December 18, 2008 07:00 PM

Vista Ultimate-> Flash player 10,0,12,36:

IE7: 64 fps

Opera 9.27: 134 fps

Chrome 1.1.154.36: 120 fps

Posted by: George | December 18, 2008 07:14 PM

FF3, Windows XP, Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz

Flash player 10.0.12.36

FPS: ~130

Posted by: bLaf | December 18, 2008 07:53 PM

2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
OS: Mac OS 10.5.6 -
Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 -
FPS: 34
FireFox 3.0.5

Posted by: Pablo_aSH | December 18, 2008 09:39 PM

Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.5GHz 2GB Ram

63 fps ie8
139 fps firefox3
115 fps chrome1
240 fps opera9.62 (HOLY SH*T)
windows XP

away3d rules


Posted by: Peter K | December 18, 2008 11:37 PM

My results

PC1:
Desktop 2,66GHz Core2duo
OS: Vista 64 bit
All tests with Flash 10,0,12,36
Firefox FPS: 136
IE7: FPS: 64
Opera9.63: FPS: 166
Chrome FPS: 99

PC2:
Laptop 2GHz Intel Core2duo
OS: Vista 64 bit
All tests with Flash 10,0,12,36
Firefox FPS: 132
IE7 FPS: 65
Opera9.63 FPS: 142
Chrome FPS: 80

Playstation3:
Flash 9.0.124.0
Webkitbased FPS: 65

Nokia N800:
Flash 9.0.48.0
Mozilla? FPS: 8 :)


Posted by: Thomas | December 19, 2008 12:06 AM

Thanks all! 240fps? Now I want a Quad core myself :D

8fps Thomas? Well, the bitmap is 800x600 pix so I think that's pretty decent for a small device?

Posted by: Jensa | December 19, 2008 01:09 AM

Is there any difference between debug and non-debug player?


Greetz Erik

Posted by: Erik Westra | December 19, 2008 08:56 AM

OS: Windows Vista - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 134
FireFox

IE7 OS: Windows Vista - Player Version: WIN 9,0,115,0 - FPS: 64

OS: Windows Vista - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 64

Posted by: Jensa | December 19, 2008 10:15 AM

2 x 2.8Ghz Quadcore Xeon

FireFox OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 9,0,124,0 - FPS: 55

Opera OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 9,0,124,0 - FPS: 14

Safari OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 9,0,124,0 - FPS: 62

Posted by: Jensa | December 19, 2008 10:22 AM

2 x 2.8 quadcore
FireFox: OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 54

Safari OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 60

Opera OS: Mac OS 10.5.5 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 19

Posted by: Jensa | December 19, 2008 10:32 AM

2 x 2.8 Ghz quadcore

IE6 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 63

FireFox OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 133

Opera OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 279

Posted by: jensa | December 19, 2008 10:46 AM

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2.71Ghz

IE7 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 64

Firefox 3.0.5 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 9,0,151,0 - FPS: 125

Opera 9.26 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 9,0,151,0 - FPS: 117

Safari 3.1.2 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 9,0,151,0 - FPS: 64

Posted by: Exey | December 19, 2008 02:35 PM

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2.71Ghz

Opera 9.63 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 9,0,151,0 - FPS: 65

o_O Why in 9.26 Faster x2 ?
But:

Opera 9.63 OS: Windows XP - Player Version: WIN 10,0,12,36 - FPS: 134

Posted by: Exey | December 19, 2008 02:49 PM

Linux Netbook:
Dell Mini9
1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom
Ubuntu Linux 8.10,
Flash 10,0,15,3
FPS: 53

Posted by: Thomas | December 21, 2008 07:43 PM

OS: Mac OS 10.4.11 - Player Version: MAC 10,0,2,54 - FPS: around 60

Posted by: Chris | May 14, 2009 12:20 PM

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