Only 30% of Firefox Users Can Access Browser Hardware Acceleration and less than 60% can run WebGL.
Only 30% of Firefox Users Can Access Browser Hardware Acceleration
(7 posts) (4 voices)-
mikiem2
ModeratorThanks!
I think this is interesting because it reflects how many people are using outdated graphics drivers. Some probably don't know to update, or at least that's likely what ATI thought when they added an auto-update feature to their Catalyst driverset. It might also reflect user apathy since ATI this summer stopped releasing monthly updates -- maybe they figure it just wasn't worth it for the numbers of people who downloaded & installed new drivers each month?
I find the info useful because whenever someone(s) complains about something not working right I now know that odds are they're using old drivers & that could be most or all of their problem -- not whatever soft or hardware. Practically speaking, over the last couple years graphics hardware assist in most any browser has proven to sometimes be more trouble than it's worth IMHO, so not being able to use it maybe isn't such a huge deal.
Whenever I visit graphics hardware &/or game forums & such there are always complaints about hardware accel not working properly in whatever games, & it's the same with video software that can use GPU assist. With games &/or video, that assist is usually worth the hassles many folks go through to get it working, but for web browsers I'm not so sure it's worth the effort. While it's fairly easy to turn GPU assist off in ie9 & FireFox, I'm not sure how many even know that there are Option menus where they'll find the control to turn it on/off. I don't believe most people know that you can turn off hardware accel in Flash by visiting a web page that uses Flash, then right click the Flash video player or whatever & then use the pop-up menu. So if/when they have a problem they have to go through the whole process of getting help &/or searching the web etc. Yet if/when that hardware assist does work, I think most people would be hard pressed to notice the improvement -- for them it's just something else to break.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruI agree with you Mikiem. Despite having a high end pair of graphics cards (with a total of 6GB of gRAM, I really don't see much improvement. I see many gamers complaining that many AAA PC games are dumbed down (graphically) console versions, but to me those very same games look amazing. It could be that they aren't keeping up with driver updates. I usually update mine within a few weeks of any new release. I have come across problems with some new games which have usually resulted in a driver update which has sorted the problem.
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorYou 1st need to know what graphics hardware you have... If you didn't buy & add a graphics card yourself: You can check Control Panel -> Device Mgr. -> Display adapters. You can use a utility like Speccy -- graylox just posted about a new version. You can hunt up the specifications for your PC/laptop on the manufacturer's site &/or using Google. If you have a PC with a separate graphics card [vs. on-board graphics] you can look at it & write down the numbers.
Especially if you have a notebook, it's often very helpful to use Google/Bing & find out what other people with the exact same notebook or PC are using &/or updating to when it comes to graphics drivers.
If you have AMD/ATI graphics hardware the official site, amd.com, has a driver menu in the upper right -- I also keep an eye on the rage3d.com driver forum, where I've found leaked or unofficial beta drivers that sometimes have worked better than the official releases, but beware the forum itself since some of the members don't deserve an A+ for a likeable personality. http://www.rage3d.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=59 . Recent versions of ATI's Catalyst Control Center can notify you if there's a newer version available, BUT, there doesn't seem to be a way to get it to check for newer versions on demand.
Finding Intel graphics drivers can be confusing... They do have an auto-detect page here, but I haven't had an Intel CPU with built-in graphics long enough to know how accurate it is http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect . Otherwise their download center is here http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Default.aspx?lang=eng , but to use it I have to 1) select graphics, 2) select desktop graphics drivers, & 3) select 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 3000/2000. I have to know that I want desktop graphics drivers from the 4 choices given, & I have to know I've got a 2nd generation CPU. I can also check the driver page for my main or mother board at msi.com, but their listings are usually a few months out of date, And, they use their own version numbers that don't correspond to Intel's driver downloads.
The official Nvidia download page is here http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us -- WR might know if there are other sites/places that might be better.
Note that many [most] systems have audio hardware either built-into or coupled with the graphics hardware -- this is to maintain DRM requirements for HD video + audio using HDCP -- & the required audio drivers are usually included with the graphics drivers. I've never run Nvidia, but after years running ATI I strongly suggest a full backup before updating their drivers -- it's not that they're that trouble prone [I haven't had to restore a backup because I updated ATI drivers for several years now], but because if you have to go back to an earlier version, worst case, without a backup you could be talking a day, a day & 1/2 of work [scouring the registry, removing .NET completely, scouring left over files etc., then putting .NET + all updates back]... been there, done that, & I was not a nice person to be around at the time.
If/when you try to update drivers through Device Mgr., there's automatic, which will look for something compatible at Microsoft Update, & there's manual where you browse to a folder holding driver setup files you for example already downloaded. The manual way can be OK if you're having problems getting something like an Intel update to take, but as possible try to stay away from Microsoft Update for drivers -- they're normally the barest minimum & I've had them cause all sorts of problems with ATI hardware, e.g. the official set from AMD.com refusing to install afterwards.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruYou can also see what graphic card or gaphics chip you have by typing dxdiag into the search field. (see diagram 1 below); many off the shelf computers only use the onboard graphics chip rather than a card as most motherboards have one as standard. It's only the really expensive gaming motherboards that tend to omit the graphics chip as they know gamers will use a graphics card. (When you install a graphics card the onboard graphics chip is automatically bypassed and becomes redundant))
Diagram 1:
This brings up the Direct X diagnostics pane. (see diagram 2 below) Click on the display panel to see what graphics card you are using. Usually it or they {if you are using more than one graphics card - usually set up as crossfire (ASUS-ATI) or in SLI (NVIDIA)} will either be a NVIDIA or ATI card (ATI are now known as AMD, so later cards will show that instead of ATI). Once you know the model and manufacturer just Google the manufacturer and find the link to drivers. You will find this on the front page.
Diagram 2:
N.B.
(you may see more than one display tab, that would indicate that you have more than one graphics card)
Usually you will need to input details such as the model of the card and the operating system you are using. Once that's done you'll get a link to download the file. both NVIDIA and ATI (AAMD) drivers are bundled together will clients and other useful software.
NVIDIA:
You can find the driver page for NVIDIA chips HERE
ATI (AMD):
You can find the drivers for ATI/AMD cards HERE
p.s. just noticed I'd forgotten to install the latest driver which I downloaded a few weeks ago. yYu can see the date of the graphis driver on the diagnostics pane. This will tell you whether you need to download the latest driver as they are always dated.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Anonymous
UnregisteredEnable Direct2D and DirectWrite Hardware Acceleration for Better Graphics Performance in Firefox
http://www.addictivetips.com/internet-tips/enable-firefox-hardware-accelerated-graphics/
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2011/03/microsoft_stop_makin.html
microsoft, stop making bullshit claims about hardware acceleration
I'm sure Microsoft is very proud of IE's hardware acceleration but their marketers are taking it a step too far when they lie about Firefox's hardware acceleration and mislead people about their own.
You can get more technical details over at Robert's blog, here and here. [just click]
http://us.generation-nt.com/ie9-firefox-hardware-acceleration-gpu-news-2792941.html
Is IE9 and full GPU acceleration just marketing?
March 11th, 2011 - 11:55 am ET by J. G.A Mozilla developer is certainly stirring up trouble by accusing Microsoft of falsely advertising the benefits of Internet Explorer 9 when it comes to full hardware acceleration.
While Microsoft has claimed that IE9 comes with full hardware acceleration, it is this claim which rubs Mozilla developer Robert O'Callahan the wrong way. For him, the claims are "nonsense" and are nothing more than a false marketing claim.
He writes "Microsoft's claim to hardware-accelerate "the entire Web platform" was always ridiculous because "the entire Web platform" contains features like HTML parsing, JavaScript execution, and DOM manipulation which are simply not suitable to run on today's GPUs, and IE9 does not do so". […] “Microsoft's disdainful statement that "[other browsers are] choosing to accelerate only pieces of the Web platform" is hypocritical, because that's exactly what they do themselves.”
Posted 12 years ago #
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