Web Browsers vs Abobe Flash Player : HW Acceleration

Comparison: Web Browsers vs Abobe Flash Player

NOTE:
2021: Several things are changed after my 2013 test. Actually web browsers use too much resources for our old soc. Anyway we can install some addons for a better experience:
-Apply Ads Blocker like uBlock Origin
-Renable Flash Player on youtube like Youtube Flash Player (removed support)
-Force DirectX rendering and use h264ify
-Send all videos to external video player (perfect) like Flashgot\PotPlayer youtube shortcut to Potplayer
-Modify internal browser parameters or use old browser or use light web browser
-Use XMBC or Kodi to view youtube with addon (i'm still using xmbc v13.2 but not tested latest kodi)
Summary: old time is pass. This soc worked better with old browsers and adobe flash anyway with some tweak you can still play youtube with partial hw acceleration (higher cpu stress)
I belive the best actually browser is Mozilla Firefox but you need to edit browser parameters

to check hw acceleration(force hw acceleration):
firefox= about:support
chrome= chrome://gpu/
 
NOTE.Youtube stopped direct Adobe Flash support on Jan 2015 and the new format is HTML5. Check that your browser runs correctly Adobe Flash Player because GMA 500 doesn't support hardware rendering for support VP8/9 decoding. Anyway is still possible to see youtube HD video by sending them to external players. For ex. Using Potplayer Youtube Shortcut Addon for browser (note. is better to select adds video to playlist and pause video in youtubeplayer to reduce cpu stress avg 30% on atom z520).
 

History:
This comparison is really hard because there are weekly updates for each browser.
REMEMBER: this is a personal test on ASUS 1101HA with Windows 7 (on Win 8.x is a little bit different). MORE INFORMATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE (TomsHardware)
Let's try to make a little chart!

Goals: 
-Best browser for Adobe Flash Player Videos: Is possible to play FullHD Movies?
-Faster Startup Browser and faster web rendering
-CPU,RAM usage and Settings
-Quick view to HTML5
-Ads-Blocking
-Web Browsers Cache Acceleration
Web Browsers Used: [10 November 2013]
-Internet Explorer 11.0.9600.16428
-Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.16686
-Firefox 25.0
-Maxthon Cloud Browser 4.1.3.5000
-Google Chrome 30.0.1599.101m
-Opera Browser Next 18.0.1284.11
-Opera Browser 17.0.1241.53

Test Device:
Asus 1101HA
Atom Z520 @1.33 GHz [NO Overclock]
GMA 500 @200 MHz (h264 support)
RAM: 2GB 533MHz
Browser: only Adobe Flash Player Plugin\ Activex for IE  (vers.11.9.900.117)
O.S.: Windows 7 Home Basic SP1 with all uptades Sept 2013

Boot Time (default: www.google.it,no plugin, no bars)
1.IE10 - IE11  5"
2.Chrome 5.80"
3.Firefox 6.33"
4.Maxthon 6.70"
5.Opera 6.75"
6.Opera Next 9.33"

Adobe Flash Behaviour
1.IE10 - IE11 (Winner)
2.Opera - Firefox - Maxthon
3.Chrome with standard setting (read how to fix above)

Benchmarks
Values are similar in every browser but IE10 use less CPU under "WIN7"
[IE10 fullscreen video (1366x768 LCD)]
FullHD 9fps
HD   16fps watchable (limit frames skip)
480p 16fps
360p 18fps

[IE10 Standard Youtube Player Size]
FullHD 12fps
HD   20fps
480p 24fps
360p 25fps

Comparison with Windows 8.1 updated at 24 March 2014
IE 11.0.9600.16521 impossible to load video above 360p (doesn't enable Adobe Flash HW acceleration)
Firefox and Adobe Flash plugin:
HD      13 FPS (fullscreen)
            12 FPS (windowed)
480p    13 FPS (fullscreen)
            16 FPS (windowed)
360p    18 FPS (fullscreen)
          >24 FPS (windowed)
Conclusion:
FullHD isn't reachable with Adobe Flash Player for Hardware Limit and Adobe's decoding process.
HD fullscreen: (1366x768) brings GPU to the limit but some glitches compire: there is nothing that we can do (only wait for an optimized Adobe Flash Player).
HD windowed: Flash Runs Good disabling Notes from videos

NOTEs: Overclocking with Asus SHE Atom Z520@1.74GHz + Fixing CPU Multipler at x10:
FullHD Windowed 15FPS (HARDWARE LIMIT)
FullScreen HD 17 FPS 
Large Windowed HD 22 FPS


RAM Usage (same webpage)
Google.com:  IE10-IE11 39.4MB ; Firefox  65.26MB ; Opera 68.21MB ; Maxthon 69.44MB ;  Chrome 180.16 MB; Opera Next 226.74 MB
One tab loaded: IE10-IE11 122.8MB Maxthon 125.84MB ; Firefox 164.11MB; Opera 181.448mb; Opera Next 369.16; Chrome 369.25MB
Two tabs loaded: IE10-IE11 221.97MB; Firefox 251.7MB; Maxthon 254.21MB; Opera 416.31MB;Chrome 468.58MB; Opera Next 497.45MB
Conclusion:IE10-IE11 win in all my tests. Opera Next is a beta version of Opera and isn't optmized.
Chrome has always the same problem with high ram usage.

CPU Usage with a Youtube Video Windowed (LOWER and HIGHER)
IE11 360p Video (L)18% (H)78% ;         HD Video (L) 41% (H) 84%
IE10 360p Video (L) 18% (H) 71% ;       HD Video (L) 47% (H) 85%
Chrome 360p Video (L) 45% (H) 73%;   HD Video (L) 67% (H) 91%
Firefox 360p Video (L) 21% (H) 93%;    HD Video (L) 47% (H) 97%
Maxthon 360p Video (L) 28% (H) 71%;  HD Video (L) 56% (H)91%
Opera 360p Video (L) 28% (H) 76%;       HD Video (L) 49% (H)92%
Opera Next NOT VALUED
Conclusion: Incredible Internet Explorer CPU usage on youtube video (Avarange 30%)!
Web Page Rendering Time: (same heavy website)
IE11 16' ; Scrolling enabled after 15'
IE10 22' ; Scrolling enabled after 18'
Chrome 22' ; Scrolling enabled after 9'
Firefox 22' ; Scrolling enabled after 9'
Maxthon 31'; Scrolling enabled after 9'
Opera 32' ; Scrolling enabled after 9'
Opera Next 32' ; Scrolling enabled after 9'
Conclusion: IE11 wins but probably in web surfing is better Maxthon or Firefox because scrolling is available after 9seconds

Comments and Fixes:
Chrome
Pro: Simple Graphic,fast rendering and a lot of plugins
Neg: Ram Usage and so slow with multiple tabs
How to FIX Google Chrome bug with Abobe Flash Player ->Disable Internal Chrome's plugin
What Kind of bug? No Hardware Acceleration for Flash Player

Tweak:
Chrome leaves some programs in background so expecially in netbooks isn't good idea to leave this option enabled. Settings->Advanced->System  unmark run apps in background (this will reduce cpu\ram usage)

IE 11.0.9600.16659 (update 11.0.5) problem on Windows 8.1: (should not present in Win 7)
I don't know how to fix it! They invert the use of GPU from decoding to rendering :\

HTML5 Test:
It is a new revision of HTML Language (web pages use html code). With this  release were added new features such as video and sound support. Essentially now is possible play videos without use a plugin for ex. Adobe Flash Player. You can try HTML5 also in Youtube: HERE
From my Video Test:
-Intel Atom 520 can't play smoothly videos in this kind of format (only 360p windowed video)
-Hardware Decoding: Not Working

My "November 2013" Favourite Chart for Windows 7:
1.IE11
2.Maxthon
3.Firefox
4.Opera 12
5.Chrome
 __________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Hardware Acceleration Settings on Web Browsers:
N.B.Enable HW acceleration reduce CPU load but sometimes can't work properly reducing web surfing experience. Just test witch is the best compromise between CPU\GPU performances or leave default settings!
Opera 12.x:
Information Page: "opera:gpu"
opera:config#Enable%20Hardware%20Acceleration
Set 2
TEST: FAIL (too many crashes)
With Default setting (disable) better youtube's experience
Chrome 25.x:
GPU Accelerated Compositing e GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D
"chrome://flags"
Internet Explorer 9 - 10:
Link: Microsoft
  1. Fare clic su Start , quindi scegliere Internet Explorer.
  2. Fare clic sull'icona Strumenti nell'angolo in alto a destra, quindi fare clic su Opzioni Internet.
  3. Fare clic sulla scheda Avanzate, quindi in Grafica accelerata, selezionare la casella di controllo Usa rendering software piuttosto che rendering GPU.

  4. Scegliere Applica, quindi OK.
  5. Chiudere Internet Explorer 9 e riavviarlo in modo che la modifica diventi effettiva.
Per abilitare di nuovo l'accelerazione hardware, seguire i passaggi elencati sopra, ma al passaggio 3, deselezionare la casella di controllo Usa rendering software piuttosto che rendering GPU
FireFox 19:
Menu->Settings->Advanced->Use HW acceleration when avaiable
Extras:
How to improve experience on Youtube (options):
1)Use External Video Player  (not browser but video player) to play HD movies. Ex.using SVPtube 
2)Use web browsers plugins to remove ads (ex.adblock) and comments (GUI, layout) this will reduce cpu load

How to use External Video Player:
SVPtube (Smooth Video Project) is a free app to extract direct URLs to live streams from Youtube and send it to your preferred video player that can play this stram as a normal video.
How does it work?
Install a codec package to enable hardware acceleration (I've used klite pack with included mpc player)
Run SVPtube.exe:  Right click Tray Icon, Preferred Resolution, Select 720p
Run your web browser,go to youtube,select a video and right click on adobe flash player: "Copy Video Url", will autostart external video player.

Note. This Tip doesn't work with all Videos!
How to remove ADs:
There are several ways to  eliminate advertisiment:
1)Manually adding a blacklist
2)Using a Plugin\Extension for our browser (really simple)
I don't want to talk about it deeply but I want only to suggest you: "Adblock Plus"
Freeware,can remove all ads (advances  settings),remove standard ads\popup and youtube videos ads.
Just add it to your browser: Internet Explorer,Chrome,Firefox,Opera Compatible!

How to accelerate Web Browser Cache:
Normally,when you surf on the web, a process collect data: Internet Data->Hard Disk->Display
With this tip we change Browser Cache Location from Hard Disk to RAM (faster)
IE10: Use RamDisk to create a new partion (about 200MB), Go to IE Settings\Internet Options\General Tab->Settings\Change Temp files path from C:\ to new partition 
Chrome: Untested
Firefox: Go to "About:Config" Section\ search for browser.cache\ set browser.cache.memory.enable = TRUE. Now we have to set how much ram we can give:create a new key with right click\New->Intero. In Parameter's name write browser.cache.memory.capacity and Set as Intero Value how many ram you want to give at the cache (1000 = 1MB). If you set value  -1 the browser will set it automaticly.

-Adobe Flash Player: windows and browsers are changing the way to support video streaming. Now HTML5 is new standard and expecially internet explorer is removing hardware rendering on adobe flash files.
I have just used a new web browser: QupZilla that doesn't support HTML5  but has a good basic ads remover and plays Adobe videos with hardware render. 720p videos are now playable (note access to youtube account and edit the dashboard)
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16 commenti:

  1. I don't know why, but opera is the fastest browser for me...

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Results change with different OS (win 8.x or xp); which kind of platform do you have? Have you tested Internet Explorer 11? Do you mean webpages rendering?

      Elimina
  2. Best browser for Adobe Flash Player Videos:
    Is possible to play FullHD Movies?

    IE11: yes

    My solution, flash and youtube,
    install WebM Video for Microsoft Internet Explorer
    https://tools.google.com/dlpage/webmmf/

    fire up IE and enjoy the HD / FullHD :-)
    please to test and write a opinions

    AO751h WIN7/IE11 from .pl

    RispondiElimina
  3. Thank you for posting. I have tested WebM with CPU @ 1.33GHz and High Performance but i can't notice sufficient FPS.
    WebM (VP8) seems to reduce glitches but anyway audio is a little bit async.Maybe can be useful for HD fullscreen without OC.

    I have also tested with atom z520@1.67GHz but results are still under 20FPS:
    -FullScreen FullHD 11FPS
    -FullScreen HD 16FPS
    When I wrote FullHD isn't reachable with an Atom z520@1.33GHz [no overclock] I mean "REAL" Smooth Video! If you have other tips let me know it ;)
    Tested YouTube's Videos: Avatar, Adele Set Fire to the rain (Albert Hall), Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. test h264 html5 working (guide force working acceleration below)

      -Fullscreen FullHD 15-18 FPS
      -Fullscreen HD 24 FPS (full frame)

      Atom Z520 @1,33 Ghz (Asus EEEPC 1201 HA)

      Elimina
    2. tested h264ify + about:config settings+ Atom Z520@1.33ghz with 2gb.
      It's not necessary Adobe flash anyway my results are differnt and lower than yours.
      As you wrote probably is necessary cyberlink

      Elimina
  4. Hey, its possible to play twitch tv livesteams on medium-high quality?

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Hi, i'm looking for some solution. The main problem is that i have few time and i'm wasting it on xp driver and tray icon for iemgd xp (to close forever the support on xp).
      The unlucky thing about gma500 is that i didn't find nobody fixing problems on various OS.
      Actually win7 is still the best os for gma500 (i really need more time for win8/10 solutions because require more advanced knowledge about MSDN documents for ex how to reduce 2D hardware rendering usage).
      To play medium quality streaming you need a good old browser (not chrome) because newer releases are using much more hardware rendering for the Graphic user interface and so less power can be used for videos. Probably is also necessary an old version of adobe flash.
      You can also use svptube or some addon/program to accelerate adobe flash video playback.
      These are basic tips but i will upgrade this post as soon as i can with new tweaks.
      Sorry for a no real solution

      Elimina
  5. Sorry for my bad English

    Working Decode HTML5 HD (Youtube, netflix)?? of course. HOW-TO?

    Step 1

    Download Mozzila Firefox

    Step 2

    Install extension h264ify

    Step 3

    About:config

    Type command of modify a true:
    -d3d9 prefer
    -layers.acceleration.force-enable
    -media.hardware-video-decoding.force-enable

    Reboot Firefox

    Step 4

    Enjoy!

    PD: Theoretically, you could use filters and therefore directshow filter ciberlynk (which is the most efficient with this card), html5 video decoding, but not currently available have a laptop with intel gma 500.

    However, to do that, it would have to force Firefox to not use mediafoundation to decode video, and in turn, it would have to force who uses DirectShow, and by another application (Win7DSFilterTweaker), leave default filters ciberlink .

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Thank you for your tip. Really nice!. Anyway we will have problems when h265 will be the default standard because is not possible to accelerate it by vpu.
      If you have other tips share with us ;)

      Elimina
    2. I see unlikely to H265 format becomes standard in the short term, especially because many smartphone would be left out.

      On other tips, as I said, theoretically, changing the default filters that handles MFT (Media Foundation), through filters MFT Cyberlink, should significantly improve CPU utilization when decoding.

      I remember when I had my Asus Eee PC 1201 has the filter driving optimal windows was little, he could decode 1080p, but always used a 80 or 50% cpu. DirectShow filters and filters used Cyberlink MFT of about 30 or 20%.

      Another option would force Firefox to use directshow filters and not the MFT filters, but doing that, no support netflix, youtube and many acceleration options are lost. (I've had in other notebooks and happens)

      Elimina
    3. As an aside:

      The Intel GMA 500 is a very capable gpu, gpu unfortunately is an architecture that requires to take full advantage of access to its low-level hardware directly, ie using an api that directly use that hardware.

      When used directx or open gl, becomes for its architecture a GPU very unstable (handles four shaders of various purpose, resulting often crashes when implementing directx or open gl), this would not be such a problem if there is a community of developers that endorse, but is not the case.

      Only now there is an initiative of Imagination-technologies to create some open source drivers for such gpu, at least in Linux, but still lacked long to see improvements.

      That is why also that directx and open gl walk so slow in this gpu, since the official drivers do not fully support such apis, and many of its functions are done by software (CPU), so Aero goes so slow, or Compiz in due case.

      That explains also because iphones and ipad, such gpu run very fast, if IOS, such gpu run natively

      I assume that the null support directx 10.1 was because of this, being that in theory should bear the gpu, probably the drivers was not stable when activated.

      The theme of HTML5 investigate him for quite some time, unfortunately this technology takes much advantage of DirectX 11, so necessarily will consume in this gpu more resources than flash, unless it fuerze the browser to use directx 9 forcing the dxva 2.0 browser to use, and MFT filters. However, in doing so many functions 2d acceleration is lost, in the case of intel gma 500 gives the same because not supported, but in other gpu is always better to run under DirectX 10 or DirectX 11.

      Elimina
  6. Questo commento è stato eliminato dall'autore.

    RispondiElimina
  7. For Firefox suggested tweaks:

    1st - Install the Firefox NIGHTLY version. It's usually faster and has more performance tweaks than standalone one. You can download it here:
    https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-nightly
    https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/nightly/notes/

    If you prefer to use an old or classic version please firstly type "about:support" in the Firefox address bar and hit Enter. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right, and confirm the prompt to refresh it.


    about:preferences

    Scroll down to the “Performance” heading. Untick the “Use recommended performance settings” box - much better is set it manually. Then use the dropdown to set Content process limit depends of your total RAM capacity.

    For my Nokia Booklet (2-cores Atom + 1GB RAM) the best setting is between 1 or 2 process limit (personally tested 1 as the best). For 2GB of RAM it should be 2-4 prcocess limit. You can set above 4 process if you have 4GB+ of RAM. Because when this setting is lowered it gives you better RAM usage for multiple tabs. Set it to maximum in theory give you a little faster browsing performance, but it is really visible only for high class CPUs.
    For weak CPU the adventage is not imperceptible, so much better is to improve the RAM usage and set the process limit to 1.

    Go to Privacy & Security, and scroll down to "Firefox Data Collection and Use". Uncheck all boxes in this section.

    Go to Privacy & Security, and scroll down to Permissions. Check the box for Prevent accessibility services from accessing your browser. Restart Firefox when prompted.


    about:config

    Set browser.download.animateNotifications to False
    Set security.dialog_enable_delay to 0
    Set network.prefetch-next to False
    Set browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.telemetry to false
    Set browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.telemetry to false
    Set browser.ping-centre.telemetry to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.archive.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.bhrPing.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.firstShutdownPing.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.hybridContent.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.newProfilePing.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.reportingpolicy.firstRun to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.shutdownPingSender.enabled to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.unified to false
    Set toolkit.telemetry.updatePing.enabled to false
    Set layers.acceleration.force-enable to true
    Set media.hardware-video-decoding.force-enable to true
    set reader.parse-on-load.enabled to False
    set reader.parse-on-load.force-enabled to False
    set extensions.pocket.enabled to False
    set browser.tabs.remote.autostart to False
    set network.http.max-connections to 96
    set network.websocket.max-connections to 32
    Set network.dns.disableIPv6 to false
    Set browser.download.animateNotifications to False
    Set image.animated.decode-on-demand.recycle to False
    Set image.animated.resume-from-last-displayed to False
    Set image.mem.animated.discardable to False

    RispondiElimina
  8. Today I tested MS Edge Beta for Win7 - the smoothest Youtube play ever seen on my netbook!! No mods needed, just install and play, for youtube it works the best of all:
    https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/download

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Yes, i checked on my 751h and Edge was best on playing Youtube videos somehow. IE11 was acceptable but very very slow respond on Youtube website. Opera was not bad. Google Chrome was heavy.

      Edge was great okay but still i don't think that the Windows 7 gives the full performance of this device. Soon i will try Windows Vista. It has less latency even i installed SSD. So i am gonna prove this to myself. lol

      Elimina