Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Adobe Enables Mac Hardware-Accelerated Decoding in Updated Flash Player 10.1

no_name said:
I'm assuming my 2005 MacPro is not one of the computers Apple plans to make these low level APIs for. :(

Flash is the only thing that makes this machine actually show its age and I feel stupid upgrading my machine on the sole basis that it can't run YouTube in HD.

Curse you Adobe!!! :mad:

On the plus side, those new iMacs look soooo sexy.
Click to expand...

Being that no such machine as a 2005 MacPro exists, I highly doubt it. The MacPro was released in August 2006 or thereabouts.
 
jakk2809 said:
Hmm, I installed it and don't really care for it. I see some improvement but not enough for me to stop using HTML5. HTML5 videos on youtube just seem smoother and they don't crash too much like flash does. Also, when you right click with a flash video it stops the video. HTML5 video doesn't stop when you right click.

I wish for the day when I can watch a HD youtube video without hearing my MBP fans spin up to max speed......I can dream......
Click to expand...

You know what works flawlessly and doesn't overheat? Whatever Netflix is using. Best video experience out there. Doesn't overheat, full screen hd, no skipping. Just amazing. I think it's that MS silverlite or something like that. Just wild. I've watched hours of LOST end to end with no problems.
 
aristotle said:
No, I still blame Adobe for using that limited API instead of the official Core Video framework
Click to expand...

As has been pointed out a zillion times in this thread that framework isn't suitable for things like Flash.

Do you honestly think Apple would have implemented this new(er) API if there was already a suitable API?
 
Macbook Air support

Just downloaded and installed the update on my second generation Macbook Air with Nvidia 9400M graphics chip and can confirm that the update works.. I can now watch HD-video - hooray!
 
Good, but it sucks that regular graphics isn't better accelerated. :( Or that it's so extremely sluggish when it gets to more complex games and such, whatever's causing it. I own a two year old MBP, and the video decoding was honestly not a problem here, accelerated or not. Not at all in the same sense as some light graphics (for being 2010) in games is.
 
aedraste said:
Say what you will about Flash, but I don't think it's the culprit in your case.

I have a 2.0Ghz C2D Alu MacBook with 2GB of RAM, and 1080p YouTube videos leave me with 63-70% idle.

For comparison, the same video in HTML5 gives me 68%-75% idle.
Click to expand...

Your case in not typical whereas mine is. I base that off the majority of comments on this thread.

I've been using Macs since 1987, so I am more than familiar with them, and I know how to keep a system running smoothly. For example, I only do clean installs with OS X (I never use the upgrade feature), I repair permissions a few times per week, etc. Before installing a new version of Flash, I download the latest Flash uninstaller, and uninstall the previous version. Then I repair permissions. Then I restart. Then I install the latest version of Flash. Then I restart and repair permissions. Then I go to YouTube to test it out, and my fans spin like crazy. This has happened on every Mac laptop I have owned, dating back to a 2004 iBook, and every Mac desktop I have owned since 2000.

Flash has sucked on the Mac ever since it's unfortunate debut. Every improvement Adobe has done to Flash has had insignificant real-world results on the Mac. When a darn netbook with minimal specs can run Flash better than a maxed-out Mac Pro, something is seriously wrong. And it has been that way for many years.
 
apple.com/ca main site is BLANK!

WTF!?

source code look ok I think I've cleared cache and flash cache as well closed and re-opened browser.:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en-CA" lang="en-CA">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<meta http-equiv="pics-label" content='(pics-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://www.apple.com" r (cz 1 lz 1 nz 1 oz 1 vz 1) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://www.apple.com" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0))' />
<meta name="Author" content="Apple Canada Inc." />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=1024" />
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />
<meta name="ROBOTS" content="INDEX, FOLLOW"/>
<meta name="language" content="en"/>
<meta name="documentcountrycode" content="ca"/>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en"/>
<meta http-equiv="copyright" content="Apple Canada"/>
<title>Apple (Canada) - iPhone 4 - This changes everything. Again. </title>
<meta name="omni_page" content="Apple - Index" />
<meta name="Keywords" content="Apple" />
<meta name="Description" content="Apple designs and creates iPod and iTunes, Mac laptop and desktop computers, the OS X operating system, and the revolutionary iPhone and iPad." />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gomez = {
gs: new Date().getTime(),
acctId:'C2C738',
pgId:'Home Page',
grpId:''
};
</script>
<link rel="home" href="http://www.apple.com/ca/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://images.apple.com/ca/main/rss/hotnews/hotnews.rss" />
<link rel="index" href="http://www.apple.com/ca/sitemap/" />
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/lib/prototype.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/lib/scriptaculous.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/browserdetect.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/apple_core.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/search_decorator.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>

<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/promomanager.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/scripts/ticker.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/scripts/promotracker.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/lib/event_mixins.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/swap_view.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/scripts/view_master_tracker.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>

<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://images.apple.com/global/styles/base.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/styles/home.css" type="text/css" />
<style type="text/css" media="all">
/* LANGUAGE */
#lang { width: 80px; min-height: 26px; _height: 26px; position: relative; float: right; background: #f6f6f6 url(http://images.apple.com/ca/home/elements/lang_select.gif) no-repeat left bottom; margin-top:-41px; }
#lang p { padding-top: 4px; padding-left: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px;}
#lang a { color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none; }
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
Event.onDOMReady(function() {
// promo manager
var billboardset = new AC.PromoManager('', 'billboard');
$("billboard").setStyle({visibility: 'visible'});
});

</script>
</head>
<body id="home">
<script src="http://images.apple.com/global/nav/scripts/shortcuts.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var searchSection = 'global';
var searchCountry = 'ca_en';
</script>
<div id="globalheader" class="apple">
<!--googleoff: all-->
<ul id="globalnav">
<li id="gn-apple"><a href="/ca/">Apple</a></li>
<li id="gn-store"><a href="http://store.apple.com/ca/">Store</a></li>
<li id="gn-mac"><a href="/ca/mac/">Mac</a></li>
<li id="gn-ipod"><a href="/ca/ipod/">iPod</a></li>
<li id="gn-iphone"><a href="/ca/iphone/">iPhone</a></li>
<li id="gn-ipad"><a href="/ca/ipad/">iPad</a></li>
<li id="gn-itunes"><a href="/ca/itunes/">iTunes</a></li>
<li id="gn-support"><a href="/ca/support/">Support</a></li>
</ul>
<!--googleon: all-->
<div id="globalsearch">
<form action="http://searchcgi.apple.com/cgi-bin/sp/nph-searchpre11.pl" method="post" class="search" id="g-search">
<div>
<input type="hidden" value="utf-8" name="oe" id="search-oe">
<input type="hidden" value="p" name="access" id="search-access">
<input type="hidden" value="ca_only" name="site" id="search-site">
<input type="hidden" value="lang_en" name="lr" id="search-lr">
<label for="sp-searchtext"><span class="prettyplaceholder">Search</span><input type="search" name="q" id="sp-searchtext" class="g-prettysearch applesearch" accesskey="s"></label>
</div>
</form>
<div id="sp-results"><div class="inside"></div></div>
</div>
</div>

<div id="top">
<!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.8. Copyright 1997-2006 Omniture, Inc. -->
<script type="text/javascript">
/* RSID: */
var s_account="applecaglobal,applecahome"
</script>


<script type="text/javascript" src="http://images.apple.com/global/metrics/js/s_code_h.js"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
s.pageName=AC.Tracking.pageName()+" (CA)";
s.server=""
s.channel="www.ca.homepage"
s.pageType=""
s.prop1=""
s.prop2=""
s.prop3=""
s.prop4=document.URL;
s.prop5=""

/* E-commerce Variables */
s.campaign=""
s.state=""
s.zip=""
s.events=""
s.products=""
s.purchaseID=""
s.eVar1=""
s.eVar2=""
s.eVar3=""
s.eVar4=""
s.eVar5=""

s.linkInternalFilters="javascript:,apple.com/ca/"

/************* DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ! **************/
var s_code=s.t();if(s_code)document.write(s_code)</script>
<!-- End SiteCatalyst code version: H.8. -->
</div>

<div id="billboard" style="visibility: hidden;">
<h1>iPhone 4</h1>
<h2>This changes everything. Again.</h2>

<div class="billboard" id="billboard-1">
<a href="/ca/iphone/">
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_hero_1_20100615.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="552" />
</a>
<ul class="videos">
<li>
<a href="/quicktime/qtv/wwdc10/index.html" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_keynote_20100607b.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />Keynote</em>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features.html#design-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />iPhone 4 video</em>
</a>
</li>
<!--li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features/facetime.html#facetime-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/facetime_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />FaceTime video</em>
</a>
</li-->
</ul>
</div>
<div class="billboard" id="billboard-2">
<a href="/ca/iphone/">
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_hero_2_20100615.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="552" />
</a>
<ul class="videos">
<li>
<a href="/quicktime/qtv/wwdc10/index.html" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_keynote_20100607b.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />Keynote</em>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features.html#design-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />iPhone 4 video</em>
</a>
</li>
<!--li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features/facetime.html#facetime-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/facetime_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />FaceTime video</em>
</a>
</li-->
</ul>
</div>
<div class="billboard" id="billboard-3">
<a href="/ca/iphone/">
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_hero_3_20100615.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="552" />
</a>
<ul class="videos">
<li>
<a href="/quicktime/qtv/wwdc10/index.html" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_keynote_20100607b.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />Keynote</em>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features.html#design-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/iphone_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />iPhone 4 video</em>
</a>
</li>
<!--li>
<a href="/ca/iphone/features/facetime.html#facetime-video" class="more">
<span class="play"></span>
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/facetime_thumb_video_20100607.jpg" alt="" width="79" height="49" class="left" />
<em>Watch the<br />FaceTime video</em>
</a>
</li-->
</ul>
</div>
</div>

<div class="wrapper">
<div id="ticker"><p><a title="Read the latest news and information from Apple (Canada)" href="/ca/hotnews/" id="ticker-headline">Hot News Headlines</a> <a href="/ca/hotnews/" id="news-link">Read the latest news and information from Apple.</a></p></div>
<a href="http://images.apple.com/ca/hotnews/feeds/ticker.rss" id="ticker-rss-link"></a>
<div id="lang">
<p><a href="/ca/fr/">Français</a></p>
</div> <!-- /lang -->
</div>

<div id="promos">
<a class="promo1" href="/ca/iphone/case-program/"><img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/promo_iphone_case_program_20100723.jpg" width="236" height="155" alt="iPhone 4 Case Program. Learn more." /></a>
<a class="promo2" href="/ca/iphone/softwareupdate/"><img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/promo_ios401_20100716.jpg" width="236" height="155" alt="iOS 4.0.1 Software Update. Download it now." /></a>
<a class="promo3" href="/ca/imac/"><img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/promo_imac_20100727.jpg" width="236" height="155" alt="The new iMac. The ultimate all-in-one. Turbocharged." /></a>
<a class="promo4" href="http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/campaigns/back_to_school?aid=www-naus-bts2010-00087"><img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/hotnews/promos/images/promo_bts_20100610.jpg" width="236" height="155" alt="Buy a Mac for university, and get a free iPod touch. Terms apply." /></a>
</div>

<div id="homefooter">
<div id="links">
<p class="left">Shop the <a href="/ca/store/">Apple Online Store</a> (1-800-MY-APPLE), visit an <a href="/ca/retail/">Apple Retail Store</a>, or find a <a href="/ca/buy/">reseller</a>.</p>
<ul class="piped right">
<li><a href="/ca/sitemap/" class="first">Site Map</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/hotnews/">Hot News</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/rss/">RSS Feeds</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/pr/">Media Info</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/environment/">Environment</a></li>
<li><a href="/jobs/ca/">Job Opportunities</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/contact/">Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>
</div><!--/links-->

<div class="sosumi">
<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.</p>
<ul class="piped">
<li><a href="/ca/legal/" class="first">Terms of Use</a></li>
<li><a href="/ca/legal/privacy/">Privacy Policy</a></li>
</ul>
<div id="worldwide">
<a href="/ca/choose-your-country/">
<img src="http://images.apple.com/ca/home/images/canada.png" alt="Canada" height="22" width="22" />
<span class="more">Choose your country or region</span>
</a>
</div>
</div><!--/sosumi-->
</div><!--/homefooter-->

<!-- Start of DoubleClick Spotlight Tag: Please do not remove-->
<!-- Creation Date:11/19/07 -->
<script type="text/javascript">
var axel = Math.random()+"";
var a = axel * 10000000000000;
document.write('<iframe src="http://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi;src=1566767;type=apple663;cat=apple249;ord='+ a + '?" width=1 height=1 frameborder=0><\/iframe>');
</script>
<noscript>
<iframe src="http://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi;src=1566767;type=apple663;cat=apple249;ord=1?" width=1 height=1 frameborder=0></iframe>
</noscript>
<!-- End of DoubleClick Spotlight Tag: Please do not remove-->
</body>
</html>
Click to expand...
 
lostngone said:
Well, please enlighten me? Also explain why Quicktime can playback a similar video at the same resolution, quality and frame rate at a 6 fold reduction in CPU(and not using the GPU for acceleration) when compared to flash.
Click to expand...

I'll try to explain it, even though I'm no expert, but I have read about it. I'll use Windows as an example because I'm more familiar with it, and because from what I hear OSx doesn't use the GPU for video play back because the API weren't supported, until recently for the GPUs mentioned on this thread. Lets say there are 5 steps that have to be taken for every frame of video. If you play a video of your hard drive (on Windows), then 4 of those steps will go through the video card, and one through the CPU. On flash before hardware acceleration all of those steps were performed on the CPU. What I got from your post was that you were thinking that flash being GPU accelerated was something that was being used in addition to make the video use less resource, rather than something that's normal for video playback. A GPU is much more efficient for video than a general purpose CPU, that's why when you play a video from your computer, at least in Windows, it uses the CPU. Most GPUs I assume have accelerations for most establish video types, that's why my CPU on Windows doesn't go to 100 percent when I play an Mpeg2 video. Otherwise it would use as much resource as flash on Mac, because it wouldn't be hardware accelerated. I guess my point is that flash being GPU accelerated is not covering up its inefficiency, but rather making it normal.
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
Thanks for confirming that. That was my hold-out with the cruddy list they posted.

:)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I am a little confused, so this update will have hardware acceleration on a Macbook Alu (not a macbook pro 13" alu?)

If so, I will tell my parents to update!!
haha
 
aristotle said:
No, I still blame Adobe for using that limited API instead of the official Core Video framework and for using an odd H264 profile which is not compatible with hardware decoders found on mobile devices to encode their video.
Click to expand...

You can't blame Adobe for using that API since Core Video cannot work for what they do. Core video does not provide frame data.

Blame apple for making Core Video too high level for actual real apps to use. It's just a toy component you put in an app if you want a video player, it's not a real API for things like media players.
 
KnightWRX said:
Not everyone can just use Apple's high level stuff. Sometimes you just need to feed encoded frames and receive decoded frames so you can apply other overlays/processing to them.

It's quite disingenious to suggest this is not an Apple problem. Why doesn't Apple expose all the hardware that support H.264 acceleration to their new API ?



Read the thread, the reason is simple : Apple. This is the compatibility Apple provided. This isn't Adobe being lazy.

Of course, this will need much repeating in the next few pages as the Apple Defense Squad tries to trash Adobe over an Apple created problem.
Click to expand...


Should Apple open up hardware-level access to a third party developer, I think it's a valid question in terms of design phylosophy/security. Can't blame Apple right away.
 
has anyone managed to get the hardware support on a late 2009 imac with an ATI 4850?
I haven't :(
 
what about late '08 macbooks???

i have the late 2008 macbook with the 9400m in all the other new macbook pro 13" models, why didn't they include support for those models?? damn, how often do we have to upgrade to still get the new features? :eek::mad: this laptop still feels new, and i didnt think it would be unsupported in such a short amount of time, if wanted that then i would have gone with an older powerbook...
 
senc01a said:
has anyone managed to get the hardware support on a late 2009 imac with an ATI 4850?
I haven't :(
Click to expand...

hey, i may be wrong, but who cares about that model when you have a high clocked dual core or quad-core under the hood anyway? this was mostly for mobiles, to decrease power consumption and increase battery life... your imac isn't toasting your lap while playing youtube, and isn't a 3GHz core2duo or 2.6+ ghz core i5 or i7 enough for that anyway? my 2GHz core2duo barely keeps up so i figure 1 clocked 1.5x as high would do flash easily, right?:(
 
Chase R said:
Will this work with my late 2008 unibody MacBook (9400m)?
Click to expand...

unfortunately, for some reason, no... i just tried it and there is no difference than before and we have the same model. this is pretty stupid, seeing as the 08 macbook alu has the same gpu as the new macbook pro 13s.
 
KnightWRX said:
You can't blame Adobe for using that API since Core Video cannot work for what they do. Core video does not provide frame data.

Blame apple for making Core Video too high level for actual real apps to use. It's just a toy component you put in an app if you want a video player, it's not a real API for things like media players.
Click to expand...

I can blame NVIDIA and ATI.
 
inlovewithi said:
I don't think you quite understand the steps for video to play on a computer.
Click to expand...
I don't think you quite understand what happens when the corresponding API is being used. Adobe uses the API which will only use the supported GPU's. The Intel HD is not one of them thus causing a GPU switch from Intel HD to Nvidia Geforce GT 330M in the new mid 2010 MBP's. The 330M draws an awful lot more power than the Intel HD causing a much lower battery life. You can only switch back to the Intel HD when closing and reopening the application. In other words: if you value battery life this new version is simply unacceptable and unusable.

The problem with the current hardware accelerated decoding is the fact that it is limited to H.264 content. If something else is being used or there is only Flash you won't see any improvements (like some people already noticed). Something else a lot of people don't seem to understand is the fact you need something like a graphics card (with the corresponding driver), an API (or something more low level which has been around for much longer than those spanking brand new API's) and Flash altogether. This means you have to deal with Adobe, Apple and Nvidia/ATI. If one or more of them screws up, things don't work properly. It's teamwork. You might want to think about that before trying to blame someone (and yes, due to the fact Adobe neglected its non-Windows versions of their software it is the most likely one to blame but that doesn't mean the others are not to blame).

Vyruz Reaper said:
still no fix for the chrome GFX switching in the new 2010 MBP???
Click to expand...
As explained above this now is the right and expected behaviour due to the hardware accelerated H.264 decoding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back