Does HTML5 really beat Flash?
Out of context: Reply #49
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- jpea0
here's the quick breakdown for people who didn't read the article (but still felt like they could comment):
- on Windows, Flash player 10.1 has access to H.264 hardware accelerated decoding directly via the OS, thus resulting in H.264 video playback with a much lower CPU usage
- on a Mac, Flash player (any version) does not have H.264 hardware accelerated decoding. The decoding is done in software, thus higher CPU loads than on Windows.Prior to 10.1, H.264 encoded video didn't have any access to hardware accelerated decoding, thus some crappy performance issues and higher CPU loads on both platforms.
The whole debate still doesn't have anything to do with performance issues for video (or any other task) done in Flash prior to the 10.1 version of Flash player. It's only that codec, and it's only with regards to video. So yes, IF you use Windows WITH a video card capable of on-chip H.264 accelerated decoding, then it's a great thing. On the Mac side, hopefully Apple will give the Flash player team an API to use on-chip H.264 decoding (like Quicktime X does, but because it's a plug-in, there's no access to it yet). Currently all apps on the Mac that can do H.264 decoding are tapping into it via Quicktime X (VLC, FCP, etc), but since Flash player is a plug-in, it's a no-go thus far. Maybe soon. Maybe never.