Poor Flash performance on OS X

Pretty sure this might just be "one of those things", but I'm a little sick of sub-par Flash performance on mac. I'm aware of the Adobe-Apple catfight, but... geez.

Using a mid-2009 15" with a C2D at 2.53 GHz alongside Nvidia's 9400 M, Firefox 3.6.3 on OS X 10.6.3. Flash version is 10.0.45.2 -- the most recent release version. Have tried the 10.1 beta (and newer RC) with little change.

Streaming YouTube vids staggers every minute or two for a few seconds. This is not an issue I've had much, if any, of on a Windows box.

I've tried the about:config suggestion where you extend the time in which Firefox saves its state in case of a crash; still seeing the stuttering. Is this just a Firefox issue? Firefox + Mac issue?

I'd migrate to Chrome / Safari, but both browsers seem to render fonts smaller than Firefox does; Safari has a minimum font limit, but it seems like that's not always respected (or 9-point fonts are much smaller than I'd imagine).

(editing to add: Adobe's finally getting around to hardware rendering in OS X. See my post later in this thread FMI.

 

Strange it has been very smooth in Linux...

 

Any experience in OS X..? Odd that it seems to be "a Mac thing."

 

I believe the issue is related to Apple allowing Adobe to utilize the GPU for hardware acceleration. Previously they had not. Not sure about current releases of Flash.

 

if adobe ever makes a decent version of flash for OSX, then it would run a lot better.

 

What I dont get is why flash works superb on Linux and Solaris but not OSX??? and why Apple has a hate on for Adobe and wont work with them to fix the issue instead of ignoring it.

 

I have the same issue in Windows XP, but I have assumed it's due to my Internet connection or having literally 30 windows open at once.

the only way to know for sure is to download an FLV video to your machine and run it from there.

 

no access to hardware acceleration on OSX.

very simple.

 

of course they have access... just like everyone has access.

 

Can't they just use OpenCL if they want hardware acceleration? You know, the open standrad that Apple created for using GPU power, it's replacing nVidia's CUDA, and ATI's Stream.

 

you're right. there's a lot more to it than access. all interested in this issue should read here:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash

and here:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/02/flash_hardware_acceleration

and here:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/02/flash_saga


that should answer just about every question you may have ever had about the matter.

 

Try the new 10.1 beta/RC, its been working quite well on my mb.
also click to flash is great too.
a

 

well its amazing Adobe blames Apple.. saying there is no API they can use to use hardware decoding in the plug in.... yet other plug ins (Unity and such) have no problems using the GPU and doing full 3D acceleration in the browser. I think the answer is that Adobe doesn't know how, they want Apple to write a simple API for Flash they can just code to instead of having to figure it out themselves.

 

Those guys at Adobe are lazy. Steve said it. What's the big deal? It stutters for such a little time that it's barely noticeable.

 

I'm sure it's not a big deal to many, but having migrated from a machine that did this perfectly -- and being a little on the anal side -- it's a big deal to me. On occasion, some of the stutters (through a loaded portion of the video / on a loaded video, even) are several seconds long. Decidedly noticeable.

 

I am using the CBC video site (all flash) to stream NHL playoff games and it is working great. I am running on battery and the 9400m.

No issues at all and I am doing lots of tasks at the same time.

 

Bumping this to mention that these freezes and stutters are largely isolated to Firefox 3.6.3 on my machine. I just fired up a video on YouTube in Safari 4.0.5 and watched through the first few minutes: no problems whatsoever, so I migrated over to Firefox.

Same video in Firefox 3.6.3: froze for ~4 seconds within 38 seconds of beginning.

Editing to add: same freezing issues, but generally of a shorter duration, in Google Chrome 5.0.342.9 beta.

(Does anyone know of a way to have cmd+1, cmd+2, etc., work for selecting the first/second/respective tab in Safari like those shortcuts work in Firefox?)

 

Updating my own thread (for posterity, and anyone else currently reading this / interested in the matter) with some interesting info.

Adobe just released a new build which takes advantage of hardware decoding for OS X 10.6.3 on nVidia's 9400 M, 320 M, or 330 M. It's called "Gala."

Engadget link here, with Engadget's early benchmarks here. Tinic Uro, an Adobe-er, has a blog post about the release here.

Oddly, processor utilization went up in both Firefox 3.6.3 and Safari 4.0.5 on a Core i5 machine with a 330 M (256 MB) -- and dropped on a Core i7 machine also running a 330 M (512 MB). Possibly an artifact of early development work on this? Who knows.

But interesting nonetheless. About to give it a spin myself.

(editing to add: in a brief seat-of-pants experience, this build of Flash has gotten me through the same exact Flash vids that stuttered in 10.1 beta, RC1, and RC2 with much, much better results, even in videos not resorting to hardware rendering. Might be worth trying.)