Google I/O 2011: Accelerated Android Rendering

Romain Guy, Chet Haase

Android 3.0 introduced a new hardware accelerated 2D rendering pipeline. In this talk, you will be introduced to the overall graphics architecture of the Android platform and get acquainted with the various rendering APIs at your disposal. You will learn how to choose the one that best fits your application. This talk will also deliver tips and tricks on how to use the new hardware accelerated pipeline to its full potential.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Android
• Honeycomb
• UI

[JayBomb999]

Romain's attitude toward hardware acceleration has been frustrating for quite a long time. It really amazes me that a smooth, lag-free UI seems to be so low on the Android team's list of priorities.

[KingKhain]

Did he just imply in the beginning that since multi-cores CPU's are coming we don't need GPU acceleration for phones, but just for tablets?

Just because the CPU can handle the UI now doesn't mean it can do it in an efficient way! The GPU can do it more efficiently, otherwise you wouldn't need it for tablets, either. And by the way, Android phones are not just in the high-end....There will be 600-1000 Mhz phones for years as they get into under $100 price ranges. Will they get laggy phones?

[chrischoy9]

Galaxy S's web browser is hardware accelerated.

[zarjesve2]

I do not understand this at at 34m20s

this young guy say "you have a listview and you enable the hardware layer and user starts calling the list on every frame of this callAnimation, we will redraw the list into the hardware layer and than we will draw the hardware layer onscreen, so we will be doing twice the amount of work."

why would Android redraw everything in hardware layer when user scrool listview?

this is uber stupid - or I do not understand it!

@TopComments same as M$ in 90's ;)

[chrischoy9]

Even my first iPod touch with single core 412MHz processor didn't lag when browsing.

My second android phone is coming BTW and it's a galaxy s!! not lag at all

[JayBomb999]

Yes, you warned me. :) Still, I'm pretty happy with the GNex. I have not upgraded to 4.0.3, but I seriously doubt it will resolve the issues I detailed.

While I think Win7 phones and iOS are definitively smoother, there are many reasons I will continue to choose Android. I won't bore anyone with this list. A buttery smooth UI is but one bullet point to be weighed against others.

With that said, I expect better from Google. This is NOT impossible & should get the highest priority.

[cowkmetyiu]

Samsung enabled HW acceleration for its handsets (i.e. phones not tablet e.g. Galaxy S..). OMG I understood why Galaxy S is damn smooth..

[AndyTurfer]

I did try warning you, and I share your frustration :(. Fool me once Google, shame on you. Fool me six times, shame on me!

Have you upgraded to 4.0.3 to see if that improves things? I was so frustrated with my Galaxy Nexus that I sold it and bought a £200 Windows Mango handset (which is like a breath of fresh air, I have to admit). I simply cannot tolerate basic UI glitchiness in a £520 handset.

[JayBomb999]

I just bought the Galaxy Nexus. Coming from the Nexus One, it is definitely an improved experience all around, but...

UI Lag is still there. Pinch to zoom in the browser, Gallery or especially Maps stutters, pauses and often just completely fails. The browser scrolling has improved but still, frustratingly, it sputters and lags (without Flash). All other apps are no different. Their responsiveness sucks as much as ever. Scrolling in menus and Music is perfect though.

I'm disappointed. Again.