Optimize my PNG's or not? - Hero CDMA Themes and Apps

I posted this in the Hero General topic a while back and thought I would ask for opinions again.
I am playing with a few self-made roms and just trying to get myself REALLY familiar with this android device that has consumed a lot of my development time (apps and such).
Anyway I got to the part where I am trying to rip to shreds everything I can in an effort to make it faster. When I got to the "PNG optimizing" I always see others doing, I kind of sat back and thought about this. Why am I wanting to do this? It may sound like I dumb question at fist, but why am I trying to make these PNG's more compressed?
I know that on most applications where images need to be displayed in a hurry you want to have large uncompressed images. For example, on my HTPC I have all of my high res backgrounds as uncompressed bitmaps running off of a flash drive because any time the processor has to spend decoding the image to display it is time away from switching the menu's or loading up a view.
So I am at the part now where I need to determine if the time spent decoding the image is worth the extra KB used in RAM. And which has a greater impact on performance. I have a feeling optimizing PNG's has been done in the past for space reasons and wasn't really given this much thought. People just do it because its the first thing that seems logical.
Has anyone else REALLY thought about why they are optimizing all of these PNG's? Yeah, it makes sense right off the bat, but if you think about it, is it working?
Since there is really no way to determine/compare these small results, I guess I would have to come up with a way to check. This may be really minor or have some placebo effect. But I am thinking sense is just a hair quicker on my own small tests.
What do you guys think? Let me know if you think I am missing something or am totally off on my "used ram vs cpu usage" theory. It might have been answered before and I am just wrong. I just love math and am totally looking for a good scientific answer to this question, even if it means I am wrong.

What's faster, moving an image from storage at bus speeds or moving smaller amounts of image data, and expanding at cpu speeds? You call it. To do a boot image in photoshop, one color (the extreme case) it took 615 bytes optimized, verses some 16k bytes in (320 x 480) which results in 21.6 k in cmyk color.
That is the extreme case. The actual screen is hardware bound, colors and size are predetermined, so images have to be transformed to fit, any way. Do the trans formation at run time or before?
Food for thought.
Here are the details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6YdwzAvwOA

Related

7" Touch Screen Google Android Device

Good Afternoon Everyone.
I appologise if I am not allowed to post this here but I thought XDA-Developers would be a great place to come for this.
I am thinking of retailing a Google Android 7" Touch Screen Device.
I am still waiting for some more information and some tests to come back to me but I have got the basic specification and some pictures of the device and I was wondering if I can get some thoughts back from other members here.
I have currently setup a survey at: http://www.dhcd.co.uk/surveys/AndroidTouchDevice.aspx
If some of you could take a look and leave you thoughts that would be great.
I am currently talking with the factory because I beleieve that the Ram needs doubling, the processor needs increasing and the Storage capacity needs improving alot other than that I personally think its a great device but would love some feedback on it.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Max
More like pentuple the RAM. Current Android phones have about 512 MB of RAM [and that's phones not tablets], and processors of 1GHZ.
Actually, i looked at this device at ebay yesterday while looking for an ebook reader. Looks nice but having around 384-512MB RAM would definitely help with web browsing. The CPU could be a bit faster but even as it is it should be able to handle ebooks and www well enough. A few MHz more would be nice extra for games and media but it's not that critical in my opinion.
What don't like is the proprietary connector. It would be much better if there was a standard miniUSB for recharging and copying files over to the device.
I don't have any complaints about storage memory - 4GB might not be much today but it's more than enough for your apps and SDHC card slot means almost unlimited storage space for everything else. So i'd say leave the internal memory as it is.
The overall design looks nice. I especially like the fact that it isn't a straight ipad clone. Okay, ipad may look nice but its knock-offs rarely do.
However it seems that someone didn't think the screen size trough. 800x480 screen is too narrow for this device size and leaves ugly thick black borders at the sides. having a 800x600 screen put into that thing would be really sweet It would also greatly improve ebook reading experience in portrait mode (a few more words per line).
The stated price seems fair, especially if it would remain the same after upgrades (sorry, chose "High price" in survey by mistake ).
From what i read, these devices run android 1.6. It would be really great if they got 2.x upgrade along with upgraded specs since more and more apps require android 2.
Anyway, for now i'm sticking with my old TC1100 tabletPC as books and pdf docs reader but if you manage to get this device upgraded it might be a nice lightweight alternative to the full-featured tabletPC.
Thanks for the feedback all very helpful.
I am taking what is said back to the factory and hopefully I can get the device upgraded.
Regards,
Max
Yeah I think if you bump up the specs as suggested above (ROM memory especially), you'll probably move some at the price you mentioned in the survey. However, I think you'll need to be sure to play up the fact that your device does have the real Android on it...there's Chinese/Taiwanese "KiRF" (knockoff) hardware out there that looks like a full featured device, but is running a home-brew Android look-alike OS, with far less features...don't want yours getting confused with those

[Q] Is the screen a deal breaker???

Hello all,
Apologies if this has already been answered already, but I am VERY tempted by the G-Tablet. LOVE the idea of sticking the customs ROMS on there.
I understand that the ROMS are by no means perfect, and I am fine with that. They are ever evolving and I am fine with changing ROMS now and again and trying out new things.
The only thing that has prevented me from making the purchase is the negative reviews of the screen that I have heard - particularly in portrait mode.
Is it really THAT bad? What is it like in portrait? And landscape?
Does anyone have any video or pictures or links to show what the screen looks like, particularly in portrait mode and in landscape too?
Should the screen be the thing that prevents me from buying it? Is it that much of a deal breaker?
Any video, comments or pictures would be greatly appreciated.
I really want to jump on the G-Tablet band wagon, but if the screen is that bad then I guess I will hold off.
Thanks in advance.
I use mine for, among other things, reading digital magazines and comics. In portrait mode the screen is pretty bad and has a 3D sort of effect at certain angles. In landscape mode it looks best when you're viewing it straight on and as your angle gets higher it looks lighter in color, the lower your angle the darker it gets. But I read everything in landscape mode anyway so this doesn't bother me.
For me even with the screen issue, using VEGAn rom beta 5.1, I love this tablet. It's something that I have been enjoying for over a month now rather than other folks "waiting" for something better and not having a tablet at all.
I also have an iPad (company issued) which I hardly ever even turn on (only when I want to keep my little kids busy with the Netflix app).
Once you experience the freedom and the fantastic custom roms our xda folks cook up I'm sure you'll fall in love with this tablet too. With all of the folks that complain about the screen in these forums, almost all of them have still kept their gTabs. That should tell you something.
Search youtube and there's a video showing the gtablets viewing angles. To me its not a deal breaker. I mostly use the tab in ladscape mode even while I'm ereading. Portrait mode is ok but its not a dealbreaker either. I think the tab is fairly price with what you get.
I loathe the screen.
If you happen to have a netbook, there's an easy way to replicate the GTab experience for reading comics or magazines. Just run an app on your netbook to open up the graphic, then flip it 90 degrees (so that it's in portrait) and look at the viewing angles. Notice, in particular, the significant changes if you tilt it slightly to the right or left. That's exactly what happens on the Gtab. On my Mini10v, you have to flip it 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so that the keyboard is on the right side.
I actually think a netbook is slightly better because the refresh is 60 Hz, whereas the refresh on the Gtab is (we think) 50 Hz.
gogorman said:
Hello all,
Apologies if this has already been answered already, but I am VERY tempted by the G-Tablet. LOVE the idea of sticking the customs ROMS on there.
I understand that the ROMS are by no means perfect, and I am fine with that. They are ever evolving and I am fine with changing ROMS now and again and trying out new things.
The only thing that has prevented me from making the purchase is the negative reviews of the screen that I have heard - particularly in portrait mode.
Is it really THAT bad? What is it like in portrait? And landscape?
Does anyone have any video or pictures or links to show what the screen looks like, particularly in portrait mode and in landscape too?
Should the screen be the thing that prevents me from buying it? Is it that much of a deal breaker?
Any video, comments or pictures would be greatly appreciated.
I really want to jump on the G-Tablet band wagon, but if the screen is that bad then I guess I will hold off.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people are simply comparing the G Tablet screen to the typical smartphone screen or iPad.
Personally, I dont THINK the screen is meant to be used in portrait mode for anything more than looking at apps and reading. For THOSE uses, it is fine (imho). You can read ebooks, comics, even websites with it as well as use most apps. It tickles your eyes (some people say it hurts theirs) if you try to use it with low on screen light things like gaming and watching movies...but I find it more similar to my eyes trying to adjust to 3D, it doesn't hurt but you can tell it's not going to work for very long because it feels awkward. I don't wear glasses.
The angles also aren't great compared to a cell/smartphone. I don't have a problem with this because I look at it head on, and when I put it on it's stand, I angle it at around 90-100 degrees, the same as my notebook and it looks fine.
Just keep in mind that the screen is comparable to a netbook/notebook, in which case you wouldn't be flipping that on the side to look at anything, nor would you be looking at it comfortably at extreme angles.
Forget sitting in your chair and glancing at it on a desk, that won't work. Nor picking it up and holding it at anything close to 180 degrees in your hand (like you MAY hold your cell). Think of it as a touchscreen netbook without a keyboard and you'll find it to be perfectly acceptable (I think).
Should the screen prevent you from buying it? That's hard to say. I don't think it's a deal breaker by any means (otherwise I would have returned mine), but that is in my opinion, and this sort of thing is really up to the user/buyer to decide. I wouldn't spend $100 more for a "better" screen, so automatically this may be a defining factor between the types of buyers we are.
The angles are NOT good, however when I'm actually actively using I never notice how bad they are as I'm looking directly at the screen and not from an angle. I've even used as an ereader in portrait mode and have not had problems. i.e. I really only notice it when I have it ont he table or desktop and check to see how flash progress, etc. is going and even then I can usually make out the important bits as it seems to be only colors for me that appear washed out while black and white show up as usual -> mostly text which is what I want to see anyways...
I've had mine since the monday before Thanksgiving. I'm keeping it because a) there's nothing else as good/fast/powerful out ATM, b) Notion Ink seemed kind of hazy and I'd like to see how long that they survive, etc.
Try an Office Depot or something and see if they have an actual demo unit. Staples HAD demo units, but Sears just had a mockup...
(I've also had/have an Augen Gentouch78, Pandigital Novel(white), Nook Color, and gTablet. The NC screen is much better, but again I don't notice the viewing angle unless I'm specifically looking for that as I'm always looking directly at the screen when actively using... caveat: I don't watch videos generally, so maybe this is where it becomes important to some people... better screens are always nice though, and I lust after the PixelQi'ed Notion Ink Adam for outdoor/sunny use... but not @ $500 and their uncertain future...)
[EDIT]
Forgot to mention, but when I used it as an ereader I was holding it in portrait orientation which is how I prefer to orient devices when using them as a reader, assuming that they even support landscape mode to begin with. I'm using my NC purely as a reader ATM since it's batt runtime isn't all that long v. the gTab, and my crappy 128MB uSD wasn't able to boot the unit, and I just don't feel like manually rooting it which is no big deal ATM as I'm mainly using it as a reader. When it gets warmer I'll change my mind I'm sure and it'll be serving more portable tablet duties as well as reading... just have to order some 8GB class 6 uSDHC cards now... already ordered case for NC which I have yet to do for gTab, but I want to buy a bluetooth GPS/logger before anything else ATM, which is looking to cost more than I expected for such a simplistic device(no display, just couple LEDs, GPS chipset(MTK v2 3329), and some memory & storage)...
[/EDIT]
I've had mine for about a month now and I am currently 200 pages into "Teach Yourself Electronics and Electricity"
I read it in both portrait and landscape mode and the angles aren't too bad.
I wouldn't jump out and use it in landscape mode permanently or anything, but I can live with them.
Compared to an iPad, Galaxy Tab and the B&N Nook Color, the screen is very sensitive to the vertical viewing angle (in landscape mode), with solarization effects kicking in once you are off-axis.
This is a netbook screen as mentioned above.
If you are using the tablet in landscape mode and holding it in your hand, then you can adjust easily and automatically to make sure the viewing angle is optimal.
The screen is bright and the colors are vibrant. I enjoy using my tab this way as a couch-based internet/video terminal. The experience can be as good as the iPad (with the benefit of added flash).
However, when held vertically, depending on which way is up, the viewing angle sensitivity can be so great that each eye sees different levels of solarization - giving a subjective effect similar to that from red/green 3D specs...
Also, the solarization effect is not symmetrical when you look at the screen from above/below the viewing axis, with the screen giving acceptable-ish results if looked-at from above, but miserable results from below. Thus the device seems to be optimized for use on a stand/dock sat on a table and viewed from above. (This seems consistent with the original TnT console UI mode).
This all sounds terrible, and the screen definitely IS now the weakest part of the package - but despite that, the overall experience of the Gtablet is VERY enjoyable - just check out the forums.
Accordingly, the screen cannot be THAT bad...
You really need to see one in action and decide for yourself. It is VERY subjective....
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
I use (as do many) TNT lite. It's based on the stock Veiwsonic but It is worlds better than stock. TNT lite development is very active.
I haven't but you can try them all.
gogorman said:
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two "good" (i.e. well supported, active user community) ROMs right now - TNT Lite and Vegan ROM. Both have significant user communities here at XDA numbering in the many thousands. Personally, I think Vegan ROM is the fastest, smoothest experience currently on the G Tablet. It has a few bugs (mostly the media issues on the external SD card - if you don't have one or don't use it much for that this is not an issue). TNT Lite is just a stripped down, sped up, much improved version of the stock ROM that came with the device. But still not quite as lightweight or zippy as Vegan in my opinion. CyanogenMod 6.x seems to be less supported right now, because most of the work is going into making CyanogenMod 7 work properly.
In a few weeks time, Vegan should be ported over to running on top of CyanogenMod 7. And in a few weeks time, hopefully, CyanogenMod 7 itself will be stable and awesome. There's a lot of great development activity going on right now, so stay tuned.
Loved android hated the screen!!
Having owned both a gtab and an iPad I have to say that in the end the screen quality killed owning the gtab for me. The viewing angles make it impossible to lay the gtab on a table like I can do with my iPad. I hate the locked down nature of the iPad and wanted to love the gtab but in the end I couldn't justify owning a device that frustrated me that much. I look forward to the next batch of honeycomb tablets and anticipate purchasing one. (lol that the iPad autocorrect capitalizes the word iPad properly)
gogorman said:
Well I bit the bullet and made the purchase.
Managed to find one at a Sears Outlet 2 hours away for $296 total.
Thanks to all for the replies.
The next question is: Which ROM do I put on there? I know that each of them have their own pro's and con's but is there one I should put on there to start with to see how it goes (when initially replacing the Tap'n'Tap UI)? Is one more stable or feature packed than another?
Again, any input would be GREAT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll refer you to this thread where it's being discussed.
I never went to Vegan out of fear of the install somehow borking the tablet. I really can't bother with all that NVflash nor partitioning nonsense. CWM is as deep as I every want to go and so far between stock, tnt lite and cyanogen that's all I've ever had to do...load cwm, wipe data and cache, wipe dalvik and slap on a new/different ROM.
Speed means nothing to me if there are any frustrating or super noticeable, "get in your way" bugs, and from what I saw of TnT lite 4.1 it had nothing super noticeable and didn't lack any features I want/needed...in fact, nothing 'broke' in TnT lite 4.1 which is why that's what I recommend over all others.
Just remember to always, no matter what....wipe your cache and data. Many users will tell you it's not necessary but believe me when I say, it's better to do that than end up with some magic number or uid error because I've read about very bad experiences from people who just try to upgrade to a different OS. Some of these incessant errors seem to require APX mode or full re-flashes back to original - doesn't sound good, does it?
I may be spared out of being thorough or just dumb luck (knock on wood!!!!), but the fact is I've been spared.
I would recommend in addition to getting input from people in this and the other "what ROM is best" thread, to go read through the various ROM threads themselves. Check youtube to see how the various ROMs look and check screenshots, stuff like that to see what you may light.
Lastly, if you plan to try "on" different ones, I recommend Appbrain to help you get apps back on your tablet in an efficient manner, as long as you have access to the 'proper' market.
Appbrain allows you to sync your apps to a server, from there you can manipulate them - hard to explain but try it and see. And if a ROM causes Appbrain to ID the tab as something different every time, you can simply copy your app list to everything it uses. Appbrain simply checks your tab for what you have/don't have and looks up the apps 1 by 1 in the market, allowing you to install the newest versions possible till you're back in business.
A secondary backup method is to instruct Astro to backup your apps, then you save the folder with those apps to your SD card or your PC so you can sideload them manually when you're done swapping the OS.
Good Luck!
Hey man! This thread inspired me to make a video about! I had a lot of questions that no one seemed to answer in the videos they posted, so I figured I'd add to the community! Hope it helps some people out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1XyVK6cms

[Q] what is the size of the andorid figure?

it's going to sound funny but i was thinking about making a custom pc case in the shape of an android...
but i don't know it's size... i want to keep the proportions right.
any chance someone knows them?
Sounds like a great idea, especially to somebody like me that loves all things Android sized/coloured.
I would take any picture you can find and just scale it up by % until it's the size you want. Use the resulting dimensions for your template.

[Q] Something I don't get...

Hey Everybody,
Before I get to the meat of this sandwich, I'd just like to say thanks to all the devs (both this site's makers and the contributing kind) who so graciously share their intellectual property. You guys F'in Rule!
I have a question that has been bothering me for a while now and even more so now that higher and higher-end phones keep emerging. Besides HTC, whom I am a huge fan of, I can't fathom why most phone developing companies build such sophisticated handsets and then only stick 512mb of RAM in them. I keep reading all these spec sheets (I read just about everyone I can get my hands on) and when it comes to the memory, each has only this seemingly minuscule amount. Am I missing something? How can you build a mobile device that has dual-core 1.2ghz processors, (forgive me for saying it) "Retina" type screens, soon to be 3D technology and only put this small amount of memory it? Is 512mb more than adequate? Would it kill them to put a full gig? I use a Dinc and have somewhere north of 140 apps (and this is after I deleted at least 20) and I was using (and still am to a lesser degree) a combination of App Categories, Smart Shortcuts. Multicon and maybe 10-15 widgets (google search X2, 2 news types, calendar, small HTC scrolling people widget, dictionary.com, powerstrip, plus the individual wifi & gps widgets X2 each). Before I deleted said apps and changed my widget use, I had a constant warning in my notification bar that read "Insufficient Memory." In checking my phone's file managers, neither my sd card nor the 8gigs of internal storage were even close to full. Can you see where I'm going with this? I feel like Jack Nicholson in the church scene at the end of Witches Of Eastwick... "is it a mistake!? Or did they do it to us, on purpose?! Cause I want to know!!" (I clearly know it is done on purpose, it's just an illustration) So to simply say it, Why the standard of 512mb and is this really enough?
P.S. Sorry for the Dennis Miller-like rant.
The complete answer is long...... so the short answer is --- the motherboard on a smart phone has to have many of the same things as a computer. MB/VDO/Sound/modem/rom/ram/memory (both internal and external) + music, camera ...etc.
Originally, voltage and power were the real limiting factors plus physical size, as time went on (from-2001-2009) things got smaller and smaller and faster and lower voltage. It has taken until 2008 -2009 to reach the technology to have 1 gig ram, but since development leads market (when we see it) by 18 months we do not see until 2011, some of the new phones this year will have 1gig ram.
That, and most things that need a lot of ram are games, and most people do not use the phone for that. Plus, more ram more processing more power usage then mad customers claiming their phone battery sux. Also, there were not many apps that need a lot of ram, so build for the need, as the need increases then the phone will be updated accordingly. go to remember we at XDA are 1% of the users not the 99% most do not care about knowing whether their phone is really working right or not, just as long as they can have it do the useless things they want it to do.......... bottom line, until marketing sees improving the tech side of the phone will improve sales it doesn't happen. That's how it works...sorry to say
I hear everything that you are saying and it all makes perfect sense. Just out of curiosity, what, other than games, would use a heavy amount of RAM on a phone? I don't really play many games, I have a couple but mainly stick to Angry Birds if the occasion actually calls for one. To clarify what little I know about RAM, it is the memory a device/comp uses in order to read/store bits of info for quick use at a later time. Would it not help the phone's overall general processing, like switching between apps and the like, to have a great deal more of it?
You can tryout "system panel" at the apps store, this will graph out the usage of the ram and so you where the memory and cpu resources are going. This will probably answer your curiosity better. But, yes more is always better...... I have 32 gigs on my desktop (LOL) yeah i am a junkie but wow program are so fast now.
I don't play game either but there are some of the role playing games that are real memory hogs Neocore is a game we use to test the phone for speed. Just like a computer, the 2 things that will make a difference....... more ram better video card. Or, in this case vdo-chip. That is why (imho) the dual cores are coming 1 core for video and one for everything else.

[Q] Quadrant and other Benchmark Apps

I was always wonder if it's true or not that it's possible to get a much higher benchmark score without over clocking just by flashing custom roms?
My phone is a Samsung Infuse i997 , just got it 3-4 days ago.
Personally I do not want or like to over clock the phone or my computer......
Yesterday I made a test with the Q uadrant Benchmark App.
I made two tests, one with stock Froyo 2.2.1 and the other with Infuse 1.5 custom rom. I ran each test several times to get an proper reading.
With the stock Froyo 2.2.1 the benchmark score was 1100 or so and with the Infuse 1.5 custom rom the benchmark score was 1750.
I was told that the Infuse 1.5 custom rom was not by default over clocked and the reason I am getting such a high score in the benchmark test is due to the fact that these custom roms if created properly are a lot faster even though they are not over clocked by default.
So I am just wondering if this is true or are custom roms just made this way to give people false readings ? (to be able to brag ;-) )
Has anyone else benchmark tested phones with simular results when comparing stock roms vs. custom roms ?
See ya all on the flip side ;-)
this could have gone in general.
benchmarks are basically useless to the end user. fun to compare but dont think about it too much. a benchmark like quadrant can show a low score based on one area of poor performance but there is not guarantee that that will cause a bottleneck for data. it can also generate a high score based on one area and there is no proof that it is benificial. for instance we use voodoo lagfix that increases filesystem io according to the method quadrant usses to measure it by a fairly significant amount. it has never been proven to reduce hesitation of the phone outside of perception of the user, it is a good mod and i dont knock it im just trying to be objective. the thing is that data goes throught many componants and is held in ram and cached on the cpu, as long as the useage is light the file system performance is barely an issue because there are several systems that act as buffers, only when processing long sets of data uninterupted will the certain speeds become a bottleneck.
for a good analogy it is like drinking through a straw vs drinking through a hose vs drinking through a 1ft diameter pipe. the straw may slow the speed you can drink while the hose will not, but the pipe can supply much more water yet it is of no benifit to the person drinking because he can only drink so fast.
add cacheing into the analogy and it is like filling a glass through a straw a pipe and a hose. the glass can supply the person drinking as fast as they need it, but only holds so much liquid, it is enough in for on person but if several people want to drink (multi tasking or heavy usage) the staw will be a bottle neck, the hose will not and the pipe though overkill may make things marginally faster. now if there is alot of caheing it may be more like filling buckets and then the pipe may help but only when there is an enormous amount of data being used and in that case it needs to be processed just as fast, this is when the cpu can become a bottle neck.
it is very difficult to write a benchmark that can take this into account so it is hard to tell the usefullness of the data the benchmark gives you without reading the results of the individual tests it performs and making judgment calls.
we can increase our benchmark scores for filesystem by changing the filesystem to ext4, and even better by going with nilfs or nilfs2. we can increase sequencial reads by increaseing readahead but that reduces random performance and waists resources. it all becomes a big balancing act and the end results can vary.
there are also ways to change the ram timing, the dalvik cache heap size, alter the ram disks, we can make the rom smaller and remove stock apps that are not needed, turn off background services that use resources, change polling frequencies to save resources, change governors to ramp up faster, alter and compile drivers for more efficient use of hardware, and a long list of other things. some work extremely well, some don't. some will make the phone snappier and have no effect on benchmarks, some will greatly increase benchmarks and not the feel of the phone.
Dani897 said:
benchmarks are basically useless to the end user. fun to compare but dont think about it too much. a benchmark like quadrant can show a low score based on one area of poor performance but there is not guarantee that that will cause a bottleneck for data. it can also generate a high score based on one area and there is no proof that it is benificial. for instance we use voodoo lagfix that increases filesystem io according to the method quadrant usses to measure it by a fairly significant amount. it has never been proven to reduce hesitation of the phone outside of perception of the user, it is a good mod and i dont knock it im just trying to be objective. the thing is that data goes throught many componants and is held in ram and cached on the cpu, as long as the useage is light the file system performance is barely an issue because there are several systems that act as buffers, only when processing long sets of data uninterupted will the certain speeds become a bottleneck.
for a good analogy it is like drinking through a straw vs drinking through a hose vs drinking through a 1ft diameter pipe. the straw may slow the speed you can drink while the hose will not, but the pipe can supply much more water yet it is of no benifit to the person drinking because he can only drink so fast.
add cacheing into the analogy and it is like filling a glass through a straw a pipe and a hose. the glass can supply the person drinking as fast as they need it, but only holds so much liquid, it is enough in for on person but if several people want to drink (multi tasking or heavy usage) the staw will be a bottle neck, the hose will not and the pipe though overkill may make things marginally faster. now if there is alot of caheing it may be more like filling buckets and then the pipe may help but only when there is an enormous amount of data being used and in that case it needs to be processed just as fast, this is when the cpu can become a bottle neck.
it is very difficult to write a benchmark that can take this into account so it is hard to tell the usefullness of the data the benchmark gives you without reading the results of the individual tests it performs and making judgment calls.
we can increase our benchmark scores for filesystem by changing the filesystem to ext4, and even better by going with nilfs or nilfs2. we can increase sequencial reads by increaseing readahead but that reduces random performance and waists resources. it all becomes a big balancing act and the end results can vary.
there are also ways to change the ram timing, the dalvik cache heap size, alter the ram disks, we can make the rom smaller and remove stock apps that are not needed, turn off background services that use resources, change polling frequencies to save resources, change governors to ramp up faster, alter and compile drivers for more efficient use of hardware, and a long list of other things. some work extremely well, some don't. some will make the phone snappier and have no effect on benchmarks, some will greatly increase benchmarks and not the feel of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-------------
Thanks for the detailed insight and explanation of how the benchmarks actually work. (or don't).
So I guess after all is said and done there really is no need for novices to even use benchmarking apps like Quadrant seeing that what you see is not necessarily what you will really get in real life usage.
I always had a feeling that there is a lot more to these benchmark scores than simply the numbers!
Thanks

Categories

Resources