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This, in my opinion is better then changing the stock 3D driver on our devices with ones made for other devices. Since this basically makes it so we see all frames, including those drawn in the back buffer. This forces them to be all drawn on screen, making it appear smoother. It does not affect all apps. Thought others might wanna give it a try.
[HTC-MSM7K][28.04.2009] GfxBoost v0.5 - Out now! For HTC-built MSM7K-based devices only!
About
Short and simple, GfxBoost activates "QTV" mode for specific surfaces. This makes for example DirectDraw display smoother and: a bit slower or significantly faster, depending on how you look at it. It also seems to have a small effect on Direct3D/OpenGL.
Err, what?
Right, this is a bit tricky! If you will benchmark it the result will be lower FPS. However, it will actually appear faster. This is because normally, not all frames are actually drawn on-screen, and the timing of the drawing can be so it appears nothing is being actually drawn at all. This does not happen when using GfxBoost - more is actually drawn to the screen, and smoother. So, from the application's point of view, it can do less per second, but from what you actually see on-screen, more happens! If you don't understand what I mean, just take it from me: it definitely looks better
Some good effects
Some bad effects
Quirks
Alright, it took a bit of research, a lot of trial and error, quite a bit of hairpulling, a few hours of IDA, and an entire crate of beer to get this working on the few of my devices I actually bothered to test it on (Kaiser and Touch Pro). I think everything is now properly hooked up with HTC's own software so things like Camera and WMP also still work. If you run into anything, strange, well, first RTFM below, then see if you want to post it here.
TFM (The F*ing Manual, read it!)
Requirements
An HTC-built MSM7K-based device, sporting QTV and some similar nonsense. In general, I would say this this is the entire range between the Vogue and the Touch Pro, though I've only tested it on Kaiser and Touch Pro, and both are GSM.
Installation
- Install the CAB on your device
- Soft-reset (does not seem to be needed on all devices)
- Start GfxBoost and click Enable
Uninstallation
- Start GfxBoost (if not running) and click Disable
- Uninstall CAB as usual
"What's this Enabled (Overruled) status?
It means another application is running that needs this chipset feature. For example, Windows Media Player, YouTube, Camera, etc. As soon as you exit all of those, GfxBoost should re-activate itself.
"I see no difference Q_Q"
If there's a visible difference depends completely on the application you are running and what you are doing with it (aside from it possibly just not working for you). The more graphical an application is, the more chance you have this makes a difference. I've seen no differences with normal "GDI" style applications (normal apps), but for example on my Kaiser the difference in Manila 2D is enormous.
"What about this video-running-in-the-background-thing I keep reading about?"
If done properly, that has the same effect as GfxBoost. Just not as easy and it doesn't think about other applications that need this chipset feature.
Future
Yes yes yes, this should become a service application. Shut up already!
Release
Yarr, it r here!
[HTC-MSM7K][28.04.2009] GfxBoost v0.5 - Out now! For HTC-built MSM7K-based devices only!
About
Short and simple, GfxBoost activates "QTV" mode for specific surfaces. This makes for example DirectDraw display smoother and: a bit slower or significantly faster, depending on how you look at it. It also seems to have a small effect on Direct3D/OpenGL.
Err, what?
Right, this is a bit tricky! If you will benchmark it the result will be lower FPS. However, it will actually appear faster. This is because normally, not all frames are actually drawn on-screen, and the timing of the drawing can be so it appears nothing is being actually drawn at all. This does not happen when using GfxBoost - more is actually drawn to the screen, and smoother. So, from the application's point of view, it can do less per second, but from what you actually see on-screen, more happens! If you don't understand what I mean, just take it from me: it definitely looks better
Some good effects
- Manila2D is faster/smoother (really the best show-off I've seen so far)
- PointUI is smoother
- CorePlayer playback in DirectDraw mode is smoother
- OpenGL is smoother in some instances (Triangle app from HTC-CA, for example)
Some bad effects
- GfxBoost breaks WMP MP4 playback [FIXED]
- GfxBoost breaks camera [FIXED]
- GfxBoost breaks Fullscreen/Streaming Player [FIXED]
- GfxBoost breaks YouTube [FIXED]
- CorePlayer playback in QTV mode breaks GfxBoost (may be fixed)
Quirks
Alright, it took a bit of research, a lot of trial and error, quite a bit of hairpulling, a few hours of IDA, and an entire crate of beer to get this working on the few of my devices I actually bothered to test it on (Kaiser and Touch Pro). I think everything is now properly hooked up with HTC's own software so things like Camera and WMP also still work. If you run into anything, strange, well, first RTFM below, then see if you want to post it here.
TFM (The F*ing Manual, read it!)
Requirements
An HTC-built MSM7K-based device, sporting QTV and some similar nonsense. In general, I would say this this is the entire range between the Vogue and the Touch Pro, though I've only tested it on Kaiser and Touch Pro, and both are GSM.
Installation
- Install the CAB on your device
- Soft-reset (does not seem to be needed on all devices)
- Start GfxBoost and click Enable
Uninstallation
- Start GfxBoost (if not running) and click Disable
- Uninstall CAB as usual
"What's this Enabled (Overruled) status?
It means another application is running that needs this chipset feature. For example, Windows Media Player, YouTube, Camera, etc. As soon as you exit all of those, GfxBoost should re-activate itself.
"I see no difference Q_Q"
If there's a visible difference depends completely on the application you are running and what you are doing with it (aside from it possibly just not working for you). The more graphical an application is, the more chance you have this makes a difference. I've seen no differences with normal "GDI" style applications (normal apps), but for example on my Kaiser the difference in Manila 2D is enormous.
"What about this video-running-in-the-background-thing I keep reading about?"
If done properly, that has the same effect as GfxBoost. Just not as easy and it doesn't think about other applications that need this chipset feature.
Future
Yes yes yes, this should become a service application. Shut up already!
Release
Yarr, it r here!
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