Introduced in Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, Quartz Extreme replaced Quartz to offload portions of OS X's 2D display work from the CPU to the GPU. Quartz 2D Extreme similarly would replace Quartz 2D to further offload work to the GPU.
(Click picture for video. Go to 22'52".)
However, while the Quartz 2D Extreme code is present in Tiger, rumour has that it is disabled by default in the shipping version of Tiger. Also, there is no mention of it on Apple's public webpages about Tiger. So apparently, even if the hardware includes a Shader 2.0 compliant programmable GPU (which is required for Quartz 2D Extreme), Tiger unfortunately does not use it at this time.
If these rumours are true (and we will only know for sure on the 29th), one can only hope that later point updates of 10.4 will reenable it. In the meantime, one can enable it for testing purposes using the Quartz Debug application in the Developer Tools.
(Note that Core Image is something completely different from Quartz 2D Extreme, and is included and enabled in Tiger. Core Image's GPU acceleration does share Quartz 2D Extreme's requirement for Shader 2.0 support however.)
[Update 2005-04-25]
Several people who now have the release version of Tiger 10.4 (8A428) are reporting that Quartz 2D Extreme is indeed disabled by default.
7 comments:
it is still mentioned here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/over200.html
Dock Icon
Play DVDs live on the Dock icon when the DVD window is minimized (requires Quartz Extreme).
ooops, i am sorry. you were talking about quartz 2d extreme... please ignore my previous comment
What a BS are you writing in here? Whats about this:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme/
of course Quartz Extreme is included in Tiger and also active
Quartz Extreme ≠ Quartz 2D Extreme
Yes, Quartz Extreme is present and enabled in Tiger. However, Quartz 2D Extreme, while also present in Tiger, appears to be disabled by default.
Eug did you even read my link? Quartz 2D.. So this is Quartz Extreme for 2D and 3D? Where the hell did you get you information?
"Eug did you even read my link? Quartz 2D.. So this is Quartz Extreme for 2D and 3D? Where the hell did you get you information?"
Do a Google search for "Quartz 2D Extreme" (with the quotes). That should explain your questions, but in the meantime...
Quartz Extreme and Quartz 2D Extreme are different things, and they have different requirements too. And as I said in the article, Quartz 2D Extreme is a replacement for Quartz 2D. (Take a look at that page you linked to see where Quartz 2D fits).
Quartz Extreme just needs a GeForce2 MX or better. Quartz 2D Extreme requires a GPU with Shader 2.0 support, such as a GeForce 5200 or Radeon 9600 series GPU. This is the same requirement as Core Image, but Quartz 2D Extreme is also different from Core Image.
Quartz 2D is software based whereas Quartz 2D Extreme is hardware based, making it much superior
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