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Hi,

Just noticed on multiple occasions that Orion (latest RC and the latest public beta) uses more CPU than Safari, this is best demonstrated by watching videos on either Netflix or YouTube (decoding video). This is an almost consistent behavior that requires some investigation (my best best is that it's related to the decoding since Orion's VTDecoderXPCService uses drastically more the CPU than Safari's)

This in itself is translated in hotter temps and a lesser battery life..
No extensions are used other than Pomodoro and Bypass paywalls on Orion

Regards,


  • Vlad replied to this.

    Temps jump from 22° to around 30° with a higher battery wattage from 2.1 to 3.6 per hour. In other words, 2-3 hours less battery life than in Safari. I hope this will get reviewed since it's a key feature of Orion and an advantage it has over any other browser on the market (including Safari)

    Ahmed Please also use activity monitor to report performance/activity usage. 3rd party apps may be inaccurate and measure other things other then the browser.

      Vlad I will as soon as I notice this behaviour again with screenshots too. Last time it happened I checked in activity monitor and 'VTDecoderXPCService/orion web content' had 40%+ CPU for casual use

        Can anyone add any more information to this?

        Confirming the issue or providing additional testing details?

          I found the opposite in a test - YouTube serving up VP9/OPUS at 1080p in both Orion and Safari. Safari used far more CPU (approx 27% on their Graphics/media process) than Orion did (5% on its Graphics/media process), which is quite different to these findings. That was on an M1 Pro MBP... Safari was cleanly launched, as was Orion.

          I suggest that a priority here is to identify a single reproduction case - an agreed video URL, resolution, etc. and to test both Orion and Safari with no extensions in use.

          @Vlad Here's a detailed example of a 1080pVP9/OPUS YouTube video running in Orion.

          • Vlad replied to this.

            Ahmed There should be a comparison with Safari and a way to reproduce?

              Vlad VTDecoderXPCService is barely used by Safari if at all, the way you can reproduce it is by watching any video on YouTube, looks like Orion is using decoders that are different than Safari's hence the need to decode using VTDecoderXPCService.

              • Vlad replied to this.

                Ahmed Ok I played a video on youtube in both Orion and Safari at the same time

                And this is what I get

                • Safari uses more energy
                • VTDecoderXPCService uses 0.0 CPU in Orion

                which seems to confirm what @gp said here

                https://orionfeedback.org/d/1084-higher-cpu-usage-in-orion-than-in-safari/8

                So not dismissing your finding, but this is why "steps to reproduce" are important. It could be a specific system/system settings/browser setting/website setting/way you measure that you are using that is causing this.

                I can't reproduce Safari and Orion using different codecs. You can check easily what is being used by right clicking the video area and choosing "stats for nerds", so there's no need to guess 🙂

                Take note of the Current/Optimal resolution, and the Codecs line (the numbers in brackets are the important ones to compare). The codec string tells you the codec being used (i.e. VP09 = VP9 codec, AV01 = AV1 codec).

                You should expect to see identical ones on both Safari and Orion.

                I believe you mentioned concerns about loginwindow using 10% CPU - something does sound untoward on your system. Do you have any kind of system/utility apps installed or running that might be meddling with things? I assume you've rebooted the computer?

                  The video embedded in this Reddit post consumes around 58% CPU in Orion and around 30% in current Brave Browser in just the render process

                  • Vlad replied to this.

                    b3noit These things are nuanced. Try to submit reproducible evidence. Have you checked something else is causing it? Extensions? Settings?

                    I have now opened the video in Orion and Brave. Note that Orion is up for a few days with dozen of tabs open. Brave was just started playing video in one tab.

                    Orion is still consuming less energy than Brave playing that same video.

                      Vlad Understood, will be more sensitive with media issues. Aside: how're you grouping processes like that in Activity Monitor? I see an "All Processes, Hierarchically" in the View menu but it doesn't create that exact output list

                      • Vlad replied to this.
                        2 months later

                        For what it's worth, my findings also align with the original poster – Orion uses more resources.

                        System: M1 MBP, 16GM Ram, Monterey.
                        Safari 15.3
                        Orion 0.99-113 beta

                        Steps to reproduce:

                        1. Open Safari and Orion in split screen (with each occupying exactly 50% of screen space). Only 1 tab each.
                        2. Disable all extensions
                        3. Replicate application settings e.g. content blocking, css rules etc.
                        4. Load this video URL:
                        5. Play both at the same time. (Naturally when clicking from one app to the other there is lag, so pause the lead video and resume playback when the other video catches up. Now they're in complete sync.)
                        6. Take screenshot of activity monitor at several times of the video.
                        7. Compare resource usage activity monitor (using processes identifiably belonging to each app. See images. Blue = Safari. Green = Orion.)

                        Repeat test case steps 4-6 above several times to ensure consistency of results.

                        Total CPU process usage (%):

                        Test results:
                        [Safari 13.4] [Orion 14.0]
                        [Safari 14.6] [Orion 21.9]
                        [Safari 13.1] [Orion 14.4]
                        [Safari 11.8] [Orion 12.9]
                        [Safari 13.2] [Orion 13.7]
                        [Safari 12.3] [Orion 13.7]
                        [Safari 11.7] [Orion 14.1]
                        [Safari 12.2] [Orion 13.2]
                        [Safari 13.6] [Orion 13.9]

                        Result: Orion used more CPU 100% of the time.

                        Screenshots:
                        Side-by-Side
                        https://ibb.co/4NgvxS8

                        Activity Monitor
                        https://ibb.co/StkfN68
                        https://ibb.co/VV8hWvr
                        https://ibb.co/yW2vp3D
                        https://ibb.co/vZP1mjZ
                        https://ibb.co/bdT6hDd
                        https://ibb.co/PQdvhSD

                          TommyRot Not necessarily. Are you accounting for the “Safari Graphics and Media” CPU usage?

                            spirit

                            The screenshots clearly show all processes identifiable with each application (including 'Safari Graphics and Media' for Safari.)