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pvr vs png 8

by Zeinad · in iTorque 2D · 06/02/2009 (8:46 am) · 4 replies

We are currently working on optimizing our game images where we can, and have noticed that in some cases where we can use png 8 the file size is significantly smaller than with pvr, like 10k vs 129k. In cases like these what is better on the ram of the iPhone, I know that generally speaking pvr is better on the ram but is that still true if the file size on the png is over 10 times smaller?

Any insight on this would be awesome, thanks.
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Torque Owner Bret Patterson
#1
06/02/2009 (9:27 am)
PNG file size does not influence memory requirements because the file is stored uncompressed in memory. I believe the memory requirements for non PVR are fixed at:

Width * Height * 4 = Bytes utilized in memory

The 4 is because it's stored with 1 byte for each of the following (Per pixel):
red
green
blue
alpha


Torque Owner Zeinad
#2
06/02/2009 (12:40 pm)
So, does this mean that regardless of file size PVR will always be the superior choice (at least in terms of RAM, which is my biggest concern at this time)?

Torque Owner Bret Patterson
#3
06/02/2009 (1:35 pm)
Yes PVR is always the superior choice in terms of RAM and Speed. You should notice load times go down with PVR also because the file doesn't need to be decompressed during loading with PVR like it does with PNG.

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#4
06/02/2009 (7:18 pm)
Yes, go with PVRs when you can. It takes a bit of luck to get nice looking PVRs sometimes, but it's great when it works :)

PNG to PVR is at an 8:1 ratio with 4 bits per plane PVRs, and 2-bit (for really simple textures) 16:1.