Cesium FPS performance for Macbook Retina at different zoom levels

Has anyone noticed Cesium performance differs at different zoom levels? On my 15" Macbook Retina with Chrome and the HelloWorld example, I’ve noticed that when I zoom to 50% I get 60 frames per second (FPS) with browser window dimensions of 2876 x 1444. However, if I leave it on my default 100% zoom level of 1439x722, I average 30 FPS. At the 50% zoom level, I noticed the map is blurrier which may account for the higher FPS. Other zoom levels such as 33% also average 30 FPS so it seems 50% is the magic number.

I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do in Cesium since it may be a Retina specific issue due to scaling from its native 2880x1800 resolution. Does anyone have any suggestions though? Is it possible to dynamically change the Cesium image quality so that it adjusts based on the user’s FPS? For example, if the user has 30 FPS then it will downgrade the quality to improve the FPS or if it’s 60 FPS then it’ll upgrade the quality.

Hi Minh,

I develop on a Macbook Retina but I do not change the browser zoom often. In general, the fewer pixels that need to be shaded, the higher we expect performance to be. As you zoom around the globe, you will also notice temporary drops in frame rate as new parts of the globe are loaded.

As for adjusting performance at runtime, you can increase CentralBody.maximumScreenSpaceError, which will improve performance but decrease visual quality.

Patrick