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    Core Image is a library of routines likely to be used by high-end image and video processing applications (e.g. Photoshop and Final Cut Pro). It should not be confused with Quartz Extreme, which is the engine for the eye candy of OS X's GUI (e.g. the fast user switching animation), and has relatively modest hardware requirements (an AGP Radeon or nVidia card with at least 16MB of RAM).

    If you use high-end image or video applications, or for whatever reason can't live without the "ripple" effect in Dashboard, you might want to consider buying a Core Image-compatible video card; otherwise don't bother.

    John Siracusa explains Quartz 2D Extreme, Core Image, and Core Video at some length in his review of Tiger. On page 19 he summarizes: "The GPU-powered graphics technologies [of Tiger] play less of a role in day-to-day performance increases than you might expect. Think of them instead as enablers of entirely new things (e.g., Core Video effects) rather the bringers of 'the snappy.'"


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last modified: 2005-04-28 15:50:49