Strata Live 3D's not only make PDF/U3D files smaller, they make the PDF files load faster, and improve performance. This is true regardless of whether polygon decimation is performed, although the results with reduced polygon counts are even more dramatic. The following table shows the performance results for a variety of DWF models we found on the web and converted to U3D format. For the Intel Reference Encoder tests, we used RightHemisphere's software with default quantization and vertex normals omittted. For the Strata Live 3D tests, we used the latest version of our U3D encoder which is part of Strata Live 3D. For the Strata Live 3D encoder, values are shown both for the original polygon count, and for the model after fully-automatic polygon decimation with the most conservative settings (only eliminating polygons that have no impact on visual appearance).

Load times are in seconds, so smaller numbers are better. Files were loaded from the local disk, so this load time is not due to the difference in file size. Rather, it is due to the Strata Live 3D U3D data being compressed in a way that makes it easier for Adobe Reader to decompress it quickly.

The FPS column shows "frames per second" (the number of times per second Adobe Reader is able to redraw the 3D scene). Higher numbers are better, making the end-user experience smoother and more responsive.

All numbers in the table were generated using a 1.9GHz Intel Pentium-4 computer with 1GB of RAM. 3D rendering was hardware-accelerated by an nVidia GForce3 Ti 200 with 64MB of video memory. Note that while Adobe Reader would yield lower FPS values without hardware acceleration, the relative performance improvement between Strata Live 3D U3D/PDF files and the reference implementation occurs for software rendering as well.