I have done a simple performance comparison with a number of video playback methods in OSX. It gives me some ideas about which development platforms, namely the OpenFrameworks and Library Cinder to work on with high quality video playback. The test is straight forward, and as the same time, not very rigorous. VLC and Real Player are used as benchmark for comparison. The OpenFrameworks and Cinder programs are the standard QuickTime video player samples in the distributions.
I use the trailer for the film Hugo in 720 HD. The exact dimension is 1280 x 692 H.264 AAC and bitrate at 2,093.
| Software | CPU (%) | Memory (Mb) |
| VLC | 34 | 114 |
| Real Player | 34 | 55 |
| OpenFrameworks | 52 | 37 |
| Cinder | 37 | 43 |
The figures are average of 5 samples taken at an interval of 30 seconds.