GPU

Q. What is a GPU?
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate
and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a
display.
In simple terms, GPU is very much like the CPU; but instead of crunching numbers and taking care
of tasks for the operating system and hardware, the GPU renders graphical information and puts it
on the screen for us.

Q. What are the problems associated with a CPU in processing graphical data?
The CPU can process graphical instructions just fine, but doing so takes time away from doing
other computations, and can lead to lag while graphical instructions are processed
Not only that, the CPU is quite inefficient at processing graphical data as compared to other
more computational instructions

Q. How does a GPU assist a CPU?
The GPU solves both the aforementioned problems as it has more cores than a CPU thereby allowing
it distribute the load better & allows for lower power consumption
Firstly, it offloads graphics processing from the CPU (freeing it up for more important
threads/computations)
Secondly, it handles and processes graphical data more efficiently than a CPU

Q. What are the various uses of a GPU?
Functional uses:-
Rendering 3D images and displaying them on the screen (specially, gaming applications)
Rendering all interface animations resulting in buttery smooth transition effects
HD videos dont stutter
Photo-edits appear more quickly
Fast-moving objects wont appear pixelated
Rendering complex Web pages
Multimedia tasks such as accelerating Adobe Flash Video, transcoding video between different
formats, image recognition, etc.

Computational uses:-
Calculations related to 3D computer graphics
Accelerate the memory-intensive work of texture mapping (method for adding detail, surface
texture or colour to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model)
Perform complex rendering calculations for a scene to look relatively realistic & predictable
under virtual lighting (Rendering is the process of generating an image from a 2D or 3D model
by means of computer programs)
Accelerate geometric calculations, such as the rotation and translation of vertices into different
coordinate systems
Supports programmable shaders (computer programs that produce appropriate level of colour
and shadow in an image)
Helps in reducing aliasing (It is an effect that causes different signals to become
indistinguishable when sampled i.e. it refers to the distortion that result when the signal
reconstructed from samples is different from the original continuous signal)
Support for very high-precision colour spaces (a specific organisation of colours)

Because most of these computations involve matrix and vector operations, engineers and
scientists are increasingly studying the use of GPUs for non-graphical calculations.

Q. What are the factors that determine the use of GPU in a smart phone?
The use of GPU depends on two factors:-
Structure of SoC
o If the SoC doesnt have a dedicated media decoding chip then the GPU might be used to
handle high-resolution videos.
o There is also the possibility that compatible tasks are offloaded to the GPU so the more
power intensive CPU cores can clock themselves down
Operating System (OS) used on the device
o GPU is used entirely for all 3D rendering (process of automatically converting 3D wire
frame models into 2D images with 3D photorealistic effects) in games and applications. In
all operating systems the GPU will take over from the CPU to handle the rendering more
efficiently. The CPU will help out for certain calculations while rendering 3D models on
screen (especially for games)
o Most graphics cores also support 2D rendering in certain areas: things such as interface
animations and image zooming are two good examples. The processor can also usually
handle these tasks. So, whether the GPU is used is usually up to the operating system used
on the device
Examples:-
Windows Phone is animation heavy and with the relatively low-power SoCs used in these
devices, it would be impossible to get smooth action from simply using the CPU. So, the GPU
plays a big part in rendering the main interface and other animation-heavy UIs, leaving the user
with a very smooth experience
The original & low-end Android devices did not have powerful GPUs in them at all. So, all the
2D rendering tasks was done by CPU (This is how the signature Android lag was born). This
problem was finally corrected in Android 4.0 because modern SoCs actually have very capable
GPUs. This helps in smooth rendering of interface elements
iOS on Apple products is very smooth because it renders most interface elements using the GPU.
Apple works with a very small selection of hardware. So, they are able to tightly integrate the OS
with all the hardware. As a result, there were minimal problems in getting GPU acceleration to
work
Q. Where is the GPU located & why?
In the SoC, the GPU is located in very close proximity to the processor
Firstly, smartphones and tablets dont have a huge amount of internal space to work with. So,
having critical components packaged together allows the devices mainboard to be small and the
battery to be large
Secondly, packaging the two units together helps in reducing the heat output of the device, as it
is more localized and power is also saved because of tight integration
Finally, it saves manufacturing costs to produce one chip instead of two

Q. What are the different varieties of GPUs available in the market?
Qualcomm Adreno GPUs
Imagination Tech PowerVR GPUs
ARM Mali GPUs
NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPUs

Q. Mention a few factors that affect the performance of a GPU
Processor clock speeds
RAM types and speeds
Display resolutions