[petworks97]

i don't get it. everyone says the browser on the playbook is amazing. i constantly have the checkerboard effect while moving up and down web pages. it's really bad on crackberry. does anyone else have this problem? i have a really fast internet connection and my sons ipad does not do this half as much.

[s219]

You have discovered one of my biggest complaints about the browser. Been unhappy about that since day one.

[ginstervr]

Dont worry your not the only person complaining bout the checkerboard effect on the browser. I myself have this issue and i have gotten used to it but it can be a pain in the a$$.

[howarmat]

it will be less if you sit and wait for the page to completely load. Scrolling while the page is loading causes more checkerboarding than anything else. you will still get it when scrolling fast on pages that have loaded though. the ipad does the same i think. For some reason android tabs do not have this effect though.

[yeedub]

confirmed that iPad2 does the same thing, but to a much smaller degree, and only whilst the page is loading. You need to scroll extremely fast while its loading to make it checker.

With the playbook, it checkerboards even with regular moderate scrolling during loading, and if I whip it really quick, it checkerboards even when the page is done

[mhind52]

it will be less if you sit and wait for the page to completely load. Scrolling while the page is loading causes more checkerboarding than anything else. you will still get it when scrolling fast on pages that have loaded though. the ipad does the same i think. For some reason android tabs do not have this effect though.

yeah...it does. I agree with letting it load...the browser is as good as your network...goes the same for the ipad.

[avt123]

Wait for it to load first. Checkerboarding allows for you to still swipe through the page smoothly while it loads. Otherwise it will be a laggy scrolling effect. On my android device it doesn't happen but if the page isn't fully loaded yet the scrolling is laggy. If it still lags while it checkerboards, then thatis just odd.

[s219]

The iPad's minimal checker boarding is not even in the same league as what we see on the PlayBook. The problem seems to be related to rendering performance. For comparison, here's the same site (engadget) loaded on both devices:





(Note: Flash was turned off on the PlayBook, so that's not a factor here).

I waited for both devices to finish loading the website before moving the content around. I didn't see any checker boarding on the iPad 2, but there's quite a bit on the PlayBook, especially after zooming in and out. For whatever reason, zooming seems to invalidate the content, causing additional rendering to be required.

One explanation is that RIM could be doing software rendering on the PlayBook, or they could be doing hardware rendering with a super small buffer, so that they frequently have to recompute the graphics. Apple uses a hardware accelerated strategy, whereas the content is pre rendered on an OpenGL surface, and then the graphics hardware (GPU) handles movement and zooming of that surface. It doesn't get re-rendered unless the content exceeds a certain buffer size.

I would be inclined attribute some of the differences between devices to the iPad 2 GPU, which is dual core versus the PlayBook's single core unit, and is also one generation newer than PlayBook. But even the old iPad 1, with a lesser GPU than the PlayBook, checkerboards significantly less. So I think it comes down to software, and indicates RIM has room for improvement.

By the way, regarding the rendering characteristics of Android that were mentioned above -- until a few months ago, Android's interface was 100% software rendered. Google didn't add hardware rendering to the UI until recently. I suspect their browser will eventually inherit this if it hasn't already. The older software-rendered browser was indeed a bit laggy, but did not checkerboard. This is because they were painting individual pixels on the screen one by one rather than doing a tiling/rendering operation like the iPad does and PlayBook appears to do.

[blackjack93117]

i don't get it. everyone says the browser on the playbook is amazing. i constantly have the checkerboard effect while moving up and down web pages. it's really bad on crackberry. does anyone else have this problem? i have a really fast internet connection and my sons ipad does not do this half as much.

It's funny but if it showed page white or solid black for unloaded areas, instead of an actual checkerboard pattern, people probably would not notice or complain so much. I wonder if this is what iPad does?

This is something that was probably useful for the developers, but annoying for the user - generates kind of a psychological annoyance...whereas as a neutral fill color would not so much.

Or if they simply showed nothing until the page was fully loaded, maybe less annoying also...

[biggulpseh]

The browser on the new OS7 devices looks spectacular, maybe they've been focusing resources on that instead of the Playook. Should reach parity sooner or later.

[bembol]

I got so used to it when I had my 64GB iPad One 3G that when I got the PlayBook it was not an issue.

I'm guessing Software Update has nothing to do with it, all about the Hardware?

[FF22]

I'm surprised that no one has patent rights to checkerboarding while try to render pages!

[redk]

Mine does it mostly on crackberry's home page. The forum section works pretty well however.

[Daeve]

Crackberry.com is worse than most sites but the checkerboarding is starting to get on my nerves. Strange how the demos of the new OS7 phones show none of it (even mentioned in one vid from BBW by a RIM rep) with only a 1.2 GHz proc. I would hope an update or two should sort it out (there are more pressing needs!). Still loving using it though.

[howarmat]

you have to remember that the OS7 and the webkit on there are not the same as QNX and the browser on the PB. Flash isnt implemented and its a much smaller screen to render for on the BBs.

[petworks97]

I find it annoying at times. It just seemed strange that everyone said that the PB has the best browser but failed to mention the checkerboard effect. I love the PB, hate the checkerboard! I really hope that a software update will at the very least minimize the checker-boarding.

[chasvs]

it will be less if you sit and wait for the page to completely load. Scrolling while the page is loading causes more checkerboarding than anything else. you will still get it when scrolling fast on pages that have loaded though. the ipad does the same i think.

+1 I Get this all the time on my iPad as well when scrolling before a page fully loads.

[Steve Rizla]

It's funny but if it showed page white or solid black for unloaded areas, instead of an actual checkerboard pattern, people probably would not notice or complain so much. I wonder if this is what iPad does?

This is something that was probably useful for the developers, but annoying for the user - generates kind of a psychological annoyance...whereas as a neutral fill color would not so much.

Or if they simply showed nothing until the page was fully loaded, maybe less annoying also...

So true. I'm wondering myself where people go to complain when their desktop browsers show whitespace instead of content when the page is still loading. LOL!

[T_Touch]

The checker boarding is really getting on my nerves too. There's no denying that it SUCKS. However, I'd rather have it and Flash support as opposed to not having it with NO Flash.

Still, RIM needs to fix the issue though.

[01itr]

One explanation is that RIM could be doing software rendering on the PlayBook, or they could be doing hardware rendering with a super small buffer, so that they frequently have to recompute the graphics. Apple uses a hardware accelerated strategy, whereas the content is pre rendered on an OpenGL surface, and then the graphics hardware (GPU) handles movement and zooming of that surface. It doesn't get re-rendered unless the content exceeds a certain buffer size.

I believe this is the culprit, and I'm pretty sure that RIM is using the hardware accelerated strategy mentioned above with their new "liquid graphics" on the OS7 devices, which is why they look more like an iPad/Phone when they scroll. I believe it is only a matter of time before this comes out on the PB, I am convinced that they are already working on it.

[s219]

I believe this is the culprit, and I'm pretty sure that RIM is using the hardware accelerated strategy mentioned above with their new "liquid graphics" on the OS7 devices, which is why they look more like an iPad/Phone when they scroll. I believe it is only a matter of time before this comes out on the PB, I am convinced that they are already working on it.

I have 9900 and 9860 eval units. I just looked a bit closer at the browser, and see the same checkerboarding after doing zooms. The behavior is so similar to the PlayBook it's uncanny. I suspect they are using the same approach on OS 7 devices and the PlayBook, whatever that may be.