Definition
Hardware acceleration uses specialized hardware components to offload certain computing tasks from the central processing unit to improve performance, efficiency, and user experience.
These components can include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), graphics processing unit (GPU), or field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
Hardware Acceleration Examples
- Hardware acceleration executes graphics solely on the GPU, accelerating tasks related to rendering images, videos, and animations. This significantly improves the smoothness and performance of video playback, gaming, and other multimedia applications.
- Hardware acceleration can accelerate video encoding and decoding, resulting in quicker video conversions and more seamless video streaming.
- Hardware acceleration executes sound processing tasks through the sound card, freeing up computing power for other tasks.
- Hardware acceleration can perform crypto calculations more efficiently than GPUs or CPUs, resulting in better performance and lower energy consumption.