Java2D Performance Issues

Question

I'm having performance oddities with Java2D. I know of the sun.java2d.opengl VM parameter to enable 3D acceleration for 2D, but even using that has some weird issues.

Here are results of tests I ran:

Drawing a 25x18 map with 32x32 pixel tiles on a JComponent
Image 1 = .bmp format, Image 2 = A .png format

Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true

120 FPS using .BMP image 1
13 FPS using .PNG image 2

With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true

12 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2

Without acceleration, I'm assuming some kind of transformation is taking place with every drawImage() I do in software, and is pulling down the FPS considerably in the case of .PNG. Why though, with acceleration, would the results switch (and PNG actually performs incredibly faster)?! Craziness!

.BMP Image 1 is translated to an image type of TYPE_INT_RGB. .PNG Image 2 is translated to an image type of TYPE_CUSTOM. In order to get consistent speed with and without opengl acceleration, I have to create a new BufferedImage with an image type of TYPE_INT_ARGB, and draw Image 1 or Image 2 to this new image.

Here are the results running with that:

Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true

120 FPS using .BMP image 1
120 FPS using .PNG image 2

With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true

700 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2

My real question is, can I assume that TYPE_INT_ARGB will be the native image type for all systems and platforms? I'm assuming this value could be different. Is there some way for me to get the native value so that I can always create new BufferedImages for maximum performance?

Thanks in advance...

Answer 1

I think I found a solution by researching and putting bits and pieces together from too many Google searches.

Here it is, comments and all:

private BufferedImage toCompatibleImage(BufferedImage image)
{
    // obtain the current system graphical settings
    GraphicsConfiguration gfxConfig = GraphicsEnvironment.
        getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().
        getDefaultConfiguration();

    /*
     * if image is already compatible and optimized for current system 
     * settings, simply return it
     */
    if (image.getColorModel().equals(gfxConfig.getColorModel()))
        return image;

    // image is not optimized, so create a new image that is
    BufferedImage newImage = gfxConfig.createCompatibleImage(
            image.getWidth(), image.getHeight(), image.getTransparency());

    // get the graphics context of the new image to draw the old image on
    Graphics2D g2d = newImage.createGraphics();

    // actually draw the image and dispose of context no longer needed
    g2d.drawImage(image, 0, 0, null);
    g2d.dispose();

    // return the new optimized image
    return newImage; 
}

In my previous post, GraphicsConfiguration was what held the information needed to create optimized images on a system. It seems to work pretty well, but I would have thought Java would automatically do this for you. Obviously you can't get too comfortable with Java. :) I guess I ended up answering my own question. Oh well, hopefully it'll help some of you I've seen trying to make use of Java for 2D games.