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Full Version: Should I use PDFs or images for better performance?
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My tablet (ASUS Transformer Infinity) has horrible performance when it comes to reading and writing to disk, which can often cause programs which do a lot of reading/writing to lag and even freeze. Because of this, I'd like to use the best method in MobileSheets for saving and accessing my songs. The last thing I need is it crashing on me during a performance :-)

So my question is this:

When setting up a set list, is it better to have a couple of large PDFs which are shared across multiple sings by page numbers, or use the export to image functionality to extract the specific pages from the PDF as images and use these directly?
Which option provides the best performance / uses less resources?
Typically, PDFs use less space on disk which will result in less disk I/O. They require additional processing though, so depending on how they were encoded, they may load slower than images.

In general, I would recommend PDFs.

Mike
(12-09-2013, 11:27 PM)Zuberman Wrote: [ -> ]Typically, PDFs use less space on disk which will result in less disk I/O.

What about a 300-400 page Real Book PDF?
One of them is a lot larger then, say, 12 single page PNG files.

But I guess, it's still only loading the PDF once, while there are multiple PNG files to be loaded. Once it's loaded them from disk, it's all about processing, and I assume a setlist loads as much as possible when you first open it?

I might have to do some comparisons :-)
(12-10-2013, 12:00 AM)valorin Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-09-2013, 11:27 PM)Zuberman Wrote: [ -> ]Typically, PDFs use less space on disk which will result in less disk I/O.

What about a 300-400 page Real Book PDF?
One of them is a lot larger then, say, 12 single page PNG files.

But I guess, it's still only loading the PDF once, while there are multiple PNG files to be loaded. Once it's loaded them from disk, it's all about processing, and I assume a setlist loads as much as possible when you first open it?

I might have to do some comparisons :-)

I generally pull the songs I am pretty sure I am playing, print them out and scan them individually as pdfs and load them into MS. I just think its asking for trouble to have numerous large pdfs open (to play a songs from each one). It also seems unwieldy.

On the other hand, I have access to a fast scanner at work. So, its not too big a deal to scan the individual songs I want (I am up to over 500 now.)
You are correct, the companion does not show or allow manipulation of annotations at this time.

Mike
I also recommend PDFs.