xpdf is slow

H_TeXMeX_H · 08-01-2012, 12:47 PM

MuPDF will scroll horizontally, just drag the screen.

Here's a much better test for rendering accuracy, try zooming to 200% is xpdf and zoom at any level in MuPDF. You will notice differences in rendering that greatly favor MuPDF. Look after an 'm' like in Fam ily and M other. If you notice spaces you are using Xpdf. Also notice that the 'm' may run into the previous letter. This makes it much easier to read using MuPDF.

Oh, and MuPDF can be compiled statically with the third-party packages also on their site. So, you don't actually need to install any dependencies if you don't want to.

fskmh · 08-01-2012, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by w1k0

I ask you to try both xpdf and MuPDF and to compare the results you’ll achieve with my results.

I used openjpeg-1.5.0, so I didn't have the issues that you had.

I compared xpdf-3.0.2pl6 compiled with the float.patch with mupdf-1.0 and at a zoom level of 400% it's unmistakable that mupdf renders faster.

P.S. I also like that you can use the mouse point to "drag" the document around in mupdf rather than use the scroll bars in xpdf.

w1k0 · 08-01-2012, 01:24 PM

H_TeXMeX_H,

On my machine I can scroll the documents with MuPDF only vertically using arrow keys or TrackPoint. Nor keys, nor TrackPoint scroll the document horizontally.

I know about the third party packages from mupdf-thirdparty-2012-04-23.zip file but for the first time I installed them using the packages from SlackBuilds.org.

fskmh,

I used jbig2dec-0.11 and openjpeg_v1_4_sources_r697 from SlackBuilds.org. Later I'll try openjpeg-1.5.0 and if it'll fail -- the third party packages mentioned above.

All I wrote about MuPDF concerns the version 1.0 found here.

w1k0 · 08-01-2012, 03:55 PM

Finally I managed to install MuPDF and it works as it should. The first attempt failed. The second attempt succeeded.

1. First attempt:

I removed obsolete openjpg 1.4 from SlackBuilds.org and installed current openjpeg 1.5.0 from SVN (revision 1736):

svn checkout http://openjpeg.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ openjpeg-read-only

Then I started the compilation of MuPDF but it aborted:

# make prefix=/usr/local install

Code:

    MKDIR build/debug
    CC build/debug/filt_faxd.o
    CC build/debug/image_md5.o
    CC build/debug/image_jpx.o
fitz/image_jpx.c:4:22: fatal error: openjpeg.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
make: *** [build/debug/image_jpx.o] Error 1

2. Second attempt:

So I removed jbig2dec from SlackBuilds.org and openjpeg from SVN, downloaded mupdf-thirdparty-2012-04-23.zip file found here, unpacked it to mupdf-1.0-source directory and I finally managed to compile MuPDF using the following command:

make prefix=/usr/local install

MuPDF still refused to scroll the documents horizontally but I found the manual page and learned about the valid keyboard shortcuts. When I use h, j, k, l keys MuPDF scrolls the documents vertically and horizontally. Earlier I used arrow keys and TrackPoint (mouse). With arrows and mouse MuPDF scrolls the documents vertically only. I overlooked these keyboard shortcuts in Vi style because MuPDF doesn’t install the man pages in the system so I supposed that there are no such pages for that program.

3. Third attempt:

Finally I tried MuPDF from GIT using the same thirdparty-2012-04-23.zip file:

git clone http://mupdf.com/repos/mupdf.git

That version of MuPDF works the same as version 1.0 described above.

***

As for font rendering in the default 125% scale MuPDF displays them smoother than xpdf. Personally I prefer more sharp fonts in xpdf to the blurred fonts in MuPDF. I prefer also to scroll the document with the arrow keys and the mouse in xpdf to do that with h, j, k, l keys in MuPDF. It’s a matter of taste of course. In the scale 200% the result obtained with MuPDF is more pleasant than obtained with xpdf but usually I don’t read the documents in such a large scale of the magnification.

***

I compared MuPDF to xpdf in 400% scale. MuPDF doesn’t render the pages faster than xpdf but it uses bigger jumps so the scrolling of the document is less smooth with MuPDF than with xpdf.

Didier Spaier · 08-02-2012, 03:44 AM

Here is a recent Changelog entry:

Code:

Wed Aug 1 20:24:06 UTC 2012
...
xap/xpdf-3.02pl6-i486-4.txz: Rebuilt.
       Patched to fix slow scrolling caused by a quirk exposed in newer versions
       of gcc. Patch by Michael Gilbert. Thanks to LQ for pointing it out.
...

H_TeXMeX_H · 08-02-2012, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by w1k0

As for font rendering in the default 125% scale MuPDF displays them smoother than xpdf. Personally I prefer more sharp fonts in xpdf to the blurred fonts in MuPDF. I prefer also to scroll the document with the arrow keys and the mouse in xpdf to do that with h, j, k, l keys in MuPDF. It’s a matter of taste of course. In the scale 200% the result obtained with MuPDF is more pleasant than obtained with xpdf but usually I don’t read the documents in such a large scale of the magnification.

***

I compared MuPDF to xpdf in 400% scale. MuPDF doesn’t render the pages faster than xpdf but it uses bigger jumps so the scrolling of the document is less smooth with MuPDF than with xpdf.

If you want sharper text in MuPDF turn off anti-aliasing with '-b0'. I prefer to leave it on.

w1k0 · 08-02-2012, 09:43 AM

Personally I prefer xpdf because of its keyboard shortcuts, mouse actions, and more precise documents scrolling. I'm glad xpdf-3.02pl6-i486-4 is patched by default since yesterday. It means for me one patching less during the installation of the system. As I stated above such a choice is a matter of taste. Some people prefer xpdf, some prefer MuPDF, and some use something else.

w1k0 · 08-02-2012, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allend

I have just had this bug bite me. (Probably serves me right for using WindowMaker again after some time).

I don’t follow that. Is there some connection between xpdf and Window Maker or the statement in the parentheses is a digression?

As for Window Maker I use it exclusively since 1998 (advertising). For a long time Slackware offered seven years old 0.92.0 version – since July 13, 2012 it offers the newest 0.95.3 one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fskmh

No print or find functionality out the box.

In fact MuPDF allows to find strings: ‘/ the string’ finds the string, ‘n’ finds the next occurrence, and ‘N’ finds the previous occurrence.

allend · 08-02-2012, 10:59 PM

Quote:

I don’t follow that. Is there some connection between xpdf and Window Maker or the statement in the parentheses is a digression?

Just a personal connection, in that I tend to use KDE most of the time, where I use okular to view pdf files.
Recently I have been using WindowMaker on my netbook again, and I am trying to avoid using KDE apps. Hence the return to xpdf.
Thanks to Pat for for the quick update.

storkus · 08-17-2012, 12:05 AM

Quick (and possibly dumb, admittedly) question: I know it's late now that we're at RC-2, but why are we still using xpdf-3.02 when 3.03 has been out for a year (and, I'm assuming, has all the patches in question)?