Faster on Which Platform? Heterogeneous Timing Gains in an Image-Quality Toolbox

Authors

  • Noah Crawford Author
  • Samuel Lawson Author
  • Benjamin Lewis Author

Abstract

The phrase GPU acceleration can conceal a very uneven computational tradeoff. In seventy-four paired timing records from a pinned public image-quality toolbox, the geometric CPU-to-GPU time ratio was 8.98, but four metrics were slower in the GPU column. The two platforms reversed 682 of 2,701 pairwise speed comparisons. Larger reported GPU memory allocation was associated with a larger timing ratio, without identifying why. These findings favor platform-specific feasibility checks over a single acceleration factor for an entire assessment pipeline.

Secondary analysis of published platform measurements. The reported timings were not collected on this computer and do not measure energy consumption or image-quality accuracy.

Original publication: October 28, 2026.

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Published

2026-10-28

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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026): Inaugural Issue

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Copyright (c) 2026 Noah Crawford, Samuel Lawson, Benjamin Lewis

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