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GPU Acceleration ​

GPU acceleration enables GPU-accelerated rendering in Kernel browsers, providing enhanced performance for graphics-intensive workloads.

WARNING

GPU acceleration is only available for headful browsers and does not support standby mode. GPU browsers have separate pricing from headless or headful browsers.

Enable GPU acceleration ​

Set the gpu parameter to true when creating a browser:

typescript
  import Kernel from '@onkernel/sdk';

  const kernel = new Kernel();

  const kernelBrowser = await kernel.browsers.create({
    gpu: true
  });
python
from kernel import Kernel

kernel = Kernel()

kernel_browser = kernel.browsers.create(
    gpu=True
)

You can also enable GPU acceleration in the dashboard when deploying a browser under Advanced Configuration.

Use cases ​

GPU acceleration is useful for:

  • High performance live view streaming
  • Rendering complex 3D graphics or WebGL content
  • Video processing and playback
  • Canvas-heavy applications

INFO

GPU acceleration speeds up page rendering, not screenshot capture. CDP's Page.captureScreenshot latency is unaffected by GPU. Computer controls screenshots see a small speedup with GPU enabled.

Availability ​

GPU acceleration is available on Start-Up and Enterprise plans. Due to limited capacity during the research preview, GPU-enabled browsers may not always be available.