GPU Acceleration

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

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/Javascript

import Kernel from '@onkernel/sdk';

const kernel = new Kernel();

const kernelBrowser = await 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

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.