What is Volume Shader?
Volume Shader is a graphics test you run in a browser. A fragment shader ray marches an implicit 3D volume, visually a Mandelbulb, and the page reports frames per second. The live canvas is Run Volume Shader. You can also run a 3D rendering test, a shader test, and a VRAM test.
How the test works
Each pixel shoots a ray into a 3D field defined by a short kernel. The GPU iterates that kernel, finds a surface, shades it, and the page counts frames. That loop is ray marching. It is expensive because every pixel runs it, not only the silhouette of a mesh. A Mandelbulb is a 3D fractal. The formula is nonlinear, so extra iterations cost more than extra triangles in a typical game scene.
Film and VFX also use volume shaders for smoke and clouds. This site is the benchmark, not a DCC plugin. If you want raster meshes and lights instead, open the 3D rendering test.
Simple, Standard, Advanced, Extreme
Complexity changes iteration count and ray steps. More work means lower FPS on the same device. Standard is the usual comparison. Extreme is a stress load. Changing level rebuilds the shader and restarts the work.
- Simple: fewer iterations. Use it if Standard hitchs on an older phone.
- Standard: the classic Volume Shader load. Use this to compare two devices.
- Advanced: more ray work. Use it when Standard looks easy.
- Extreme: stress. Hold it only if you want heat. See GPU stress test.
GPU, WebGL, and FPS
The GPU is the chip that draws the frame. WebGL is the browser API that talks to that chip. FPS is how many frames finished in a second. A Mandelbulb is expensive because the loop is nonlinear. A 60 Hz display will not show more than about 60 even on a fast GPU, because vsync and the browser still apply.
Thermal throttling, battery saver, and extra tabs cut FPS. Read what FPS means for the bands. For a general GPU method, start at the GPU test page.
GitHub, cznull, and the viral name
Public WebGL demos, often found via GitHub Pages and names such as cznull, popularized this Mandelbulb style volume shader as a phone GPU check. You do not need GitHub to run the test on this site. Open Run Volume Shader for the canvas, complexity levels, and fullscreen. More questions are in the FAQs.
What Volume Shader BM is
BM is a name people use for Mandelbulb GPU tests and for native Android and iOS apps. This site is Volume Shader on volumeshader.com. The apps are listed on Google Play and the App Store. BM is not a separate GPU architecture, and it is not a different kernel you have to download. Publisher notes are on About.
Questions
No. Here it is a website GPU test. In graphics, volume shaders also means shading volumetric data. This page explains the Volume Shader benchmark.
No. Open Run Volume Shader on this site.
No. Games rasterize meshes. Volume Shader ray marches a fractal. Use the 3D test when you want a closer cousin to 3D apps.