The best explanation I've seen is http://www.kaourantin.net/2010/02/core-animation.html http://www.kaourantin.net/2010/02/core-animation.html when you also real

The best explanation I've seen is http://www.kaourantin.net/2010/02/core-animation.html http://www.kaourantin.net/2010/02/core-animation.html when you also realize that for video playback and animation in general, OpenGL > Core Animation > Quartz 2D > QuickDraw for OS X 10.2 and newer (I think QuickDraw was better pre-compositing.)