{
  "id": 7790378,
  "title": "Firefox Touts Lower CPU Use for Large JPEGs, Faster PDF Viewer Startup (and AI Controls)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/firefox-touts-lower-cpu-use-for-large-jpegs-faster-pdf-viewer-startup",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-16T13:04:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Slashdot",
    "slug": "slashdot",
    "url": "https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/16/0352217/firefox-touts-lower-cpu-use-for-large-jpegs-faster-pdf-viewer-startup-and-ai-controls"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Firefox 156 presents enhanced performance and AI control features. The browser's PDF viewer loads up to 45% quicker, thanks to quicker background PDF.js worker initiation. When handling large JPEGs, Firefox 156 now uses libjpeg-turbo's IDCT scaling, decreasing memory usage by as much as 20% and speeding up decoding by up to twice as fast. The browser's AI controls are centralized within the General Settings panel, allowing users to individually enable or disable specific AI features such as AI translations, image alt text in PDF viewer, tab group suggestions, and key points in link previews. These customizable AI functionalities ensure users can enjoy the features on a case-by-case basis according to their preferences.",
  "summary": "Firefox 156 is the second release since Mozilla moved to a twice-monthly release schedule, and the blog OMG Ubuntu notes it has faster start-up times for its built-in PDF viewer and also lower CPU usage when viewing large JPEG images: In Firefox 156, the browser now uses libjpeg-turbo's IDCT scaling to reduce images during decoding, rather than loading a full-size image into memory and then…",
  "key_points": [
    "Firefox 156 reduces PDF startup time by 45% with faster background worker",
    "Firefox 156 uses libjpeg-turbo for 20% memory reduction in large JPEGs",
    "AI controls centralized in General Settings for individual feature toggling"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}