WebGPU Support
How vitrine picks a rendering backend and what to do if you see a fallback message.
vitrine automatically detects whether your browser supports native WebGPU. If it does, the viewer uses WebGPU for better lighting, effects, and rendering quality. If not, it falls back to WebGL2, which is supported everywhere and still looks great.
The viewer works well on both backends. WebGL2 is not a degraded experience — it just doesn't have access to some advanced rendering features that WebGPU enables.
WebGPU-only features
These features require WebGPU and are silently skipped on WebGL2:
- Depth of field (Gaussian bokeh)
- Multiple direct lights with shadows (WebGL2 supports one)
Why did I get a fallback message?
If you see a [vitrine] Using WebGL2 message in the browser console, one of these was detected:
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| Software-only GPU | No hardware GPU detected. The browser would render in software, which is too slow. |
| ANGLE / OpenGL ES emulation | WebGPU is routed through a compatibility layer instead of a native graphics API. |
| Unknown architecture | The browser couldn't identify the GPU well enough to guarantee WebGPU works. |
| WebGPU not available | The browser doesn't support WebGPU at all (older Firefox, Safari without flags). |
How to enable native WebGPU
Chrome / Edge
- Update your browser to the latest version. WebGPU is enabled by default in Chrome 113+.
- Update your GPU drivers — outdated drivers can cause Chrome to fall back to ANGLE/OpenGL ES.
- Linux: enable Vulkan — go to
chrome://flags/#enable-vulkanand set it to Enabled. Without Vulkan, Chrome routes WebGPU through ANGLE. - Check
chrome://gpu— look for "WebGPU: Hardware accelerated" and confirm the Dawn adapter isn't using an OpenGL ES backend.
Firefox
- WebGPU is behind a flag: go to
about:configand setdom.webgpu.enabledtotrue.
Safari
- WebGPU is available in Safari 18+. Enable it in Settings > Feature Flags > WebGPU if it isn't on by default.
For merchants
Your customers automatically get the best backend their browser supports — no configuration needed. The fallback is seamless: same model, same configuration, same embed code.
To verify what backend a specific visitor is using, open the browser console (F12 → Console tab) and look for the [vitrine] log line.