Performance Comparison of 3D File Formats on a Mobile Web Browser

As smartphone H/W performance and mobile communication service have been enhanced, large-capacity 3D modeling files are available in smartphones. Common formats of 3D modeling files include STL (STereoLithography), OBJ (Wavefront file format specification), FBX (Filmbox), and glTF (open GL Transmission Format). Each format has different characteristics depending on the configuration and functions, and formats that are supported are varied depending on the applications. Large-size files are commonly used. The 4th generation mobile communication network secures loading of 3D modeling files and transmission of large-size geometric files in order to provide augmented reality services via smartphones. This paper explains the concepts and characteristics of major 3D file formats such as OBJ, FBX, and glTF. In addition, it compares their performance in a wired web with that in the 4th generation mobile communication network. The loading time and packet transmission in each 3D format are also measured by means of different mobile web browsers (Google Chrome and MS Edge). The experiment result shows that glTF demonstrated the most efficient performance while the loading time of OBJ was relatively excessive. Findings of this study can be utilized in selecting specific 3D file formats for rendering time reduction depending on the mobile web environments.