Testing basic browser performance for this Stack Overflow question.
Testing on OS X on a 2.8GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro, with a visible browser window size of 1280x960*, I get:
| Browser | Move Image via Canvas | Move Image via CSS | Move Sprites via Canvas (full BG clear) | Move Sprites via Canvas (sprite BG clear) | Move Sprites via CSS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safari v5.0.3 | 59 | 95 | 59 | 59 | 89 |
| Firefox v3.6.13 | 59 | 95 | 59 | 60 | 90 |
| Firefox v4.0b8 | 75 | 89 | 76 | 78 | 82 |
| Chrome v8.0 | 108 | 230 | 119 | 120 | 204 |
| iPad v1, Landscape | 17 | 44 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| iPad v1, Portrait | 4 | 75 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
* iPad results are on native hardware, using the native resolution of the device.