Hi,
I've been adding custom background images to new systems and have noticed the following:
29965216 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
29965782 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 706.67 MB of texture data so far
29965787 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg (using cast)
30016785 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/purple_background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30017686 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 718.67 MB of texture data so far
30017692 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/purple_background1.jpg (using cast)
30048212 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30048756 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 730.67 MB of texture data so far
30048762 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg (using cast)
30095163 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg into existing tex id 318
30095697 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 742.67 MB of texture data so far
30095701 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg (using cast)
30138179 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30138748 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 754.67 MB of texture data so far
30138753 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg (using cast)
30172769 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg into existing tex id 318
30173298 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 766.67 MB of texture data so far
30173303 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg (using cast)
30211036 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30211570 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 778.67 MB of texture data so far
30211576 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/blue_background1.jpg (using cast)
30247839 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/purple_background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30248678 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 790.67 MB of texture data so far
30248682 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/exerelin/backgrounds/purple_background1.jpg (using cast)
30276655 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg into existing tex id 318
30277298 [Thread-9] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Loaded 802.67 MB of texture data so far
30277302 [Thread-9] INFO com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg (using cast)
As you can see it appears to be allocating additional chunks of 12MB for background images switching, and doesn't seem to free the previous lot.
None of the images I am using are remotely close to 12MB, and there are a couple of vanilla backgrounds loaded in that lot too which also cop the 12MB allocation.
Looking at the memory usage for StarSector, it was increasing every time the above background image changes occurred.