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On the Subject of OpenGL 2.0

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the everything-is-better-in-3d dept.

zendal writes "The danger with pixel shaders and vertex shaders is that there is no standard for programmability of graphics hardware. A schism has formed within DirectX between the competing demands of GPU makers Nvidia and ATI. Noted analyst Jon Peddie gives THG an exclusive first look at a White Paper on how OpenGL 2.0 is trying to bring stability and open standards to programmable graphics and GPUs."

3 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. The Standard is always long to come by gounthar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In every emerging technology, there will always be a delay between the first appearance and the outcome of an almighty standard.
    It was the same with SuperVGA (took about 2 years), Internet Protocols (still on going, W3C is struggling for standards) and now OpenGL and DirectX.
    OpenGL 2.0 seems pretty much like the definitive solution...

    --

    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent - Salvor Hardin

    1. Re:The Standard is always long to come by Starship+Trooper · · Score: 5, Interesting
      As long as IDSoftware uses OpenGL, there will be life left for it on the games industry.

      Rarely do you see something on Slashdot that contains as much truth as that statement. Microsoft focuses their best development efforts into free products designed to crush other people's standards. OpenGL has been a continuing thorn in their side, and their ferocious work on Direct3D is aimed at obtaining the complete dominance they're used to in the gaming market. Jon Carmack has (almost singlehandedly) prevented them from doing this, and the ensuing competition has left consumers and game developers with... two really good standards. I could almost feel good about this, if it weren't for the fact that iD is competing with a monopoly, and is succeeding only because they remain privately owned and hold their market presence through sheer programming prowess.

      If only we had someone like Carmack to write Office software for Linux.
      --
      Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
  2. Lots of programmable processors by Dante'sPrayer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A vertex processor, fragment, pack and unpack are going to be supported.

    • Vertex processing is targeted to replace lighting, materials and coordinate transformations, all on hardware level using a high-level API.
    • Fragment processing will let a better access to texture memory, surely allowing some nifty effects like texture animation or pseudo-refraction on hot air.
    • The pack and unpack processors will allow a faster transmission of vertex data through the buses, hopefully reducing the bandwith bottleneck.
    All of those can and are at the present being implemented on software, but will be nice to see them implemented on hardware.