OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL was developed by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in 1992 and is widely used in CAD, virtual reality, scientific visualization, information visualization, and flight simulation. It is also used in video games, where it competes with Direct3D on Microsoft Windows platforms (see OpenGL vs. Direct3D). OpenGL is managed by the non-profit technology consortium Khronos Group.
Source: "OpenGL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL>, retrieved May 11, 2011.
Graphics on Linux is almost exclusively implemented using the X windows system. Supporting OpenGL on Linux involves using GLX extensions to the X Server. There is a standard Application Binary Interface defined for OpenGL on Linux that gives application compatability for OpenGL for a range of drivers. In addition the Direct Rendering Infrastucture (DRI) is a driver framework that allows drivers to be written and interoperate within a standard framework to easily support hardware acceleration, the DRI is included in of XFree86 4.0 but may need a card specific driver to be configured after installation. These days, XFree86 has been rejected in favor of XOrg due to the change in the license of XFree86, so many developers left Xfree86 and joined the XOrg group. Popular Linux distros come with XOrg now. Developers
Vendors have different approaches to drivers on Linux, some support Open Source efforts using the DRI, and others support closed source frameworks but all methods support the standard ABI that will allow correctly written OpenGL applications to run on Linux.
Source: "Getting Started - OpenGL.org", <http://www.opengl.org/wiki/Getting_started>, retreived May 11, 2011.
Website: <http://www.opengl.org>
Direct3D and OpenGL are competing application programming interfaces (APIs) which can be used in applications to render 2D and 3D computer graphics, taking advantage of hardware acceleration when available. Modern graphics processing unit (GPUs) may implement a particular version of one or both of these APIs.
We were expecting a lot from OpenGL 3, and as you can tell by reading this article, we’re disappointed—both in the API itself (with the disappearance of promised features) and in the way it’s been handled (a year-long delay and a lack of clear communication on the part of the Khronos group). With this version, OpenGL barely keeps up with Direct3D 10, and at a time when Microsoft has chosen to publicize the first details of version 11 of its own API.
There’s nothing revolutionary from Microsoft either, but unlike OpenGL, Direct3D already underwent a major revision of its architecture two years ago. There were some rough stretches of road, but today Microsoft can reap the benefits of the efforts made then to rebuild the API on a sound foundation.
So, it’s undeniable that Redmond is looking to the future, whereas one gets the impression that Khronos is content with just supporting current GPUs. Here’s hoping it’ll prove us wrong by speeding up the evolution of OpenGL 3, since it is the only API available for multi-platform development. But too many letdowns up until now certainly have our faith in the organization shaken.
Source: "OpenGL 3 & DirectX 11: The War Is Over - Introduction", <http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/opengl-directx,2019.html>, May 11, 2011
A graphics processing unit or GPU (also occasionally called visual processing unit or VPU) is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel. In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a video card, or it can be on the motherboard, or in certain CPUs, on the CPU die. More than 90% of new desktop and notebook computers have integrated GPUs, which are usually far less powerful than those on a dedicated video card.
The term was defined and popularized by Nvidia in 1999, who marketed the GeForce 256 as "the world's first 'GPU', or Graphics Processing Unit, a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second." Rival ATI Technologies coined the term visual processing unit or VPU with the release of the Radeon 9700 in 2002.
Source: "Graphics Processing Unit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_processing_unit>, May 11, 2011.
The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, or GMA, is Intel's current line of integrated graphics processors built into various motherboard chipsets.
These integrated graphics products allow a computer to be built without a separate graphics card, which can reduce cost, power consumption and noise. They are commonly found on netbook, low-priced notebook and desktop computers as well as business computers, which do not need high levels of graphics capability. 90% of all PCs sold have integrated graphics.[1] They rely on the computer's main memory for storage, which imposes a performance penalty, as both the CPU and GPU have to access memory over the same bus.
Source: "Intel GMA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA>, May 11, 2011.