OpenGL

[schmuckpussy]

I don't know very much about computers etc, but I've been reading a lot of magazines lately and i came across the term OpenGl a lot. All the writing was in english and that is not my primary language. So i didn't understand all of it

Can someone explain me what OpenGL means and what it does?

 

[Crashman]

Open GL is a set of instructions for displaying graphics. The two main technologies in the graphics industry are OpenGL and Direct3D. Direct3D is part of the DirectX package from Microsoft and is used almost exclusively for games, while OpenGL is used mostly by professional 3D programs such as computer aided design.

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[speeduk]

OpenGL is a low-level graphics library specification. OpenGL makes available to the programmer a small set of geometric primitives - points, lines, polygons, images, and bitmaps. OpenGL provides a set of commands that allow the specification of geometric objects in two or three dimensions, using the provided primitives, together with commands that control how these objects are rendered into the frame buffer.

The OpenGL API was designed for use with the C and C++ programming languages but there are also bindings for a number of other programming languages such as Java, Tcl, Ada, and FORTRAN.

The OpenGL specification is operating system and windowing system independent. It relies on the windowing system for window management, event handling, color map operations, etc . . ..

Taken from an OpenGL tutorial.


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[schmuckpussy]

Thanx for the replies, but i have another question (again)
Are the graphics cards or OpenGl or Direct3D, or do the latest graphics cards support both of them.

Of course i want my comp to play the latest games so i should have Direct3D and must avoid OpenGL because i don't need to do stuff like cad. Is this right or do i get i all wrong (again)


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[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Are the graphics cards or OpenGl or Direct3D, or do the latest graphics cards support both of them.

All modern graphics cards support some version of each. To what degree depends on the features.

Just like you have cards that can support Direct3D aka DirectX version 9 and others that cannot support all the features of DX9, the same goes for OGL. OpenGl 2.0 will be the next level, I think they are at 1.5 now.

Now OPEN GL and DX are backwards compatible (bar a few issues, which sometimes cause you to only install older versions of DX to get some cards to work, but that's VERY rare), and cards without these features will stil play, they just won't get the benifits of all the new features like Pixel Shader 2.0, etc.

Basically don't worry about it, the new card will all support the basic features of DX and OpenGL, you may just not get the 'bonus' features.

Hope that helps somewhat.


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