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Video Adapters, Direct Draw & Open Gl

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by maggot 2 views

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Ok, need an explanation on the differences of Direct Draw and Open Gl support in video adapters. If possible put it in a "nutshell" so to speak. I need to pass this along to someone else.

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by thechas

Open GL is a graphics programming language.

From the overview at www.opengl.org

"OpenGL is the premier environment for developing portable, interactive 2D and 3D graphics applications. Since its introduction in 1992, OpenGL has become the industry's most widely used and supported 2D and 3D graphics application programming interface (API), bringing thousands of applications to a wide variety of computer platforms. OpenGL fosters innovation and speeds application development by incorporating a broad set of rendering, texture mapping, special effects, and other powerful visualization functions. Developers can leverage the power of OpenGL across all popular desktop and workstation platforms, ensuring wide application deployment."

Direct Draw is part of DirectX from Microsoft.
Think of DirectX as a virtual graphics driver.
It is used to interpret and accelerate graphics in Windows.
Direct Draw is the component of DirectX that 'draws' the graphics to be displayed.
(a gross simplification)

If you want no limits on the games you can play, and graphics you can view, you need a display adapter that supports both languages / formats.

Chas

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