OpenGL 1.5 announced

[miriam_e]

SGI and OpenGL ARB Announce OpenGL 1.5 Specification
(28th July)

SGI and the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) today announced developments to the OpenGL application programming interface (API). The OpenGL 1.5 specification includes the OpenGL Shading Language, official ARB extensions that are expected to form the foundation of the upcoming OpenGL 2.0 version The OpenGL Shading Language is intended to enable graphics cards from multiple vendors on multiple platforms to use the same high-level shading language. SGI stated that OpenGL 1.5 will enable techniques that make rendering faster, and will be supported by graphics card vendors in products being released later this year.

The OpenGL 1.5 specification evolved with input from the OpenGL ARB and interested participants, to reflect trends in the graphics industry. The ARB's process of enhancing OpenGL includes jointly developing specifications of features proposed by ARB members, to be incorporated and officially supported within the API. In OpenGL 1.5, several additional features and functions have been ratified, including the following:

• Vertex Buffer Object: vertex arrays for higher performance rendering
• Shadow Function: additional comparison functions for shadow mapping
• Occlusion Query: asynchronous occlusion test for better culling
• Non power-of-two Textures: for more efficient use of texture memory, including mipmaps
• OpenGL Shading Language v. 1.0: as official extensions more specifically, shader objects, vertex shaders, and fragment shaders, all for use of programmable shader hardware

Introduced 11 years ago by SGI, OpenGL is a cross-platform, open- standard API for advanced 3D graphics. It is used by software developers to create interactive 2D and 3D visual applications for computer systems ranging from consumer PCs to graphics workstations and supercomputers. The OpenGL API supports most operating systems and has over 60 hardware developer licensees. In 1992, SGI formed the ARB that now governs the evolution and ongoing development of OpenGL, a technology originally created by SGI as an open, platform-independent standard for professional- quality 3D graphics.

http://www.sgi.com