Khronos released OpenGL 4.2 as a new version of the cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics API earlier today at Siggraph.
The new version integrates shaders with atomic counters as well as load, store and atomic read-modify-write operations to a single level of a texture. Additionally, there is support for GPU-tessellated geometry, the modification of an arbitrary subset of a compressed texture without having to re-download the whole texture to the GPU for significant performance improvements, and the ability to pack multiple 8 and 16 bit values into a single 32-bit value for efficient shader processing.
“OpenGL 4.2 has integrated feedback from developers that are shipping significant OpenGL-based applications and games, making for a faster, more capable API which will continue to evolve to meet market needs,” said Barthold Lichtenbelt, working group chair of the OpenGL ARB and director of Tegra graphics at Nvidia.
Both AMD and Nvidia said that their products will support OpenGL 4.2 in the immediate future.
Haha, long live MMX!
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You are aware that OGL is actually AHEAD of DX, right? I mean, ulike DX, they support DX11 features for XP. Unlike DX, developers still have the ability to use their own extensions and the like.
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1: The 360 is hte only non-Winodws environment to even have a DX layer.
2: No major release for the 360 uses the DX API for 3d graphics, because of speed concerns. [Remember that whole "DX is too slow" spat AMD had? This is where that came from].
3: Even the PS3, which has an OGL ES layer, is coded at a lower level via libgcm, which unlike its OGL implementation, allows direct access to the RSX framebuffer, greatly speeding certain applications.
So please, stop this whole "Consoles use DX" nonesense. Its never been true, but its been repeated enough where everyone thinks it is.