Tom2D: Ellipses
Next up, ellipses. This test turns out much like the rectangle metric.
Test Content:
A total of 100,000 objects of random size and color, in random positions on-screen, are rendered during this test. We alternate outline color, fill style, and fill color. As before, the random seed remains constant so that all test runs should produce the same graphics. And again, all ellipses are positioned within the confines of the display area to make clipping superfluous.
GDI Functions Called
Drawing ellipses directly to the display:
CreatePenCreateSolidBrushGetStockObjectCircleArcSelectObjectDeleteObject
Drawing ellipses via the DIB buffer:
CreateCompatibleDCCreateDIBSectionBitBlt
Summary
Drawing ellipses doesn't show the same severe performance impact as drawing rectangles. For direct writes, the two ATI cards are trounced by the Intel Atom/GMA 950 combination. And when it comes to buffered drawing, the test field hits a reasonable level of performance throughout.