OpenGL Overview
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The Industry's Foundation for High Performance Graphics
OpenGL® is the most widely adopted 2D and 3D graphics API in the industry, bringing thousands of applications to a wide variety of computer platforms. It is window-system and operating-system independent as well as network-transparent. OpenGL enables developers of software for PC, workstation, and supercomputing hardware to create high-performance, visually compelling graphics software applications, in markets such as CAD, content creation, energy, entertainment, game development, manufacturing, medical, and virtual reality. OpenGL exposes all the features of the latest graphics hardware.
OpenGL 4.6 at a glance
The OpenGL 4.6 and OpenGL Shading Language 4.60 Specifications were released on July 31, 2017.
New features of OpenGL 4.6 include:
- GL_ARB_gl_spirv and GL_ARB_spirv_extensions to standardize SPIR-V support for OpenGL
- GL_ARB_indirect_parameters and GL_ARB_shader_draw_parameters for reducing the CPU overhead associated with rendering batches of geometry
- GL_ARB_pipeline_statistics_query and GL_ARB_transform_feedback_overflow_query standardize OpenGL support for features available in Direct3D
- GL_ARB_texture_filter_anisotropic (based on GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic) brings previously IP encumbered functionality into OpenGL to improve the visual quality of textured scenes
- GL_ARB_polygon_offset_clamp (based on GL_EXT_polygon_offset_clamp) suppresses a common visual artifact known as a “light leak” associated with rendering shadows
- GL_ARB_shader_atomic_counter_ops and GL_ARB_shader_group_vote add shader intrinsics supported by all desktop vendors to improve functionality and performance
- GL_KHR_no_error reduces driver overhead by allowing the application to indicate that it expects error-free operation so errors need not be generated
New extensions to OpenGL 4.6 include:
- GL_KHR_parallel_shader_compile
- WGL_ARB_create_context_no_error
- GLX_ARB_create_context_no_error
- GL_EXT_memory_object
- GL_EXT_memory_object_fd
- GL_EXT_memory_object_win32
- GL_EXT_semaphore
- GL_EXT_semaphore_fd
- GL_EXT_semaphore_win32
- GL_EXT_win32_keyed_mutex
API & GLSL specifications
- OpenGL 4.6 Core Profile Specification
- OpenGL 4.6 Compatibility Profile Specification
- OpenGL Shading Language 4.60 Specification
Additional Links
Specifications and documentation for the OpenGL API and OpenGL Shading Language, as well as related APIs such as GLX, are available from OpenGL.org:
Sidebar Links and other content
Related News
- Software in the Public Interest announces Apple M1 and M2 as being OpenGL 4.6 Conformant
- Meta Uses Khronos Open Standards in New Intermediate Graphics Library
- Intel’s OpenGL & Vulkan Linux Drivers Now Build On ARM
- Open-source engine Godot 4.0 out now with Vulkan support, new tilemap editor, XR tools, and other improvements
- Review: AMD Radeon Pro OpenGL Driver
Related Press
- Khronos Group Begins Work on a New Standards Initiative to Bring Vulkan GPU Acceleration to Safety Critical Industries
- Khronos Launches OpenGL 4.6 Adopters Program with Significantly Enhanced Conformance Test Suite in Open Source
- Khronos Group Announces Key Advances in OpenGL Ecosystem
- Khronos Releases OpenCL 2.0
- Khronos COLLADA now recognized as ISO Standard