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ARB Roadmap DiscussionARB Roadmap Discussion

Sacramento, June 2004Sacramento, June 2004

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Two Topics To DiscussTwo Topics To DiscussTwo Topics To DiscussTwo Topics To Discuss

How are we doing? and Where are we going?

ISV feedback from recent GLSL seminar series3Dlabs is happy to share this information with the ARB

A proposal for a high-level OpenGL roadmap “vision”A (hopefully) helpful framework for the ARB’s upcoming workThe basis for the marketing groups messaging at SIGGRAPH and beyond

The purpose of this presentation is to catalyze discussionProvide some backdrop for the ongoing ARB technical discussions To help the marketing group develop a strong and SIMPLE message

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3Dlabs Developer Survey3Dlabs Developer Survey3Dlabs Developer Survey3Dlabs Developer Survey

Conducted as part of the recent 3Dlabs GLSL Seminar Series3 seminars in U.S., 1 in Canada, 1 in U.K., 1 in Germany

Survey respondents were software developersMostly professional applicationsSome universities and research labsVery little representation of the games industry

153 developers filled in technical surveysFrom 100 different companies

Information provided on understanding it could be shared with the ARB

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Frequency of OpenGL Spec UpdatesFrequency of OpenGL Spec UpdatesFrequency of OpenGL Spec UpdatesFrequency of OpenGL Spec Updates

Do You Like Seeing the ARB UpdateCore OpenGL Each Year?

83%

3%

14%

This is the perfect pace

This is too fast

OpenGL should change more rapidly or more radically

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Importance of Floating-Point TexturesImportance of Floating-Point TexturesImportance of Floating-Point TexturesImportance of Floating-Point Textures

92 developers (79% of those responding) said they would see benefit from floating-point textures, either 16- or 32-bit

Importance of Floating-Point Textures

21%

27%

46%

6%No benefit

Need 16-bit fp

Need 32-bit fp

Need 16-bit and/or 32-bit fp

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Importance of Superbuffers WorkImportance of Superbuffers WorkImportance of Superbuffers WorkImportance of Superbuffers Work

More than ¾ of returned surveys indicated some aspect of the Superbuffers effort was important to them

Total responses: 119

0 20 40 60 80 100

1

2

3

4

5

Important Superbuffers Functionality

Incorporating pbuffer functionality (70)

Incorporating render-to-texture functionality (91)

Render-to-vertex-array (52)

Framebuffer flexibility (64)

Other (7)

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Multiple Render TargetsMultiple Render TargetsMultiple Render TargetsMultiple Render Targets

79 developers (76% of those responding) said they would like to see the fragment shader be able to write out more than just color/depth values

Total responses: 104

Need for Multiple Render Targets

24%

15%

30%

13%

17%1% Only need color/depth

1 additional vec4

2-4 additional vec4s

5-10 additional

vec4s

More than 10 additional vec4s

Other

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Asynchronous OperationsAsynchronous OperationsAsynchronous OperationsAsynchronous Operations

80% of respondents said asynchronous operations like image download were important or might be important to them

Are Asynchronous Operations Important?

52%

20%

28%

Yes

No

Maybe

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Synchronization PrimitivesSynchronization PrimitivesSynchronization PrimitivesSynchronization Primitives

33% of respondents (46) said they would use synch controls that provided finer-grained control than glFlush/Finish if they were part of core OpenGL, 45% more said that maybe they would

Total responses: 140

Is Fine-Grained Synchronization Important?

33%

11%

45%

11%

Yes

NoMaybe

Don’t understand what these are

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Programmable TessellationProgrammable TessellationProgrammable TessellationProgrammable Tessellation

83% of respondents had some interest in this feature

Total responses: 139

Importance of Programmable Tessellation

5%

39%

39%

17%

I use it alreadyNot interested

Would use it

Might use it

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Precompiled/Prelinked ShadersPrecompiled/Prelinked ShadersPrecompiled/Prelinked ShadersPrecompiled/Prelinked Shaders

Are Precompiled/Prelinked Shaders Needed?

74%

15%

11%

Yes

No

Other

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Shader IP ProtectionShader IP ProtectionShader IP ProtectionShader IP Protection

Are Better Ways of Protecting Shader IP Needed?

48%

35%

17%

Yes

No

Other

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Some Conclusions from ISV InputSome Conclusions from ISV InputSome Conclusions from ISV InputSome Conclusions from ISV Input

Developers really, really like seeing the standard improve regularlyWell done everyone for the last several year’s worth of effort!We should keep up this pace Need continued investment in Working Groups

Strong demand for significant short-term functionality – ideally in 2.0!Floating point textures and buffersMultiple render targets

LOTS of developers are waiting for SuperbuffersMust get finished ASAP!

Need synch control / asynchronous vendor or EXT extensions3Dlabs is willing to take the lead on theseBuild on Nvidia fence extension?

Is Tesselation adequately addressed by the render-to-vertex-array?If not – we need a new vendor or EXT extension ASAP

Khronos beginning work on binary format for pre-compiled shadersWe should make sure we synchronize with this work?

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Detailed Roadmap Target FunctionalityDetailed Roadmap Target FunctionalityDetailed Roadmap Target FunctionalityDetailed Roadmap Target Functionality

OpenGL 2.0

CoreGLSL and supporting API

Non-power of twoMultiple render targets

Point sprite

ARB ExtensionsSuperbuffers

Pixel buffer objectsFloating point textures/buffers

Texture Rectangle

OpenGL 2.1

CoreGLSL updatesSuperbuffers

Pixel buffer objectsFloating point textures/buffers

Texture Rectangle

ARB ExtensionsRender-to-vertex-array (or other

tessellation support)Synchronization

Asynchronous upload/downloadPrecompiled shaders

Shader metafiles

New version of WGL/GLX

OpenGL 2.2

CoreRender-to-vertex-array (or other

tessellation support)Synchronization

Asynchronous upload/downloadPrecompiled shaders

Shader metafiles

ARB ExtensionsProgrammable pixel

packing/unpacking/transferWhat next?

2004 2005 2006

Standardized High-Level Shading

Language

Standardized General-Purpose Computing on

Graphics Hardware

Standardized Multimedia Synchronization

and Shader Interchange

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Simple High-level Roadmap MessagingSimple High-level Roadmap MessagingSimple High-level Roadmap MessagingSimple High-level Roadmap Messaging

2004 2005 2006

OpenGL 2.0OpenGL 2.0

OpenGL 2.1OpenGL 2.1

OpenGL 2.2OpenGL 2.2

Standardized High-Level Shading Language

Standardized General-Purpose Computing on

Graphics Hardware

Standardized Multimedia Synchronization and Shader Interchange

Nice Message!Can / should we execute?