OpenGL

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a programming interface for 3D graphics which helps computer programmers make their 3D graphics perform better and faster by running parts of their programs on a video card (GPU) rather than just the central processor (CPU). Programming interfaces like OpenGL are usually called an "API," which stands for "Application Programming Interface".

OpenGL is often compared to Direct3D, an API for 3D graphics on Windows. Programming for Direct3D is different in some ways because the APIs use different naming schemes for talking to a computer's graphics driver, which means that programmers need to write different code for OpenGL and Direct3D to do the same things.

OpenGL is owned by the Khronos Group. The Khronos Group writes the specification for OpenGL which describes how the API should interact with the GPU. It is then up to the manufacturers of GPUs to write code which matches this specification. Despite what the name suggests, OpenGL is not open-source.
References

Further reading







Other websites

 GLFW -- Library for creating OpenGL contexts.
 GLEW -- Extension wrangler library for newer OpenGL features.


 OpenGL Overview and OpenGL.org's Wiki with more information on OpenGL Language bindings
 SGI's OpenGL website

 Khronos Group, Inc.


Version history
 Version  Released  Radeon Graphics Cards Nvidia Graphics Cards 4.6  31 July 2017  AMD Radeon GCN  GeForce 400 and newer 4.5  11 August 2014    GeForce 400, 500, 600 and 700 Series 4.4  22 July 2013  HD 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000 and Rx 200 Series  GeForce 400, 500, 600 and 700 Series 4.3  6 August 2012  HD 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 Series  GeForce 400, 500 and 600 Series 4.2  8 August 2010  HD 5000, 6000 and 7000 Series  GeForce 400, 500, and 600 Series  4.1  26 July 2010  HD 5000, 6000 and 7000 Series  GeForce 400 and 500 Series 4.0  11 March 2010  HD 5000, 6000 and 7000 Series  GeForce 400 and 500 Series 3.3  11 March 2010    GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200 and 300 Series 3.2  3 August 2009     3.1  24 March 2009     3.0  11 August 2008     2.1  2 July 2006     2.0  7 September 2004    GeForce 4, 5(FX), 6, and 7 Series 1.5  29 July 2003     1.4  24 July 2002     1.3  14 August 2001     1.2.1  14 October 1998     1.2  6 March 1998     1.1  4 March 1994     1.0  January 1992    

Category:Free software
Category:Graphics software