Next: Introduction

The Design
of the
OpenGL Graphics Interface

Mark Segal
Kurt Akeley
Silicon Graphics Computer Systems
2011 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94039

Abstract:

OpenGL is an emerging graphics standard that provides advanced rendering features while maintaining a simple programming model. Because OpenGL is rendering-only, it can be incorporated into any window system (and has been, into the X Window System and a soon-to-be-released version of Windows) or can be used without a window system. An OpenGL implementation can efficiently accommodate almost any level of graphics hardware, from a basic framebuffer to the most sophisticated graphics subsystems. It is therefore a good choice for use in interactive 3D and 2D graphics applications.

We describe how these and other considerations have governed the selection and presentation of graphical operators in OpenGL. Complex operations have been eschewed in favor of simple, direct control over the fundamental operations of 3D and 2D graphics. Higher-level graphical functions may, however, be built from OpenGL's low-level operators, as the operators have been designed with such layering in mind.

CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation; I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism

segal@asd.sgi.com
Thu Sep 29 15:39:04 PDT 1994