OpenGL 3.0 is out. Mixed reviews abound.
OpenGL 3.0 introduces dozens of new features including:
- Vertex Array Objects to encapsulate vertex array state for easier programming and increased throughput;
- non-blocking access to Vertex Buffer Objects with the ability to update and flush a sub-range for enhanced performance;
- full framebuffer object functionality including multi-sample buffers, blitting to and from framebuffer objects, rendering to one and two-channel data, and flexible mixing of buffer sizes and formats when rendering to a framebuffer object;
- 32-bit floating-point textures and render buffers for increased precision and dynamic range in visual and computational operations;
- conditional rendering based on occlusion queries for increased performance;
- compact half-float vertex and pixel data to save memory and bandwidth;
- transform feedback to capture geometry data after vertex transformations into a buffer object to drive additional compute and rendering passes;
- four new texture compression schemes for one and two channel textures providing a factor of 2-to-1 storage savings over uncompressed data;
- rendering and blending into sRGB framebuffers to enable faithful color reproduction for OpenGL applications without adjusting the monitor’s gamma correction;
- texture arrays to provide efficient indexed access into a set of textures;
- 32-bit floating-point depth buffer support.
Slashdot did not sound happy. FUD?
