OpenGL mobile graphics spec inches closer to desktop, laptop cousin The Khronos Group has released the OpenGL ES 3.1 specification, bringing closer the day when handheld devices match mainstream desktops and laptops in graphics performance. "The OpenGL family of APIs including OpenGL ES, OpenGL and WebGL have proven themselves as the foundation for 3D graphics on mobile devices, PCs and the …
It seems WebGL is designated for iAds only and has been for a long while now.
So have they nothing to say about how those lucky 'iPad' owners.
Lucky in that Apple still lets them browse that open nasty web, be it only 1 browser tab at a time.
Direct X 12 will presumably kick Open GL into touch again. Open GL has closed the gap with Direct X 11 now though in terms of most functionality.
Even though Microsoft presumably don't give a crap about Open GL performance, I was suprised to find that Open GL on Windows still outperforms the latest Linux!:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_a10kaveri_linwin&num=1
"Be good to see how the two technologies stack (hah) up against each other on mobile."
Fill your boots, write a benchmark and port it to WinPhone and Android. You should be able to find a pair of Winphone and Android handsets that share the same (if not very similar) chipset and display resolution...
Somehow I don't think it will matter much longer, because of the console effect less and less PC Games actually push the boundries and if they do use DirectX use an older version.
Most game developers have already gone multi platform (Valve has deprecated Direct3D in its engines in favour of using OpenGL) and I can see the majority following. The next few years will be a big test as valve's own Linux port may further reduce Windows grip on "PC Gamers" who may decide to jump ship.
So all those GeForce gaming cards with detuned OpenGL drivers so they don't compete against the Quadro business cards are going to be useless with Valve then?
Those game developers are going to need to have a serious chat with NVidia if they want to move to OpenGL. Anyone writing for Windows gets much better bang for their buck writing DirectX. Cross platform is just such a tiny part of the market why would anyone waste their time and investment on it? Only tech geeks are interested in it and they want everything for nothing. Just bad business.
They will still have to port to Direct-X for the Xbox and Xbox One - apparently the Xbox One will be able to support Direct-X 12 too - So I can't see that the use of Direct-X is going to decline much.
Especially as Microsoft have stated that one of the major objectives of Direct-X 12 is near to native performance and near direct access to the underlying hardware....
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