The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to OpenGL Drivers
OpenGL drivers also know an Open Graphics Library; can be defined as cross-platform API that is required for writing applications to produce two dimensional and three dimensional computer graphics.
This interface is made of more than 250 different types of function calls which can be exploited to create complex three dimensional graphics from simple and primitive ones. OpenGL drivers were the brainchild of Silicon Graphics Inc. and were bought out in 1992; currently it is managed by the Khronos group which is a non-profit technology consortium.
If you are interested in animation and graphics,
you would have definitely come across OpenGL drivers as these are mostly used in CAD, virtual reality, movies and video games; these are also used for flight simulation and both scientific and information visualization. These drivers have revolutionized the graphics industry as software developers can now create graphics and special effects that are almost identical on any type of operating system and can be use with any hardware that is compatible with OpenGL. This is of enormous help to graphic designers and video game developers as they can port their software application to multiple platforms.
How do OpenGL drivers work? When an OpenGL code is written by a software developer, he also specifies a set of commands which can be used to execute a drawing action or create a special effect or virtual effect. Using hundreds or thousands of such commands, programmers can create a whole world of three dimensional effects which includes unique special effects like alpha blending, texture mapping, lighting effects, fog creation and hidden surface removal.
There is a whole new world that can be explored by animation and graphic experts with OpenGL by applying various viewing and modeling transformations that can create just about any kind of special effect or virtual reality effects.
Summary – The OpenGL drivers are unique graphical platforms that enable you to create amazing three dimensional and high definition special effects and graphics. These are very versatile and have made their mark in the video gaming world. With these drivers, it is now possible to create any kind of animation or graphics with real life qualities.
