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Which is faster programmable pipeline or fixed function pipeline?
But if you decide to write a shader to implement the same algorithms used in FFP, you would find out that FFP will be slightly faster because it’s very hardware-optimised. In theoretical terms the programmable pipeline is slower than the fixed function pipeline.
Are there any fixed function pipelines on video cards?
Fixed-function pipelines have no more business on our video cards. Here’s what you need to know about them—and how to make the switch away from them, if you still haven’t done so yet.
What does fixed function Rendering Pipeline ( FFP ) mean?
Those were fixed-function rendering pipelines (FFPs): meaning that you couldn’t configure the functions they performed. You could tell them “make the fog dark gray” or “don’t do the lighting for me!”
What did GPUs do to the rendering pipeline?
These GPUs had what was called a programmable rendering pipeline: you could now write programs, called shaders, in a limited assembly language, and have them execute for each vertex or fragment, on the video card. This was a big leap forward, and it was just getting better.
When did OpenGL get rid of the vertex pipeline?
OpenGL 3.2, back in 2009, finally removed all notion of fixed-function vertex and fragment processing (however, it remains available for legacy use via a compatibility profile ). It’s clear that it makes very little sense today to work with the limited pipeline when you’ve got powerful GPUs capable of doing awesome things at your disposal.
What was the purpose of fixed function rendering pipelines?
Those were fixed-function rendering pipelines (FFPs): meaning that you couldn’t configure the functions they performed. You could tell them “make the fog dark gray” or “don’t do the lighting for me!” and you could configure a lot of the other parameters, but the functions themselves remained.