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Re: IDL and OpenGL [message #17339 is a reply to message #17065]

Fri, 08 October 1999 00:00

Karl Schultz
Messages: 341
Registered: October 1999

Senior Member

Richard Tyc wrote in message <7stqeb$jmk$1@canopus.cc.umanitoba.ca>...

> So are you saying when I am doing things like oWindow->Draw, oView and the
> scene is full of 3D objects, Light objects, texture mapped images etc.
IDL
> should perform pretty well because this mostly happens in hardware via
> OpenGL lib calls (this is what I am hoping ? Upgraded graphics hardware
> should meet our needs then - things like geometry and rasterization accel
in
> hardware chipsets etc. ) But when it comes to pure number crunching in the
> app, it may run a bit slower ?

The IDL interpreter simply calls some compiled and optimized C code that
implements the Draw method. This code takes the graphic data associated
with the view and draws it with OpenGL as fast as it can manage. At this
point, the performance is bound mostly by the OpenGL implementation and any
hardware beneath it, since the view's graphic data is "ready for submission"
to the graphics system. The IDL interpeter gets control after the Draw()
method completes. So, yes, any improvement in graphics hardware should
improve graphics performance by about the same factor. This really only
applies if you don't pop back into IDL to do a lot of recalculation for each
graphic "frame".

If you have hardware-accelerated graphics, you may also see a net
improvement over the total time for running the app since the graphics
processors can offload the main CPU, giving it more time for other work.
This would especially be true of graphics systems that implement the
transformation pipeline in hardware.

> Thanks for the info. I am trying to understand the limitations of IDL.
> Right now, we are running on fairly slow hardware (SGI O2 R5k) and I have
> unacceptable 3D performance when it comes to realtime updates of Views with
> complex volume objects being rendered. It's far easier to sink $10-15K
> down on faster hardware (dual CPU to benefit the IDLgrVolume object) then
> start looking at a complete overhaul of our app using a different
> development environment.

So true.

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[Message index]

		IDL and OPENGL By: enric on Mon, 06 September 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: ushomirs on Wed, 29 September 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Richard Tyc on Wed, 29 September 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: ushomirs on Wed, 29 September 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Liam Gumley on Wed, 29 September 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Karl Schultz on Fri, 08 October 1999 00:00
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Karl Schultz on Wed, 31 October 2007 09:29
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Steve Houston on Wed, 07 November 2007 06:28
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: David Fanning on Wed, 31 October 2007 05:31
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Gaurav on Tue, 30 October 2007 22:38
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Gaurav on Tue, 30 October 2007 22:31
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Robbie on Tue, 30 October 2007 15:17
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: Steve Houston on Wed, 07 November 2007 06:52
		Re: IDL and OpenGL By: David Fanning on Tue, 30 October 2007 05:50

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