The OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB), which includes representatives from Apple, ATI, Nvidia, SGI and others, announced the availability of the OpenGL 1.4 specification. The new spec sports enhancements to the cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics technology:
- Support for depth textures and shadow textures, which enable real-time shadows and related image-based rendering techniques;
- Vertex programming framework, which the OpenGL ARB said sets the stage for user-defined geometry, lighting and shading programs, and also enables high-level general purpose shading languages;
- Automatic texture mipmap generation, thus providing rapid updates and high-quality texture filtering for dynamic textures;
- A variety of other smaller enhancements, including multiple draw arrays, window raster position, user-defined fog coordinates, user-defined secondary color, point parameters, texture level-of-detail bias and much more.
The 1.4 specification was developed with the guidance of the ARB itself along with additional participants in the graphics industry. Implementations of OpenGL 1.4 are expected to be released later this year.
