16 Tuning Your OpenGL Application

Tuning your software makes it use hardware capabilities more effectively. Writing high-performance code is usually more complex than just following a set of rules. Most often, it involves making trade-offs between special functionality, quality, and performance for a particular application.

 
• 16.1 What Is Pipeline Tuning?
  • Three-Stage Model of the Graphics Pipeline
  • 16.1.2 Finding Bottlenecks in Your Application
    • Application bottlenecks.
    • Geometry bottlenecks.
    • Rasterization bottlenecks.
  • 16.1.3 Factors Influencing Performance
• 16.2 Optimizing Your Application Code
  • 16.2.1 Optimize Cache and Memory Usage
    • Minimizing Cache Misses.
  • 16.2.2 Store Data in a Format That is Efficient for Rendering
    • Minimizing State Changes.
  • Per-Platform Tuning
• 16.3 Tuning the Geometry Subsystem
  • 16.3.1 Use Expensive Modes Efficiently
  • 16.3.2 Optimizing Transformations
  • 16.3.3 Optimizing Lighting Performance
  • Advanced Geometry-Limited Tuning Techniques
• 16.4 Tuning the Raster Subsystem
  • 16.4.1 Using Backface/Frontface Removal
  • Minimizing Per-Pixel Calculations
    • Avoid Unnecessary Per-Fragment Operations.
    • Use Simple Fill Algorithms for Large Polygons.
    • Use the Depth Buffer Efficiently.
  • 16.4.3 Optimizing Texture Mapping
  • 16.4.4 Clearing the Color and Depth Buffers Simultaneously
• 16.5 Rendering Geometry Efficiently
  • Using Peak-Performance Primitives
  • 16.5.2 Using Vertex Arrays
  • 16.5.3 Using Display Lists
  • 16.5.4 Balancing Polygon Size and Pixel Operations
• 16.6 Rendering Images Efficiently
• 16.7 Tuning Animation
  • 16.7.1 Factors Contributing to Animation Speed
  • 16.7.2 Optimizing Frame Rate Performance
• 16.8 Taking Timing Measurements
  • 16.8.1 Benchmarking Basics
  • 16.8.2 Achieving Accurate Timing Measurements
  • 16.8.3 Achieving Accurate Benchmarking Results