WebGL now in Firefox nightly build

LessbDAchozn1 · 09/23/2009, 03:04 PM

Found this article stating that Firefox already supports WebGL (somewhat).
WebGL in Firefox Nightly Builds at Vladimir VukiÄ‡eviÄ‡

L33t Masta · 09/27/2009, 02:35 PM

What does this have to do with the Palm Pre? I would prefer an Opera browser before a Firefox one any day of the week.

windzilla · 09/27/2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

What does this have to do with the Palm Pre? I would prefer an Opera browser before a Firefox one any day of the week.

it has to do with possible support for the graphics chip which could potentially

increase speed
increase battery life
allow more graphics intensive applications
allow for more graphics intensive games.

see this artical on your very own pre central for more.
http://www.precentral.net/webos-gami...ebgl-be-answer

L33t Masta · 09/27/2009, 03:03 PM

Nothing supports OpenGL though. It's all DirectX or other custom APIs. And besides, DirectX is better, easier to program for and far more supported than OpenGL.

windzilla · 09/27/2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

Nothing supports OpenGL though. It's all DirectX or other custom APIs. And besides, DirectX is better, easier to program for and far more supported than OpenGL.

Huh?

Iphone does well with openGL.
AFAIK both standards have strength and weakness but broad support with desktop side libraries for interoperability. Don't really know about mobile side of it though. I just want to get the speed and battery benefits, I'm no dev and could care less about the acronym as long as it works for me. Besides if it is gaming your worried about it very well might go server based. Google iphone cysis for more

Eguy · 09/27/2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

What does this have to do with the Palm Pre? I would prefer an Opera browser before a Firefox one any day of the week.

Indeed. Opera > FF anyday.

s219 · 09/27/2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

Nothing supports OpenGL though. It's all DirectX or other custom APIs. And besides, DirectX is better, easier to program for and far more supported than OpenGL.

I have seen a lot of incorrect info on this forum, but that's about the worst.

Not only is OpenGL the acknowledged cross-platform standard, but OpenGL ES pretty much dominates the mobile space. DirectX has some limited traction with Windows Mobile, but we all know how well that has been doing lately...

L33t Masta · 09/27/2009, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by s219

I have seen a lot of incorrect info on this forum, but that's about the worst.

Not only is OpenGL the acknowledged cross-platform standard, but OpenGL ES pretty much dominates the mobile space. DirectX has some limited traction with Windows Mobile, but we all know how well that has been doing lately...

Cross platform is the key word there. No one uses it unless they have no other choice.

Why do you think most games are DirectX?

windzilla · 09/27/2009, 08:24 PM

Isn't psx ps2 ps3 gamecube wii and soforth openGL?

Also this isn't really about gaming that's only part of this equation.

L33t Masta · 09/27/2009, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windzilla

Isn't psx ps2 ps3 gamecube wii and soforth openGL?

No.

windzilla · 09/27/2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

No.

Yes?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2006/jan/27/possessionand

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/16/opencl_and_opengl_take_on_directx.html

Also if it isn't the case you should update wikipedia opengl directx comparison as that is where I get my info and sources. It would help people like me getting more accurate referances

s219 · 09/27/2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L33t Masta

Cross platform is the key word there. No one uses it unless they have no other choice.

Why do you think most games are DirectX?

Before doing mobile software development, I developed engineering CAD and visualization software. That was all done in OpenGL -- it needs to be to run on all platforms (Mac, UNIX, Linux, Windows).

Now that I am working on games, it's my observation that OpenGL is pretty much the standard there as well. This is especially true for games that run on multiple platforms (which means most games).

Direct3D is fine if you only want to target Windows or Xbox. But there's a whole world outside that subset where you can't use it.

s219 · 09/27/2009, 10:15 PM

PS3 uses Open GL ES for its rendering API.

windzilla · 09/27/2009, 10:16 PM

S219 as a dev, how do you view webGL as a possible way of implementing the graphics chip on the pre, not just for games, but ui ect?

Also is there anything that would allow me to experience webGL right now on my desktop?

s219 · 09/27/2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windzilla

S219 as a dev, how do you view webGL as a possible way of implementing the graphics chip on the pre, not just for games, but ui ect?

Also is there anything that would allow me to experience webGL right now on my desktop?

You can download the nightly builds of webKit or FireFox if you want to experiment with it. More info in the link above and here:

Wolfire Blog - Preview of WebKit’s WebGL / Canvas 3D

For the Pre, they need to take the extra steps of writing a driver for the GPU and creating an OpenGL framework in the underlying Linux layer of the OS. Only then will webGL be able to hook up with the GPU. And to make it practical, Palm will probably need to knit webGL into the SDK in a way that makes it easy to use and allows existing drawing/rendering calls to invoke webGL.

It should really improve smoothness of animation and offload a lot of burden from the CPU (which is doing all rendering in software right now). This will have wide ranging benefits, including improved battery life.

Ultimately, the use of javascript in the SDK will be the next bottleneck. It's really not fast enough to drive high speed OpenGL animations. But I imagine we'll be able to to some good stuff nonetheless. Just don't expect to see the same kind of fast, rich 3D animations the iPhone can do with its native OpenGL/C/C++/Obj-C combination.

09/23/2009, 03:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
LessbDAchozn1 Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: MD, USA Posts: 25 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 2 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	WebGL now in Firefox nightly build Found this article stating that Firefox already supports WebGL (somewhat). WebGL in Firefox Nightly Builds at Vladimir VukiÄ‡eviÄ‡
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09/27/2009, 02:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
L33t Masta Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 35 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 2 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	What does this have to do with the Palm Pre? I would prefer an Opera browser before a Firefox one any day of the week.
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09/27/2009, 03:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
L33t Masta Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 35 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 2 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Nothing supports OpenGL though. It's all DirectX or other custom APIs. And besides, DirectX is better, easier to program for and far more supported than OpenGL.
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09/27/2009, 08:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
windzilla Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: The Woo, MA Posts: 1,438 Likes Received: 3 Thanks: 287 Thanked 464 Times in 250 Posts	Isn't psx ps2 ps3 gamecube wii and soforth openGL? Also this isn't really about gaming that's only part of this equation.
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09/27/2009, 10:15 PM	#13 (permalink)
s219 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 498 Likes Received: 1 Thanks: 3 Thanked 94 Times in 71 Posts	PS3 uses Open GL ES for its rendering API.
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09/27/2009, 10:16 PM	#14 (permalink)
windzilla Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: The Woo, MA Posts: 1,438 Likes Received: 3 Thanks: 287 Thanked 464 Times in 250 Posts	S219 as a dev, how do you view webGL as a possible way of implementing the graphics chip on the pre, not just for games, but ui ect? Also is there anything that would allow me to experience webGL right now on my desktop?
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