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OpenGL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [1/3]

( Part1 - Part2 - Part3 )
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Archive-Name: graphics/opengl-faq/part1
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Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.answers:14596 comp.graphics.api.opengl:1183 news.answers:54156

See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
This FAQ is posted twice a month, on the 2nd, 16th of every month.  
You may also want to see the OpenGL Web Page:
WWW URL http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL/  

* marks recently modified answers or new questions

The FAQ has been split into 3 parts.

Part 1 are general questions about OpenGL documentation,
implementations, licensing, and other general product
information.  Part 2 is about OpenGL governance and the ARB.
Part 3 are technical questions, including where source code
examples can be found.

Part 1

Q1:  How do I submit changes or additions to this FAQ?
Q2:  What is OpenGL?
Q3:  Where are World Wide Web sites with information about OpenGL?
Q4:  What does the .gl or .GL file format have to do with OpenGL?
Q5:  What documentation is available for OpenGL?  (A bibliography of
     OpenGL documents is listed here.)  
Q6:  Where can I get the OpenGL specification?  
Q7:  Which vendors are licensing OpenGL? 
*Q8:  What OpenGL implementations are available?

Part 2

Q9:   Who needs to license OpenGL?  Who doesn't?  
Q10:  What are the conformance tests?
Q11:  What is Silicon Graphics policy on "free"
      implementations of APIs which resemble the OpenGL API?  
Q12:  What is Mesa 3D and where can I get it?
Q13:  How does a university or research institution acquire access to
      OpenGL source code?
Q14:  How is a commercial license acquired?
Q15:  How is the OpenGL governed?  Who decides what changes can be made?
Q16:  Who are the current ARB members?
Q17:  What is the philosophy behind the structure of the ARB?
Q18:  How does the OpenGL ARB operate logistically?  When does the
      ARB have meetings?
Q19:  How do additional members join the OpenGL ARB?
Q20:  So if I'm not a member of the ARB, am I shut out of the decision 
      making process?
Q21:  Are ARB meetings open to observers?

Part 3

Q22:  Where can I find OpenGL source code examples?  
      For instance, where is an example which combines
      OpenGL with Motif, using the Motif widget?
Q23:  How do I contribute OpenGL code examples to a publicly accessible
      archive?
Q24:  What is the GLUT toolkit?  Where do I get it?
Q25:  What is the relationship between IRIS GL and OpenGL?
      Is OpenGL source code or binary code compatible with IRIS GL?
Q26:  Why should I port my IRIS GL application to OpenGL?
Q27:  How much work is it to convert an IRIS GL program to OpenGL?
      What are the major differences between them?
Q28:  When using Xlib, how do I create a borderless window?
Q29:  How do I switch between single buffer and double buffer mode?
Q30:  On my machine, it appears that glXChooseVisual
      is only able to match double-buffered visuals.  I want to have more
      bits of color resolution, so how do I render in single buffer mode?
Q31:  I've got a 24-bit machine, but my OpenGL windows
      are not using the full color resolution.  What's wrong?  My
      program looks fine on one machine, but the depth buffer doesn't work
      on another.  What's wrong?
Q32:  What information is available about OpenGL extensions?
Q33:  How do I make shadows in OpenGL?
Q34:  How can I use 16 bit X fonts?
Q35:  What's in the new GLU 1.2 tesselator?

------
Subject:  Q1:  How do I submit changes or additions to this FAQ?

A:  To request changes or additions, please send e-mail to
the FAQ maintainer.  See the "Reply-To:" field in the header for
the e-mail address.

OpenGL licensees may want to contribute information to the
question:  "What OpenGL implementations are available?"  That
space is available for any company who wishes to state status
reports, release dates, contact names and phone numbers, or other
information for their OpenGL implementation.  

It is asked that this information be relatively brief.  Also, for
the sake of civility, each implementor is asked not to make
comparisons of their implementations against others.  

Note that although a Silicon Graphics employee maintains this
FAQ, Silicon Graphics does not speak for any other company, 
nor does it uphold the veracity of anyone else's information.

------
Subject:  Q2:  What is OpenGL?

A:  OpenGL(R) is the software interface for graphics hardware that allows
graphics programmers to produce high-quality color images of 3D
objects.  OpenGL is a rendering only, vendor neutral API providing 2D
and 3D graphics functions, including modelling, transformations,
color, lighting, smooth shading, as well as advanced features like
texture mapping, NURBS, fog, alpha blending and motion blur.  OpenGL
works in both immediate and retained (display list) graphics modes.
OpenGL is window system and operating system independent.  OpenGL has 
been integrated with Windows NT and with the X Window System under
UNIX.  Also, OpenGL is network transparent.  A defined common extension
to the X Window System allows an OpenGL client on one vendor's platform
to run across a network to another vendor's OpenGL server. 

------
Subject:  Q3:  Where are World Wide Web sites with information about OpenGL?

A:  OpenGL--The Integration of Windowing and 3D Graphics
WWW URL http://hertz.eng.ohio-state.edu/~hts/opengl/article.html
Maintained by Harry Shamansky.  

OpenGL WWW Center
WWW URL http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL/
Maintained by Thomas McReynolds <tomcat@sgi.com>.

IBM WWW Center for OpenGL
WWW URL http://www.austin.ibm.com/software/OpenGL

Template Graphics Software WWW Center for OpenGL
WWW URL http://www.sd.tgs.com/~template/Products/opengl.html

Microsoft Developer Network OffRamp Web Server
WWW URL http://www.microsoft.com

------
Subject:  Q4:  What does the .gl or .GL file format have to do with OpenGL?

A:  .gl files have nothing to do with OpenGL, but are sometimes
confused with it.  .gl is a file format for images, which has no
relationship to IRIS GL or OpenGL.

------ 
Subject:  Q5:  What documentation is available for OpenGL?
(A bibliography of OpenGL documents is listed here.)

A:  A 2 volume set, The OpenGL Technical Library (The OpenGL
Programming Guide and The OpenGL Reference Manual) is published
by Addison-Wesley.  The ISBN numbers for both English and
Japanese versions are listed below.  You can purchase the books
in extremely large volume by calling Addison-Wesley (+1-617-944-3700).

What follows is a bibliography of articles, books, and papers written
about OpenGL.

Books (in English)
------------------
Neider, Jackie, Tom Davis, and Mason Woo, OpenGL Programming
Guide:  The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Release 1,
Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1993 (ISBN 0-201-63274-8).

OpenGL Architecture Review Board, OpenGL Reference Manual:  The
Official Reference Document for OpenGL, Release 1,
Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1992 (ISBN 0-201-63276-4).

Magazine articles
-----------------
Bruno, Lee.  "Graphics Users Debate Three Hot Topics," Open Systems Today,
December 12, 1994, p. HP3, HP8.

Bruno, Lee.  "Sun Continues to Resist OpenGL Tide," Open Systems Today,
November 28, 1994, p. SF1, SF5-6.

Davis, Tom.  "Moving to OpenGL," IRIS Universe, Number 25,
Summer, 1993.

Deffeyes, Suzy and John Spitzer.  "OpenGL on OS/2," OS/2 Developer Magazine,
Nov/Dec 94, pages 34-45.

Glazier, Bill.  "The 'Best Principle':  Why OpenGL is emerging as the 3D
graphics standard," Computer Graphics World, April, 1992.

"Industry group pushing 3-D graphics standard," Computer Design,
July, 1994, p. 50, 52.

Karlton, Phil.  "Integrating the GL into the X environment:  a
high performance rendering extension working with and not against
X,"  The X Resource:  Proceeding of the 6th Annual X Technical
Conference, O'Reilly Associates, Issue 1, Winter, 1992.

Kilgard, Mark, Simon Hui, Allen Leinwand, and Dave Spalding. ``X
Server Multi-rendering for OpenGL and PEX,'' The X Resource
Proceedings of the 8th Annual X Technical Conference, O'Reily
and Associates, Sebastopol, California, January 1994.

Kilgard, Mark J.  "OpenGL & X:  An Introduction,"  The X Journal.
November-December, 1993, page 36-51.

Kilgard, Mark J.  "Using OpenGL with Xlib,"  The X Journal.
January-February, 1994, page 46-65.

Kilgard, Mark J.  "Using OpenGL with Motif,"  The X Journal.
July-August, 1994.

"OpenGL Programs a New Horizon for Sun," SunWorld, January, 1994,
page 15-17.

Prosise, Jeff.  "Advanced 3-D Graphics for Windows NT 3.5:
Introducing the OpenGL Interface, Part I," Microsoft Systems Journal,
October, 1994, Vol. 9, Number 10, pages 15-29.

Prosise, Jeff.  "Advanced 3-D Graphics for Windows NT 3.5: 
Introducing the OpenGL Interface, Part II,"  Microsoft Systems Journal,
November, 1994, Vol. 9, Number 11.

Prosise, Jeff.  "Understanding Modelview Transformations in
OpenGL for Windows NT," Microsoft Systems Journal,
February, 1995, Vol. 10, Number 2.


Japanese language magazine articles and books
---------------------------------------------

"Interview with Masamichi Tachi about OpenGL_Japan," 
Nikkei Computer Graphics, 3/1995, p. 56-57.

Matsumoto, Masayuki, PIXEL, "OpenGL, A 3D Graphics Standard",
10/1994, p. 138-145.

Matsumoto, Masayuki, Toragi Computer, 
"A introduction to OpenGL for PC users", 11/1994, p. 147-150.

Neider, Jackie, Tom Davis, and Mason Woo, OpenGL Programming
Guide:  The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Release 1,
Addison-Wesley Publishers Japan, Tokyo, 1993 (ISBN 4-7952-9645-6).

Nikkei Electronics, No. 616, Sept. 5, 1994, p. 99-105.

OpenGL Architecture Review Board, OpenGL Reference Manual:  The
Official Reference Document for OpenGL, Release 1,
Addison-Wesley Publishers Japan, Tokyo, 1992 (ISBN 4-7952-9644-8).

"OpenGL," Nikkei Computer Graphics, 1/1995, p. 203-209.

PIXEL, No. 143, 8/94, p. 65 ("From the Editor's Desk"), 
p. 117-121 ("3D API, OpenGL").

Sasaki, Akiko and Masayuki Matsumoto, Software Design, "Chapter 3:  OpenGL",
November 11, 1994, ISSN 0916-6297, p. 26-48.

"Windows NT and OpenGL," Nikkei Computer Graphics, 3/1995, p. 156-161.

Woo, Mason, "OpenGL," Nikkei Computer Graphics, 11/1994,
p. 142.

"X Windows and OpenGL," Nikkei Computer Graphics, 2/1995, p. 155-160.

Technical reports
-----------------
Segal, Mark and Kurt Akeley.  The OpenGL Graphics System:  A
Specification.  Technical report, Silicon Graphics Computer
Systems, Mountain View, California, 1992, revised 1993.

Segal, Mark and Kurt Akeley.  The OpenGL Graphics Interface.
Technical paper, Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, Mountain
View, California, 1993.

------
Subject:  Q6:  Where can I get the OpenGL specification?  

A:  A PostScript version of OpenGL specification, along with the
OpenGL Utility Library and GLX protocol specifications, are
available via anonymous, public ftp, on the machine
sgigate.sgi.com in ~ftp/pub/opengl/doc.  They are all in the
file, specs.tar.Z, which has been tar'd and compressed.  The man
pages for the OpenGL API, its Utility Library (GLU), and the X
server extension API (GLX) are also here.

Please read the accompanying README file, which explains the
copyright and trademark rules for usage of the specification.
Possession of the OpenGL Specification does not grant the right
to reproduce, create derivative works based on or distribute or
manufacture, use or sell anything that embodies the specification
without an OpenGL license from SGI.

An HTML version of the OpenGL specification can be found on
http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL/glspec/glspec.html

An HTML version of the OpenGL man pages can be found on
http://www.digital.com:80/pub/doc/opengl/

------
Subject:  Q7:  Which vendors are licensing OpenGL?

A:  OpenGL is supported by many hardware and software vendors.
As of September, 1995, OpenGL has been licensed to:

3Dlabs,
AT&T,
AccelGraphics,
Cirrus Logic,
Cray Research,
Daikin,
Digital Equipment,
Division,
Dynamic Pictures,
Evans & Sutherland,
HP
Harris Computer,
Hitachi,
IBM,
Intel,
Intergraph,
Japan Radio Co.,
Kendall Square Research,
Media Vision,
Metro Link,
Microsoft,
Miro,
NCD,
NEC,
NeTpower,
Peritek,
Portable Graphics,
SPEA,
Samsung,
Sony,
SunSoft,
Template Graphics Software,
The Institute for Information Industry,
Univel

------
Subject:  Q8:  What OpenGL implementations are available?

A:  
AccelGraphics
-------------
AccelGraphics, Inc. is currently shipping the AG300, a high-performance
PCI-based OpenGL(R) graphics board for the PC.  AccelGraphics, Inc. is an
OpenGL licensee and provides full support of OpenGL via client-loadable
library on Windows NT(R) 3.5.  

Running on a standard Pentium(TM), Alpha(TM), or MIPS(TM) PC with a PCI bus,
the AG300 graphics accelerator card lets you manipulate larger and more
complex 3D models and assemblies dynamically.  True color and full 3D
acceleration, with a 16-bit Z-buffer and smooth double-buffered display at
full screen (1280x1024) resolution, combine to provide high-performance
dynamic viewing and rendering.

Hardware Support
       Scalable architecture efficiently leverages the system CPU
       7.5 MB of total RAM
           5 MB of VRAM for 32 plane frame-buffer
           2.5 MB of DRAM for 16-bit Z-buffer
       Rectangle clipping, Alpha blending, Logic Operations, Bilinear
       Interpolation, and Dithering

Supported Drivers and Applications

       Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 or higher with OpenGL
       Microsoft Windows 3.1
       Windows 95(R) with OpenGL (late 1995)
       Pro/ENGINEER(TM) and Pro/JR.(TM) from Parametric Technology Corporation
       AutoCAD(TM) from Autodesk
       MicroStation(TM) from Bentley Systems
       Virtually any 3D application that utilizes OpenGL

Supported Hardware Platforms

       Any Intel Pentium system with 1 free PCI slot
       Digital's Alpha based PC's
       MIPS based PC's

Supported Operating Systems

       DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows NT

       AccelGraphics, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, CA
       with regional offices in Atlanta, Orlando, Los Angeles,
       Cincinnati and London, England.

       For more information on the AG300, please call 
       AccelGraphics, Inc. at 1-800-444-5699.

       AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk.  Microstation
       is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems.  Pentium is a
       trademark of Intel Corporation.  AG300, ActionGraphics and 
       AccelGraphics are trademarks of AccelGraphics, Inc.  Windows,        
       Windows NT and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft
       Corporation.  OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics. 
       Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/JR. are trademarks of Parametric Technology
       Corporation.  All other trademarks are the property of the 
       companies that issued them.


Digital (DEC)
------- -----
Digital Equipment Corporation offers OpenGL to its customers as part of the
the DEC Open3D layered product. DEC Open3D is available for DEC OSF/1 AXP and
DEC OpenVMS AXP workstations. Supported graphics devices include:
	PXG (all devices in the PXG family with z-buffers)
	ZLX-M1
	ZLX-M2
	ZLX-E1
	ZLX-E2
At this time, Digital Equipment Corporation has no plans to offer
Open3D on either VAXstations or DECstations.

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is shipping accelerated OpenGL for Windows
NT on our AlphaStation models 200 and 400 using the ZLXp-E1, ZLXp-E2, and
ZLXp-E3 graphics options.

Now you can unleash the industry-leading speed and power of Digital's Alpha
AXP technology with low-cost high-performance graphics accelerators that will
change the way you view your work.

The ZLXp-E1 provides leading 2D performance inexpensively. And breakthrough
dithering technology lets the ZLXp-E1 display 3D smooth shaded images in 8
planes with outstanding quality. Coupled with the ZLXp-E1's excellent
performance, Digital's patented dithering capability provides an ideal
solution for professionals in CASE, ECAD, and mechanical product design.

The ZLXp-E2 delivers the high-performance and 24 plane, true color capability
needed for image processing, medical imaging, desktop publishing, graphics
arts, and multimedia. The ZLXp-E2 can be configured to run 8 bits double
buffered with a 16 bit Z buffer, providing full dedicated hardware support for
3D applications.

The ZLXp-E3, featuring true color capability and a full 24 bit Z buffer for
even more complex solid model rendering, is ideal for mechanical CAD and
computer-aided molecular design.

For further information contact your Digital Equipment sales representative.

IBM
---
IBM offers OpenGL 1.0 at several different price and performance points,
on most configurations of it's RS/6000 workstation line.  Hardware
accelerated OpenGL is available through two recently announced products:
the mid-range POWERgraphics GXT1000 and the high-end Freedom Series /6000.
Both platforms provide h/w support for texture mapping, accumulation, 
stencil and alpha buffers, as well as a h/w accelerated lighting and 
geometry transformation pipeline. The Freedom Series is based on an
architecture developed by Evans and Sutherland.

OpenGL is supported on most other RS/6000 configurations, including 
the GXT100 and GXT150 graphics adapters for the PowerPC-based /6000's 
as well as on the CGDA, the Gt1 family, the Gt3 family, and the Gt4 
family of graphics adapters.  This support is provided through 
SoftGraphics, a highly-tuned, highly-optimized pure software 
implementation of OpenGL.  (Because of the lack of support for an 
RGB X11 TrueColor visual on the 3D-HP-CGP and GTO adapters, OpenGL 
is not offered on these machines. This is the only exception to 
OpenGL support on the RS/6000 line. Sorry). OpenGL requires AIX 3.2.5 
or later.

At the Fall '93 Comdex, IBM exhibited a software technology
that allowed OpenGL to run under OS/2.  The interface that 
integrates OpenGL with OS/2 was presented to the OpenGL ARB for 
review. Beta versions of that interface will be available in the 
first half of 1994, through the OS/2 Developer CD-ROM distribution.

To purchase these products, contact your local IBM sales office.

Intergraph
----------
Intergraph Computer Systems is currently shipping high-performance, PCI-based,
OpenGL accelerators on its TD series of Personal Workstations.  Using state of
the art dedicated hardware, the GLZ and GLI graphics products dramatically
accelerate OpenGL and offer the high performance and features traditionally
found only on much more expensive workstations.  These accelerators are
available on Intergraph's TD-4 and TD-5 dual-Pentium Personal Workstations
running Windows NT.

GLZ and GLI offer advanced features such as:

     - 24-bit, double buffered image planes at all display resolutions up to 
       2 Mpixels
     - 24-bit (GLZ) or 32-bit (GLI) Z-Buffer
     - Full hardware support for Gouraud shading
     - Full hardware support for texture processing (GLI only) with 8 
       MTexels of texture storage
     - Industry-standard PCI bus interface with DMA engine
     - Support for multi-sync monitors up to 2 Mpixels at 76Hz vertical 
       refresh
     - Stereo ready
     - Multiple color palette support
     - 10-bit gamma correction

For additional information call 1 (800) 763-0242 or browse Intergraph's WWW 
pages at http://www.intergraph.com.

Microsoft
---------
OpenGL is offered as a standard feature of Microsoft Windows NT 
Workstation version 3.5.   The Microsoft implementation of OpenGL runs 
with any computer and video hardware that is compatible with Windows NT 
3.5.  Microsoft also provides documentation, sample source code, and 
development tools to help build OpenGL applications in the Win32 
Software Development Kit.   The Win32 SDK is available via Microsoft's 
Developer Network.  

For more information on the Win32 SDK, please call:
	US at 1-800-759-5474
	International at +1-402-691-0173

Portable Graphics, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------
3D Graphics Development and Porting Tools

Portable Graphics, a subsidiary of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation,
provides GL-based development and porting tools for a variety of workstation
platforms.  Products for PCs (Windows NT, OS/2, Windows 95) will be
available in 1995.  

OpenGL for Sun:

Portable Graphics' implementation of OpenGL for Sun is optimized for the
SPARC/Solaris environment and passes the ARB conformance tests, including
GLX server requirements for interoperability. Interoperability ensures
consistent client-server communications between any OpenGL implementation
across an X11 network. Native OpenGL on Freedom Series will be available
from Evans & Sutherland in 1st Quarter 1995. OpenGL can coexist with PHIGS,
PEX, or NPGL (IRIS GL 4.0-compatible) applications on the same device.
Portable Graphics supplies the GLU library, and widget sets for both Motif
and OPEN LOOK. Portable Graphics is an SMCC Catalyst Strategic Developer.

OpenGL for HP:  

Hewlett-Packard has choosen Evans & Sutherland (E&S) as its OpenGL supplier.
OpenGL For Hewlett-Packard from E&S is now shipping for the HP Freedom
Series accelerators. For your convenience, development licenses can be
purchased directly from Hewlett-Packard or from Portable Graphics. Portable
Graphics offers volume and educational discounts. OpenGL for the entire HP
graphics accelerator product line is in development at E&S for release in
Summer 1995. Developers who wish to develop OpenGL and Open Inventor
applications for HP workstations with CRX or HCRX accelerators or the Model
712, can get started now using NPGL and IRIS Inventor.  These applications
can then be converted to OpenGL and Open Inventor when these products
support the entire Series 700 product line. 

Custom OpenGL Ports:

Portable Graphics offers custom OpenGL ports for PC and workstation graphics
accelerator manufacturers, and consulting services to hardware manufacturers
and software developers.

Open Inventor - 3D Developer's Toolkit:

Portable Graphics also licenses Open Inventor from Silicon Graphics.  Open
Inventor is currently available on the IBM RISC System/6000, Sun
SPARCstation systems and HP Series 700 workstations with Freedom Series
graphics accelerators. Portable Graphics will also provide Open Inventor for
HP Series 700 workstations, Windows NT, Windows 95 and OS/2.  Portable
Graphics offers IRIS Inventor for HP and Sun workstations.

EDISON - Extensions to Open Inventor:

Portable Graphics is currently developing extensions to Open Inventor. The
product, which is called EDISON, will provide the framework to seamlessly
link other software modules to Open Inventor.  The first extension released
under EDISON will be the SHAPES Geometric Modeling System from XOX
Corporation (Minneapolis, MN). By combining SHAPES and Open Inventor via
EDISON, developers will obtain a powerful geometric computing system based
on mathematical standards that also features an easy-to-use, interactive
user interface and graphics rendering capabilities. The EDISON extensions to
Open Inventor will be available in mid-1995 for Silicon Graphics
workstations, followed by support for Sun, IBM, and HP workstations, and
Windows NT, Windows 95 and OS/2. 
 
Portable Graphics products are sold direct from the U.S. headquarters and
the U.K. office. Authorized distributors are located in Australia, France,
Germany, Japan and Taiwan.

For more information about OpenGL, Open Inventor, EDISON extensions to Open
Inventor, IRIS Inventor, or NPGL, contact:

Portable Graphics, Inc.
"An Evans & Sutherland Company"
One Technology Center
2201 Donley Drive, Suite 365
Austin, TX 78758

E-mail: glware@portable.com
Voice:  (512) 719-8000
Fax:  (512) 832-0752

Silicon Graphics
---
Starting with IRIX 5.2, OpenGL is supported for the following graphics
workstations:

    Indy - Indy XL 8 or 24 bits, XZ (XZ, as of IRIX 5.3)
    Indigo - Entry Level, XS, XS24, XZ, Elan
    Indigo2 - XL, XZ, Extreme
    Crimson - Entry Level, XS, XS24, Elan, Extreme, RealityEngine
    Onyx - VTX, RealityEngine, RealityEngine2
    4D30/35 - Elan

With IRIX 5.3, OpenGL is supported for these workstations:

    Personal IRIS Graphics: 8-bit, G, TG (except GR1.1)
    VGX, VGXT, Skywriter

This leaves the following graphics families with no OpenGL implementation:

    IRIS 1000, 2000, and 3000 series
    IRIS 4D/G, GT, GTX
    Personal IRIS GR1.1 (suggest purchasing graphics board upgrade to GR1.2)

Sony
----
Sony offers OpenGL on the complete range of its RISC based NEWS
workstations.  Sony OpenGL requires NEWS OS 6.0.1 and later.
This is a pure software implementation.  

Starting in September 1994, Sony have hardware support for OpenGL
on its 3D graphics workstations:  on the NWS-5000G and the 3D
graphics acceleration card NWB-1501 for NWS-5000 series
workstations.

Template Graphics Software, Inc. (TGS)
--------------------------------------
The Standard in Graphics Tools

* OpenGL - Accelerated to Hardware (Sun, Apple, Microsoft Windows 3.1)
 
TGS is providing OpenGL direct to Sun SPARC Solaris 2.x acceleration
hardware.  This differs from other software-only products in that it
avoids the additional XGL software layer.  The result is a fast 
performing and fully functional OpenGL for Sun workstations and 
clone systems.  (OpenGL for Solaris from TGS was recently selected by
Aries Research as the OpenGL to be sold with their SPARC systems.)
 
	* In final beta now, available via ftp
	* 100% functional today
	* Direct acceleration for Sun ZX, Turbo ZX
	* Direct support for GX, TGX, SX  board sets
	* X11 network rendering to X terminals, PC-X servers, etc.
	* PostScript hardcopy (on final release)
	* GLX server extension for Solaris (on final)
	* Does not require XGL for rendering
 
TGS will also be providing OpenGL for Apple Power Macintosh in early 1995,
with a software-rendering and graphics acceleration version.  TGS is 
working with 3D chip/board vendors to deliver accelerated OpenGL for
the Power Mac platform.

TGS will also be providing OpenGL for Windows 3.1, direct to GDI, to ISV and
and OEM customers.  OpenGL for Windows 3.1 is fully portable with the
OpenGL for Windows NT 3.5 provided by Microsoft, including the WGL
component.  

* Open Inventor - C++ 3D Graphics Toolkit

TGS will be a single-stop solution for Open Inventor 2.0 on UNIX and
PC systems, outside of SGI of course!

	* Open Inventor for Solaris - shipping (beta)
	* Open Inventor for IBM AIX - shipping (beta)
	* Open Inventor for Windows NT 3.5 - in alpha
	* Open Inventor for Windows 3.1 -  2Q95
	* Open Inventor for Windows 95 - TBA
	* Open Inventor for DEC OSF/1 - 2Q95
	* Open Inventor for HP - 2Q95
	* Open Inventor for Apple - 3Q95
	* Open Inventor for OS/2 - TBA

 Note:   All of our Open Inventor products are tightly integrated
         into the OpenGL on each system, including support for 3rd
         party acceleration boards from Evans & Sutherland, GLINT,
	 and others.  TGS is unique in our support for a direct
	 to hardware OpenGL for Solaris, Apple and is the only
	 vendor to support OpenGL for Win32s (Windows 3.1).

* TGS Power Tools (tm) for Open Inventor

TGS is also developing TGS Power Tools(tm) for Open Inventor which will
include:

        * Power Filters (tm) - Import/Export of 3D metafiles
        * Power Viewers (tm) - 3D Desktop Utilties
        * Web3D (tm) - 3D Internet tools

Additional information on TGS Power Tools will be provided on request.

* Sales and Support

TGS has supported ISV's and professional graphics software developers since
1982 from our San Diego headquarters.  TGS has regional sales offices in
San Jose, Houston, Atlanta and Boston.  We also have distribution partners 
in Europe and Asia.

For additional information on TGS graphics software:

        Template Graphics Software
        9920 Pacific Heights Blvd. #200
        San Diego, CA 92121

	WWW = http://www.sd.tgs.com/~template
	info@tgs.com

        Robert J. Weideman, V.P. Marketing
        (619)457-5359 x229
        (619)452-2547 (fax)
        robert@tgs.com

3Dlabs
------
3Dlabs is currently shipping the GLINT 300SX, a high performance graphics
processor providing workstation class 3D graphics acceleration in a single
chip.  Designed to accelerate OpenGL, the GLINT 300SX implements in hardware 3D
rendering operations such as Gouraud shading, depth buffering, anti-aliasing
and alpha blending.

Implemented around a scalable memory architecture, the GLINT 300SX reduces the
cost and complexity of delivering high performance 3D graphics - making it
ideal for a wide range of graphics products from PC boards to high-end
workstation accelerators.  GLINT based products are already shipping from
several companies with other developments in progress.

Key features of the GLINT 300SX are:

    - Full hardware support for Gourard shading, depth buffering, alpha
      blending, anti-aliasing and dithering;
    - 8, 16 or 32-bits per pixel RGBA and 4 or 8-bit color indexed;
    - Screen resolutions up to 2560x2048;
    - 16, 24 or 32-bit Z buffer;
    - 4 or 8-bit stencil buffer
    - Double buffering, stereo and overlay support ;
    - PCI-bus Rev 2.0 interface with on-chip DMA;
    - 112-bit memory interface.

Since hardware is worthless without software, 3Dlabs have developed a highly
optimized OpenGL driver for the GLINT 300SX.  This OpenGL driver is currently
available under Windows NT 3.5 and will be ported to other operating systems
such as Windows 95.  With GLINT 300SX and 3Dlabs' OpenGL GLINT driver,
applications have achieved up to a 3,000 percent 3D display performance
increase.

To find out more:

  3Dlabs Inc
  2010 North First Street, Suite 403
  San Jose, CA 95131,
  Tel: (408) 436 3455
  Fax: (408) 436 3458
  Email: info@3Dlabs.com
  WWW URL http://www.3Dlabs.com/3Dlabs


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