Pixel shader

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A pixel shader (abbreviation PS) is a shader program, normally executed on the graphics processing unit. In OpenGL, it is referred to as the fragment shader.

Contents

[edit] Function

A pixel shader serves to manipulate a pixel color, usually to apply an effect on an image, for example; realism, bump mapping, shadows, and explosion effects. It is a graphics function that calculates effects on a per-pixel basis. Depending on resolution, an excess of 2 million pixels may need to be rendered, lit, shaded, and colored for each frame.

[edit] Programming

Pixel shaders are commonly programmed in the following languages: Assembly, Cg, GLSL, HLSL.

[edit] Compatibility

[edit] Hardware

The following table shows a summary, which graphic cards i.e. which graphic chip together with which DirectX-Version supports which Pixel-Shader-Version. Graphic chips usually are fully downward compatible (3.0 chip supports 2.0, 1.1, etc.).

PS version DirectX version 3DLabs ATI Intel Matrox NVIDIA S3 Graphics SiS XGI
1.0/1.1 8.0 - - - - GeForce 3 series - Xabre-Series -
1.2 8.0a Wildcat VP - - - - - - -
1.3 8.0a - - - Parhelia series GeForce 4 Ti/Go series - Mirage 2 -
1.4 8.1 - Radeon R200 (8500-9250) - - - - - Volari V3 series (except V3XT)
2.0 9.0 Wildcat Realizm Radeon R300 (9500-9800, X300-X600) Intel GMA 900 - - DeltaChrome, GammaChrome, Chrome S2x series Mirage 3, Mirage 3+ Volari V3XT, Volari V5 series, Volari V8 series, Volari 8300, Volari XP10
2.0a 9.0b - - - - GeForce FX series - - -
2.0b 9.0b - Radeon R420 (X700-X850) - - - - - -
3.0 9.0c - Radeon R520 (X1300-X1950) Intel GMA 950 (3.0 emulated in software), 3000, 3100 - GeForce 6 series, GeForce 7 series - - -
4.0 10 - Radeon R600 (HD 2400-HD 2900) Intel GMA X3000, X3100 (beta drivers) - GeForce 8 series, GeForce 9 Series - Mirage 4 -
4.1 10.1 - Radeon R600 (HD 3xxx) - - - - - -

(Italics indicate products that are not yet available.)

[edit] See also

[edit] References