OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenGL 4.3 squeeze textures to the limit, bring OpenVL along for th

[wraggster]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/08/khronos-astc-opengl-es-3.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/07/opengl-es-3-0-and-opengl-4-3-squeeze-textures-to-the-limit/)Mobile graphics are clearly setting the agenda at SIGGRAPH (http://www.engadget.com/tag/SIGGRAPH/) this year -- ARM's Mali T600-series (http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/06/arm-second-gen-mali-t600-gpus/) parts have just been chased up by a new Khronos Group (http://www.engadget.com/tag/KhronosGroup/) standard that will likely keep those future video cores well-fed. OpenGL ES (http://www.engadget.com/tag/OpenGLES/) 3.0 represents a big leap in textures, introducing "guaranteed support" for more advanced texture effects as well as a new version of ASTC compression that further shrinks texture footprints without a conspicuous visual hit. OpenVL is also coming to give augmented reality (http://www.engadget.com/tag/augmentedreality/) apps their own standard. Don't worry, desktop users still get some love through OpenGL 4.3: it adds the new ASTC tricks, new visual effects (think blur) and support for compute shaders without always needing to useOpenCL (http://www.engadget.com/tag/OpenCL/). All of the new standards promise a bright future in graphics for those living outside of Microsoft's Direct3D universe, although we'd advise being patient: there won't be a full Open GL ES 3.0 testing suite for as long as six months, and any next-generation phones or tablets will still need the graphics hardware to match.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/07/opengl-es-3-0-and-opengl-4-3-squeeze-textures-to-the-limit/