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Technical Q&As: Graphics & Imaging
OpenGL is a cross-platform, standards-based C programming interface that is widely used for games, animation, CAD/CAM, medical imaging, and other applications that need a framework for visualizing and manipulating complex, three-dimensional shapes. OpenGL programs are highly portable and produce consistent results on any supported platform. Apple's implementation of OpenGL has been optimized for the Macintosh platform and includes a suite of ARM and platform-specific extensions that give developers access to advanced graphics hardware capabilities.

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NSOpenGLView redraw problems after a window is closed and re-opened. (HTML)
QA1353: Workaround for NSOpenGLView failure to draw after its window is closed and re-opened.
2004-12-03
OpenGL Sample Code (HTML)
QA1166: Describes new naming convention for OpenGL sample code
2004-12-01
Using Interface Builder's NSOpenGLView or Custom View objects for an OpenGL application (HTML)
QA1167: Describes usage cases for both NSOpenGLViews and Custom Views for Cocoa OpenGL applications
2004-10-28
glFlush() vs. glFinish() (HTML)
QA1158: Explanation of the differences between glFlush() and glFinish()
2004-10-11
How do I determine how much VRAM is available on my video card? (HTML)
QA1168: Using Core Graphics and IOKit to find the physical size of VRAM on installed hardware.
2004-10-11
NSTimers and Rendering Loops (HTML)
QA1385: Using Cocoa timers (NSTimer) to drive a rendering loop
2004-10-04
Creating an OpenGL texture from an NSView (HTML) ()
QA1325: Addresses the issues involved with using an NSView as the source data for an OpenGL texture.
2004-02-13
OpenGL Driver Monitor Decoder Ring (HTML) ()
QA1334: Describes what each of the parameters available in the OpenGL Driver Monitor measure.
2004-01-30
Sharpening Full Scene Anti-Aliasing Details (HTML)
QA1268: Using full scene anti-aliasing (FSAA) in OpenGL applications.
2003-10-10
Context Sharing Tips (HTML) ()
QA1248: How to correctly share OpenGL contexts and what the limits on this sharing are.
2003-06-24
Mac OS X OpenGL Interfaces (HTML) ()
QA1269: Describes the Mac OS X specific APIs to set up and use OpenGL.
2003-06-19
Updating OpenGL Contexts (HTML) ()
QA1209: When and why to update an OpenGL context in response to system and user actions.
2003-06-19
OpenGL and 3D Graphics Changes in Mac OS X v10.2.5 (HTML) ()
QA1258: Describes the changes made in OpenGL and 3D graphics for Mac OS X v10.2.5.
2003-04-29
OpenGL and 3D Graphics Changes in Mac OS X v10.2.4 (HTML) ()
QA1239: Describes the changes made in OpenGL and 3D graphics for Mac OS X v10.2.4.
2003-02-18
OpenGL and 3D Graphics Changes in Mac OS X v10.2.3 (HTML) ()
QA1229: Mac OS X v10.2.3 OpenGL and 3D Graphics improvements
2003-01-03
Finding Missing OpenGL CFM Entry Points (HTML) ()
QA1225: A resolution to Mac OS X 10.2 OpenGL CFM applications which break under Mac OS X 10.1.
2002-12-23
Using Clip Region and Buffer Rectangles with OpenGL Carbon (HTML) ()
QA1222: Shows the basics of using buffer rectangles and clip regions with AGL.
2002-12-19
How do I tell if a particular display is being hardware accelerated by Quartz Extreme? (HTML) ()
QA1218: Describes how to use CGDisplayUsesOpenGLAcceleration to see if a display is accelerated or not.
2002-12-04
GetProcAdress and OpenGL Entry Points (HTML) ()
QA1188: Technique for finding function pointers for OpenGL entry points in Cocoa and Carbon
2002-11-25
Setting the preferred CMM programatically? (HTML)
QA1086: Uses the NCMConcatProfileSet structure to specify the CMM to be used to make the CMWorldRef with the NCWConcatColorWorld function.
2001-10-24
Menus & Hardware Accelerated OpenGL under Mac OS 9 Carbon (HTML)
QA1042: Explains how to handle correctly Mac OS 9 menus when there is hardware accelerated OpenGL blitting.
2001-07-10
OpenGL Texture Sharing Between Contexts (HTML)
QA1031: Describes the process of creating shared OpenGL contexts and sharing textures between these contexts.
2001-05-01
Correct Setup of an AGLDrawable (HTML)
OGL02: Describes the setup of an AGLDrawable.
2000-10-04
aglChoosePixelFormat, The Inside Scoop (HTML)
OGL01: Describes the nuances of aglChoosePixelFormat, including specific information on multi-monitor support.
2000-04-03