Graphics pipeline
| Three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics |
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| Fundamentals |
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The computer graphics pipeline, or simply graphics pipeline, also known as the rendering pipeline, is a series of procedures for transforming a three-dimensional (3D) scene into a two-dimensional (2D) representation on a screen. Once a 3D model is generated, the 3D computer graphics pipeline converts the model into a visually perceivable format on the computer display.
Due to the dependence on specific software and hardware configurations and desired display attributes, a universally applicable graphics pipeline does not exist. Nevertheless, graphics application programming interfaces (APIs), such as Direct3D, OpenGL and Vulkan were developed to standardize common procedures and oversee the graphics pipeline of a given hardware accelerator. These APIs provide an abstraction layer over the underlying hardware, relieving programmers from the need to write code explicitly targeting various graphics hardware accelerators like AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and others.
The model of the graphics pipeline is usually used in real-time rendering. Often, most of the pipeline steps are implemented in hardware, which allows for special optimizations. The term "pipeline" is used in a similar sense for the pipeline in processors: the individual steps of the pipeline often run in parallel when a given stage has enough data.