THORLABS DCU22 Series Description And Sdk Manual

© 2016 Thorlabs Scientific Imaging
2 Camera Basics
23
How the Direct3D mode works
OpenGL mode
OpenGL stands for Open Graphics Library and it is an interface specification for graphics
hardware. Unlike Direct3D OpenGL is not only available under Windows but also under Linux and
Mac OS, if OpenGL is supported by the graphics hardware. There are several implementations of
OpenGL, such as e.g. NVIDIA
®
or AMD/ATI. The implementations are always dependent on the
graphics card manufacturer.
How the OpenGL mode works
Comparison of the display modes
The following table illustrates the major differences between the display modes:
Bitmap mode
Direct3D mode
OpenGL mode
Graphics card
requirements
Low. No special graphics
hardware required. Runs
on all systems.
High. Graphics card has
to support Direct3D.
Does not run on all
systems.
High. Graphics card has
to support OpenGL.
Operating system
Windows, Linux
Only Windows with
DirectX
Cross-platform
Programming
effort
Greater. Memory
management, event
handling and display
performed by the
application.
Low. Memory
management, event
handling and display
performed by DirectX.
High. OpenGL itself does
not provide functions for
opening windows or
reading files. However,
there are related
libraries, e.g. GLUT.
CPU load
Slightly increased by
copying of data.
Low. Display performed
by graphics card.
Low. Display performed
by graphics card.
Overlay functions
Not available. A simple
overlay can be
Integrated. Complex
overlays can be
Integrated.

THORLABS DCU22 Series Specifications

General

Brand	THORLABS
Model	DCU22 Series
Category	Security Camera
Language	English