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Contents:
What is OpenGL* and DirectX*?
Accessing the control panel
Newer graphics drivers
Older graphics drivers
OpenGL attributes for older drivers
Related Topic
What is OpenGL and DirectX?
OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) and DirectX are two different "application programming interfaces" (APIs). These APIs determine how various software components interact with each other. OpenGL and DirectX are two such APIs that are designed to render 2D and 3D graphics. Many games require support for various APIs in order to function, as well as provide a high-quality gaming experience.
Accessing the control panel
You can configure OpenGL & DirectX settings through graphics properties.
| Note |
Both OpenGL and DirectX 3D graphic settings are controlled by the same control panel in newer graphics drivers. | |
- Press Ctrl+Alt+F12.
- Click 3D or 3D Settings (depending on your driver version). The control panel dialog box displays.
The 3D settings dialog box that displays on your computer is dependent on the graphic driver version you have installed.
Newer Graphics Drivers
If your system has the newer drivers installed, the Intel® HD Graphics Control Panel/Graphics and Media Control Panel will display. You have the ability to set 3D Preference or Custom Settings.
Figure 1A: Set 3D Preference
Figure 1B: Set 3D preference
Figure 2A: Set 3D Custom Settings
Figure 2B: Set 3D Custom settings
Older graphic drivers
For systems with even older drivers installed, the Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator Driver panel displays. See Figure 3 for attribute value settings and their expanded definitions in the OpenGL Attributes table below.
| Note |
Older graphics drivers using the older Interface (as shown below) control only the OpenGL settings, not DirectX. Older drivers did not have the functionality to control 3D settings for DirectX. | |
Figure 3 Attribute value settings
The following table provides information on the various OpenGL attributes that can be changed in the OpenGL Settings dialog box.
OpenGL Attributes for older drivers
| Attribute |
Default Value |
Other Applicable Values |
|
 Asynchronous Flip
|
Off |
On |
|
Off (default value) - Enables vertical synchronization (also known as vertical sync or VSYNC). Vertical synchronization allows a frame change to coincide with an analog monitor’s vertical blanking interval. This may help to reduce or eliminate tearing in the video, but may cause reduced frame rate since the frame change is delayed until the vertical blank interval.
On - Disables vertical synchronization. |
|
Triple Buffering |
Off |
On |
|
A technique that may help to reduce or eliminate visual artifacts such as flickering, tearing, or shearing. This is done by using 3 buffers to minimize the delay in redrawing the image, for the cost of higher memory usage.
Default (default value) - Driver selects triple buffering based on available memory.
Off - Disables triple buffering.
On - Enables triple buffering. |
|
Flipping Policy |
Off |
On |
|
Flip (default value) - In applications that run in full screen, enables flip multi-buffering. With flip operations, the render buffer is directly connected with screen and when it is rendered it is just swapped on to the screen with no copying occurring.
Blit - Enables blit multi-buffering which copies rendered buffer on to the screen. With blit operations, several bitmap patterns are combined into one using a raster operator. Applications running windowed (not full-screen) can only use blit operations. |
|
Depth Buffer Bit Depth |
Off |
On |
|
16 Bit Depth Buffer - Forces a 16-bit depth buffer on PixelFormats that have a depth buffer.
24 Bit Depth Buffer - Forces a 24-bit depth buffer/8-bit stencil buffer on PixelFormats that have a depth buffer. |
|
Force S3TC Texture Compression |
Off |
On |
|
S3TC is a method of texture compression to reduce the texture size, for the cost of lower texture quality and higher processing power demand.
Off (default value) - Driver does not automatically compress all RGB and RGBA format texture images into S3 compressed format.
On - If S3TC extension is supported, the driver automatically compress all RGB and RGBA format texture images to kept them internally in S3TC format. It reduces the amount of required memory/allows to support more textures. |
|
Force FXT1 Texture Compression |
Off |
On |
|
FXT1 is another method of texture compression to reduce the texture size, for the cost of lower texture quality and higher processing power demand.
Off (default value) – Driver does not automatically compress all RGB and RGBA format texture images into FXT1 compressed format.
On - If FXT1 extension is supported, driver automatically compresses all RGB and RGBA format texture images into FXT1 compressed format. |
|
Driver Memory Footprint |
Off |
On |
|
Texture Color Depth |
Off |
On |
|
Specifies a preferred bit depth for texture maps on devices that support multiple texture bit depths. |
|
Anisotropic Filtering |
Off |
On |
|
Anisotropic filtering enhances the final image quality when textures are used for surfaces that appear to be non-orthogonal to the screen, for the cost of performance.
Application Control (default value) - Filtering controlled by the application.
On - Enables anisotropic filtering.
Off - Disables anisotropic filtering. | |
You can change the value of each OpenGL attribute or restore the default values to all attributes. Select the apply button to save your changes.
Related Topic:
Intel® Driver Update Utility
Operating System:
| Windows Vista *, Windows 7 *, Windows XP *, Windows 8* |
This applies to:
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