OpenGL(Open Graphics Library) is a 2D and 3D graphics API(application programming interface) that brings thousands of applications to a wide variety of computer platforms. It is window-system and operating-system independent as well as network-transparent. OpenGL enables developers of software for PC, workstation, and supercomputing hardware to create high-performance, visually compelling graphics software applications, in markets such as CAD, content creation, energy, entertainment, game development, manufacturing, medical, and virtual reality. OpenGL exposes all the features of the latest graphics hardware. OpenGL greatly eases the task of writing real-time 2D or 3D graphics applications by providing a mature, well-documented graphics processing pipeline that supports the abstraction of current and future hardware accelerators.
The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit(GPU), to achieve hardware-accelerated rendering. Graphics processors are massively parallelized devices optimized for graphics operations. To access that computing power adds additional overhead because data must move from your application to the GPU over slower internal buses. Accessing the same data simultaneously from both your application and OpenGL is usually restricted. To get great performance in your application, you must carefully design your application to feed data and commands to OpenGL so that the graphics hardware runs in parallel with your application. A poorly tuned application may stall either on the CPU or the GPU waiting for the other to finish processing.
Thanks to the enormous graphics processing power in todays' GPUs,
FreeFrame 1.5 plugins using OpenGL run at much higher resolutions and
frame rates than older FreeFrame 1.0 plugins. With OpenGLs' 3D functions
and pixel shader programs, many new and exciting visual effects are
possible.
Sources:
Wiki OpenGL
Mac Developer Library
The Khronos Group
FreeFrame
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