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GL_ARB_half_float_pixel
homeprevnext Name
  
    ARB_half_float_pixel  
  
homeprevnext Name Strings
  
    GL_ARB_half_float_pixel  
  
homeprevnext Contributors
  
    Pat Brown  
    Jon Leech  
    Rob Mace  
    Brian Paul  
  
homeprevnext Contact
  
    Dale Kirkland, 3Dlabs, Inc (dale.kirkland 'at' 3dlabs.com)  
  
homeprevnext Status
  
    Complete. Appprove by the ARB on October 22, 2004.  
  
homeprevnext Version
  
    Last Modified Date:  October 1, 2004  
    Version:             6  
  
homeprevnext Number
  
    ARB Extension #40  
  
homeprevnext Dependencies
  
    This extension is written against the OpenGL 2.0 Specification  
    but will work with the OpenGL 1.5 Specification.  
  
    Based on the NV_half_float extension.  
  
    This extension interacts with ARB_color_buffer_float.  
  
homeprevnext Overview
  
    This extension introduces a new data type for half-precision (16-bit)  
    floating-point quantities.  The floating-point format is very similar  
    to the IEEE single-precision floating-point standard, except that it  
    has only 5 exponent bits and 10 mantissa bits.  Half-precision floats  
    are smaller than full precision floats and provide a larger dynamic  
    range than similarly sized normalized scalar data types.  
  
    This extension allows applications to use half-precision floating-  
    point data when specifying pixel data.  It extends the existing image  
    specification commands to accept the new data type.  
  
    Floating-point data is clamped to [0, 1] at various places in the  
    GL unless clamping is disabled with the ARB_color_buffer_float  
    extension.  
  
homeprevnext IP Status
  
    SGI owns US Patent #6,650,327, issued November 18, 2003. SGI  
    believes this patent contains necessary IP for graphics systems  
    implementing floating point (FP) rasterization and FP framebuffer  
    capabilities.  
  
    SGI will not grant the ARB royalty-free use of this IP for use in  
    OpenGL, but will discuss licensing on RAND terms, on an individual  
    basis with companies wishing to use this IP in the context of  
    conformant OpenGL implementations. SGI does not plan to make any  
    special exemption for open source implementations.  
  
    Contact Doug Crisman at SGI Legal for the complete IP disclosure.  
  
homeprevnext Issues
  
    1. How is this extension different from the NV_half_float extension?  
  
       This extension does not add new commands for specifying half-  
       precision vertex data, and all imaging functions have been listed  
       for supporting the "half" type.  
  
    2. What should the new data type be called?  "half"?  "hfloat"?  
  
       RESOLVED:  half .  This convention builds on the convention of  
       using the type "double" to describe double-precision floating-  
       point numbers.  Here, "half" will refer to half-precision  
       floating-point numbers.  
  
       Even though the 16-bit float data type is a first-class data type,  
       it is still more problematic than the other types in the sense  
       that no native programming languages support the data type.  
       "hfloat/hf" would have reflected a second-class status better  
       than "half/h".  
  
       Both names are not without conflicting precedents.  The name "half"  
       is used to connote 16-bit scalar values on some 32-bit CPU  
       architectures (e.g., PowerPC).  The name "hfloat" has been used to  
       describe 128-bit floating-point data on VAX systems.  
  
    3. Should half-precision data be accepted by commands in the imaging  
       subset that accept pixel data?  
  
       RESOLVED:  Yes, all functions in the core OpenGL and the imaging  
       subset that accept pixel data accept half-precision data.  
  
    4. Should the special representations NaN, INF, and denormal be  
       supported?  
  
       RESOLVED:  Implementation dependent.  The spec reflects that Nan  
       and INF produce unspecified results.  Denormalized numbers can  
       be treated as a value of 0.  
  
  
homeprevnext New Tokens
  
    Accepted by the <type> parameter of DrawPixels, ReadPixels,  
    TexImage1D, TexImage2D, TexImage3D, GetTexImage, TexSubImage1D,  
    TexSubImage2D, TexSubImage3D, GetHistogram, GetMinmax,  
    ConvolutionFilter1D, ConvolutionFilter2D, GetConvolutionFilter,  
    SeparableFilter2D, GetSeparableFilter, ColorTable, ColorSubTable,  
    and GetColorTable:  
  
        HALF_FLOAT_ARB                                0x140B  
  
homeprevnext Additions to Chapter 2 of the OpenGL 2.0 Specification (OpenGL Operation)
  
    Add a new Section 2.1.2, (p. 6):  
  
    2.1.2  16-Bit Floating-Point Numbers  
  
    A 16-bit floating-point number has a 1-bit sign (S), a 5-bit  
    exponent (E), and a 10-bit mantissa (M).  The value of a 16-bit  
    floating-point number is determined by the following:  
  
        (-1)^S * 0.0,                        if E == 0 and M == 0,  
        (-1)^S * 2^-14 * (M / 2^10),         if E == 0 and M != 0,  
        (-1)^S * 2^(E-15) * (1 + M/2^10),    if 0 < E < 31,  
        (-1)^S * INF,                        if E == 31 and M == 0, or  
        NaN,                                 if E == 31 and M != 0,  
  
    where  
  
        S = floor((N mod 65536) / 32768),  
        E = floor((N mod 32768) / 1024), and  
        M = N mod 1024.  
  
    Implementations are also allowed to use any of the following  
    alternative encodings:  
  
        (-1)^S * 0.0,                        if E == 0 and M != 0,  
        (-1)^S * 2^(E-15) * (1 + M/2^10),    if E == 31 and M == 0, or  
        (-1)^S * 2^(E-15) * (1 + M/2^10),    if E == 31 and M != 0,  
  
    Any representable 16-bit floating-point value is legal as input  
    to a GL command that accepts 16-bit floating-point data.  The  
    result of providing a value that is not a floating-point number  
    (such as infinity or NaN) to such a command is unspecified, but  
    must not lead to GL interruption or termination.  Providing a  
    denormalized number or negative zero to GL must yield predictable  
    results.  
  
    (modify Table 2.2, p. 9) -- add new row  
  
                   Minimum  
       GL Type    Bit Width    Description  
       -------    ---------    -----------------------------------  
       half          16        half-precision floating-point value  
                               encoded in an unsigned scalar  
  
    Modify Section 2.14, (Colors and Coloring), p. 59  
  
    (modify Table 2.9, p. 59)  Add new row to the table:  
  
         GL Type    Conversion  
         -------    ----------  
         half          c  
  
  
homeprevnext Additions to Chapter 3 of the OpenGL 2.0 Specification (Rasterization)
  
    Modify Section 3.6.4, Rasterization of Pixel Rectangles (p. 126)  
  
    (modify Table 3.5, p. 128 -- add new row)  
  
        type Parameter     Corresponding       Special  
        Token Name         GL Data Type     Interpretation  
        --------------     -------------    --------------  
        HALF_FLOAT_ARB         half               No  
  
    (modify Unpacking, p. 129)  Data are taken from host memory as a  
    sequence of signed or unsigned bytes (GL data types byte and ubyte),  
    signed or unsigned integers (GL data types int and uint), or  
    floating-point values (GL data types half and float).  
  
homeprevnext Additions to Chapter 4 of the OpenGL 2.0 Specification (Per-Fragment Operations and the Framebuffer)
  
    Modify Section 4.3.2, Reading Pixels (p. 219)  
  
    (modify Final Conversion, p. 222) For an index, if the type is not  
    FLOAT or HALF_FLOAT_ARB, final conversion consists of masking the  
    index with the value given in Table 4.6; if the type is FLOAT or  
    HALF_FLOAT_ARB, then the integer index is converted to a GL float  
    or half data value.  
  
    (modify Table 4.7, p. 224 -- add new row)  
  
        type Parameter    GL Data Type    Component Conversion Formula  
        --------------    ------------    ----------------------------  
        HALF_FLOAT_ARB        half                  c = f  
  
homeprevnext Additions to Chapter 5 of the OpenGL 2.0 Specification (Special Functions)
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext Additions to Chapter 6 of the OpenGL 2.0 Specification (State and State Requests)
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext Additions to the AGL/GLX/WGL Specifications
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext GLX Protocol (Modification to the GLX 1.3 Protocol Encoding Specification)
  
    Modify Appendix A, Pixel Data (p. 148)  
  
      (Modify Table A.1, p. 149 -- add new row for HALF_FLOAT_ARB data)  
  
          type             Encoding    Protocol Type    nbytes  
          -------------    --------    -------------    ------  
          HALF_FLOAT_ARB    0x140B      CARD16           2  
  
homeprevnext Errors
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext New State
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext New Implementation Dependent State
  
    None  
  
homeprevnext Revision History
  
    Rev.    Date    Author    Changes  
    ----  -------- ---------  --------------------------------------------  
      1   12/15/03 Kirkland   Initial version based on the NV_half_float  
                              specification.  
  
      2   2/26/04  Kirkland   Changed NVIDIA_xxx to NV_xxx.  
                              Changed the issue resolution for INF and NaN.  
  
      3   3/11/04  Kirkland   Updated language for float16 number handling.  
                              Added bit encodings for half values.  
                              Added issue dealing with name "half".  
  
      4   7/23/04  Kirkland   Added alternative encodings options for  
                              float16 format.  
  
      5   9/17/04  Kirkland   Updated to reference OpenGL 2.0 spec.  
  
      6   10/1/04  Kirkland   Updated IP section.  
      6   10/1/04  Kirkland   Updated IP section.  
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