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Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 9:35 pm
by windows8
These days I am reading nouveau source code,I have found many functions such as mode setting,filling rect and copying area.

However,I cannot find any functions about the window layer. I have searched google,found Linux DRM guide and tried to learn connectors,encoders,CRTCs. But I still can not find any things about window layer hardware acceleration.

Does this acceleration exist? Or it belongs to software? Thank you for your help.

Re: Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 10:14 pm
by Brendan
Hi,
windows8 wrote:These days I am reading nouveau source code,I have found many functions such as mode setting,filling rect and copying area.

However,I cannot find any functions about the window layer. I have searched google,found Linux DRM guide and tried to learn connectors,encoders,CRTCs. But I still can not find any things about window layer hardware acceleration.

Does this acceleration exist? Or it belongs to software? Thank you for your help.
I think I need some clarification here...

You found code to do (e.g.) hardware accelerated copying of an area, that would be used by whichever process in user space happens to implement the window layer (e.g. X11); but can't find code to do (e.g.) hardware accelerated copying of an area (that would be used by whichever process in user space happens to implement the window layer)?


Cheers,

Brendan

Re: Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 10:28 pm
by windows8
Brendan wrote:Hi,

I think I need some clarification here...

You found code to do (e.g.) hardware accelerated copying of an area, that would be used by whichever process in user space happens to implement the window layer (e.g. X11); but can't find code to do (e.g.) hardware accelerated copying of an area (that would be used by whichever process in user space happens to implement the window layer)?


Cheers,

Brendan
Oh.... I just want to ask,if the " entirely hardware " window layer acceleration exists...
Maybe the answer is no? Thanks....

Re: Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:18 pm
by Brendan
Hi,
windows8 wrote:Oh.... I just want to ask,if the " entirely hardware " window layer acceleration exists...
Maybe the answer is no? Thanks....
The answer is "no".

Possibly more importantly, the answer is "No, it doesn't exist and shouldn't exist". As far as hardware is concerned there's lower level things (e.g. textures). Device drivers just provide a "standard for the OS" abstraction that can be used to by other software (e.g. the window manager) to access these lower level things. The window manager provides higher level things (e.g. windows, desktops, etc) and uses the "standard for the OS" abstractions provided many different types of the drivers (video, sound, keyboard, mouse, etc) to do that.


Cheers,

Brendan

Re: Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:28 pm
by windows8
Brendan wrote:Hi,

The answer is "no".

Possibly more importantly, the answer is "No, it doesn't exist and shouldn't exist". As far as hardware is concerned there's lower level things (e.g. textures). Device drivers just provide a "standard for the OS" abstraction that can be used to by other software (e.g. the window manager) to access these lower level things. The window manager provides higher level things (e.g. windows, desktops, etc) and uses the "standard for the OS" abstractions provided many different types of the drivers (video, sound, keyboard, mouse, etc) to do that.


Cheers,

Brendan
OK,I see. Thanks a lot!

Re: Video Card Question: Window Layer Hardware Acceleration?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:43 am
by Combuster
Brendan wrote:Hi,
windows8 wrote:Oh.... I just want to ask,if the " entirely hardware " window layer acceleration exists...
Maybe the answer is no? Thanks....
The answer is "no".
For a very limited amount of windows (1 or 2), any current hardware will do. "Video overlays" implement exactly those features. There is no generic driver, however.