<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
a	O
graphics	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
API	B-Application
)	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Part	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
used	O
to	O
render	O
three-dimensional	O
graphics	O
in	O
applications	O
where	O
performance	O
is	O
important	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
uses	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
if	O
it	O
is	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
graphics	B-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
of	O
the	O
entire	O
3D	B-General_Concept
rendering	I-General_Concept
pipeline	I-General_Concept
or	O
even	O
only	O
partial	O
acceleration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
exposes	O
the	O
advanced	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
of	O
3D	O
graphics	O
hardware	O
,	O
including	O
Z-buffering	O
,	O
W-buffering	O
,	O
stencil	O
buffering	O
,	O
spatial	B-Algorithm
anti-aliasing	I-Algorithm
,	O
alpha	B-Algorithm
blending	I-Algorithm
,	O
color	O
blending	O
,	O
mipmapping	B-Data_Structure
,	O
texture	O
blending	O
,	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
,	O
culling	B-Algorithm
,	O
atmospheric	O
effects	O
,	O
perspective-correct	O
texture	O
mapping	O
,	O
programmable	O
HLSL	B-Language
shaders	O
and	O
effects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Integration	O
with	O
other	O
DirectX	B-Application
technologies	O
enables	O
Direct3D	B-Application
to	O
deliver	O
such	O
features	O
as	O
video	O
mapping	O
,	O
hardware	O
3D	O
rendering	O
in	O
2D	O
overlay	O
planes	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
sprites	O
,	O
providing	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
2D	O
and	O
3D	O
graphics	O
in	O
interactive	O
media	O
ties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
contains	O
many	O
commands	O
for	O
3D	O
computer	O
graphics	O
rendering	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
since	O
version	O
8	O
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
has	O
superseded	O
the	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
framework	O
and	O
also	O
taken	O
responsibility	O
for	O
the	O
rendering	O
of	O
2D	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
strives	O
to	O
continually	O
update	O
Direct3D	B-Application
to	O
support	O
the	O
latest	O
technology	O
available	O
on	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	I-Device
cards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
offers	O
full	O
vertex	O
software	B-Application
emulation	I-Application
but	O
no	O
pixel	O
software	B-Application
emulation	I-Application
for	O
features	O
not	O
available	O
in	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
if	O
software	O
programmed	O
using	O
Direct3D	B-Application
requires	O
pixel	O
shaders	O
and	O
the	O
video	B-Device
card	I-Device
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
that	O
feature	O
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
will	O
not	O
emulate	O
it	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
will	O
compute	O
and	O
render	O
the	O
polygons	O
and	O
textures	O
of	O
the	O
3D	O
models	O
,	O
albeit	O
at	O
a	O
usually	O
degraded	O
quality	O
and	O
performance	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
hardware	O
equivalent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
API	B-Application
does	O
include	O
a	O
Reference	O
Rasterizer	O
(	O
or	O
REF	O
device	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
emulates	B-Application
a	O
generic	O
graphics	B-Device
card	I-Device
in	O
software	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
is	O
too	O
slow	O
for	O
most	O
real-time	O
3D	O
applications	O
and	O
is	O
typically	O
only	O
used	O
for	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
real-time	O
software	O
rasterizer	O
,	O
WARP	O
,	O
designed	O
to	O
emulate	O
the	O
complete	O
feature	O
set	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
,	O
is	O
included	O
with	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
Service	I-Application
Pack	I-Application
2	I-Application
with	O
the	O
Platform	O
Update	O
;	O
its	O
performance	O
is	O
said	O
to	O
be	O
on	O
par	O
with	O
lower-end	O
3D	O
cards	O
on	O
multi-core	O
CPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
and	O
above	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
base	O
for	O
the	O
vector	O
graphics	O
API	B-Application
on	O
the	O
different	O
versions	O
of	O
Xbox	B-Device
console	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Wine	B-Application
compatibility	I-Application
layer	I-Application
,	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
reimplementation	O
of	O
several	O
Windows	O
APIs	B-Application
,	O
includes	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
's	O
main	O
competitor	O
is	O
Khronos	O
 '	O
OpenGL	B-Application
and	O
its	O
follow-on	O
Vulkan	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fahrenheit	B-Library
was	O
an	O
attempt	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
SGI	O
to	O
unify	O
OpenGL	B-Application
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
eventually	O
canceled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
,	O
Servan	O
Keondjian	O
and	O
Doug	O
Rabson	O
started	O
a	O
company	O
named	O
RenderMorphics	B-Application
,	O
which	O
developed	O
a	O
3D	O
graphics	O
API	B-Application
named	O
Reality	B-Application
Lab	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
used	O
in	O
medical	O
imaging	O
and	O
CAD	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
versions	O
of	O
this	O
API	B-Application
were	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
bought	O
RenderMorphics	B-Application
in	O
February	O
1995	O
,	O
bringing	O
Keondjian	O
on	O
board	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
3D	O
graphics	B-Device
engine	I-Device
for	O
Windows	O
95	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
shipped	O
in	O
DirectX	B-Application
2.0	O
(	O
June	O
2	O
,	O
1996	O
)	O
and	O
DirectX	B-Application
3.0	O
(	O
September	O
26	O
,	O
1996	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
initially	O
implemented	O
an	O
"	O
immediate	O
mode	O
"	O
3D	O
API	B-Application
and	O
layered	O
upon	O
it	O
a	O
"	O
retained	O
mode	O
"	O
3D	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
types	O
of	O
API	B-Application
were	O
already	O
offered	O
with	O
the	O
second	O
release	O
of	O
Reality	B-Application
Lab	I-Application
before	O
Direct3D	B-Application
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
other	O
DirectX	B-Application
APIs	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
,	O
both	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
COM	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
retained	O
mode	O
API	B-Application
was	O
a	O
scene	B-Data_Structure
graph	I-Data_Structure
API	B-Application
that	O
attained	O
little	O
adoption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Game	O
developers	O
clamored	O
for	O
more	O
direct	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
hardware	O
's	O
activities	O
than	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
retained	O
mode	O
could	O
provide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
two	O
games	O
that	O
sold	O
a	O
significant	O
volume	O
,	O
Lego	B-Application
Island	I-Application
and	O
Lego	B-Application
Rock	I-Application
Raiders	I-Application
,	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
retained	O
mode	O
,	O
so	O
Microsoft	O
did	O
not	O
update	O
the	O
retained	O
mode	O
API	B-Application
after	O
DirectX	B-Application
3.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
DirectX	B-Application
2.0	O
and	O
3.0	O
,	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
immediate	O
mode	O
used	O
an	O
"	O
execute	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
"	O
programming	O
model	O
that	O
Microsoft	O
hoped	O
hardware	O
vendors	O
would	O
support	O
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Execute	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
were	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
allocated	O
in	O
hardware	O
memory	O
and	O
parsed	O
by	O
the	O
hardware	O
to	O
perform	O
the	O
3D	O
rendering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
were	O
considered	O
extremely	O
awkward	O
to	O
program	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
hindering	O
adoption	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
API	B-Application
and	O
prompting	O
calls	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
adopt	O
OpenGL	B-Application
as	O
the	O
official	O
3D	O
rendering	O
API	B-Application
for	O
games	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
workstation	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
adopt	O
OpenGL	B-Application
as	O
a	O
gaming	O
API	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	O
chose	O
to	O
continue	O
improving	O
Direct3D	B-Application
,	O
not	O
only	O
to	O
be	O
competitive	O
with	O
OpenGL	B-Application
,	O
but	O
to	O
compete	O
more	O
effectively	O
with	O
other	O
proprietary	O
APIs	B-Application
such	O
as	O
3dfx	O
's	O
Glide	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
substantive	O
changes	O
were	O
planned	O
to	O
Direct3D	B-Application
for	O
DirectX	B-Application
4.0	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
scheduled	O
to	O
ship	O
in	O
late	O
1996	O
and	O
then	O
canceled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
1996	O
,	O
a	O
team	O
in	O
Redmond	O
took	O
over	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
Immediate	O
Mode	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
London-based	O
RenderMorphics	B-Application
team	O
continued	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
Retained	O
Mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Redmond	O
team	O
added	O
the	O
DrawPrimitive	O
API	B-Application
that	O
eliminated	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
applications	O
to	O
construct	O
execute	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
,	O
making	O
Direct3D	B-Application
more	O
closely	O
resemble	O
other	O
immediate	O
mode	O
rendering	O
APIs	B-Application
such	O
as	O
Glide	B-Operating_System
and	O
OpenGL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
beta	O
of	O
DrawPrimitive	O
shipped	O
in	O
February	O
1997	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
final	O
version	O
shipped	O
with	O
DirectX	B-Application
5.0	O
in	O
August	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
introducing	O
an	O
easier-to-use	O
immediate	O
mode	O
API	B-Application
,	O
DirectX	B-Application
5.0	O
added	O
the	O
SetRenderTarget	O
method	O
that	O
enabled	O
Direct3D	B-Application
devices	O
to	O
write	O
their	O
graphical	O
output	O
to	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
surfaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DirectX	B-Application
6.0	O
(	O
released	O
in	O
August	O
,	O
1998	O
)	O
introduced	O
numerous	O
features	O
to	O
cover	O
contemporary	O
hardware	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
multitexture	O
and	O
stencil	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
)	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
optimized	O
geometry	O
pipelines	O
for	O
x87	B-Application
,	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
and	O
3DNow	B-General_Concept
!	I-General_Concept
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
6.0	O
also	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
features	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
licensed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
from	O
specific	O
hardware	O
vendors	O
for	O
inclusion	O
in	O
the	O
API	B-Application
,	O
in	O
exchange	O
for	O
the	O
time-to-market	O
advantage	O
to	O
the	O
licensing	O
vendor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S3	O
texture	O
compression	O
support	O
was	O
one	O
such	O
feature	O
,	O
renamed	O
as	O
DXTC	O
for	O
purposes	O
of	O
inclusion	O
in	O
the	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
included	O
these	O
features	O
in	O
DirectX	B-Application
,	O
then	O
added	O
them	O
to	O
the	O
requirements	O
needed	O
for	O
drivers	B-Application
to	O
get	O
a	O
Windows	O
logo	O
to	O
encourage	O
broad	O
adoption	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
in	O
other	O
vendors	O
 '	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
minor	O
update	O
to	O
DirectX	B-Application
6.0	O
came	O
in	O
the	O
February	O
,	O
1999	O
DirectX	B-Application
6.1	O
update	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
adding	O
DirectMusic	B-Library
support	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
,	O
this	O
release	O
improved	O
support	O
for	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
Pentium	I-General_Concept
III	I-General_Concept
3D	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
confidential	O
memo	O
sent	O
in	O
1997	O
shows	O
Microsoft	O
planning	O
to	O
announce	O
full	O
support	O
for	O
Talisman	O
in	O
DirectX	B-Application
6.0	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
API	B-Application
ended	O
up	O
being	O
canceled	O
(	O
See	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
Talisman	O
page	O
for	O
details	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DirectX	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
(	O
released	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
1999	O
)	O
introduced	O
the	O
.dds	O
texture	O
format	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
transform	B-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
(	O
first	O
available	O
on	O
PC	O
hardware	O
with	O
Nvidia	O
's	O
GeForce	B-Device
256	I-Device
)	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
allocate	O
vertex	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
in	O
hardware	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	O
vertex	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
represent	O
the	O
first	O
substantive	O
improvement	O
over	O
OpenGL	B-Application
in	O
DirectX	B-Application
history	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
7.0	O
also	O
augmented	O
DirectX	B-Application
support	O
for	O
multitexturing	O
hardware	O
,	O
and	O
represents	O
the	O
pinnacle	O
of	O
fixed-function	O
multitexture	O
pipeline	O
features	O
:	O
although	O
powerful	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
so	O
complicated	O
to	O
program	O
that	O
a	O
new	O
programming	O
model	O
was	O
needed	O
to	O
expose	O
the	O
shading	O
capabilities	O
of	O
graphics	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DirectX	B-Application
8.0	I-Application
,	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
,	O
2000	O
,	O
introduced	O
programmability	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
vertex	O
and	O
pixel	O
shaders	O
,	O
enabling	O
developers	O
to	O
write	O
code	O
without	O
worrying	O
about	O
superfluous	O
hardware	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
complexity	O
of	O
the	O
shader	O
programs	O
depended	O
on	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
the	O
task	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
display	B-Application
driver	I-Application
compiled	B-Language
those	O
shaders	O
to	O
instructions	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
understood	O
by	O
the	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
8.0	O
and	O
its	O
programmable	O
shading	O
capabilities	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
major	O
departure	O
from	O
an	O
OpenGL-style	O
fixed-function	O
architecture	O
,	O
where	O
drawing	O
is	O
controlled	O
by	O
a	O
complicated	O
state	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
8.0	O
also	O
eliminated	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
as	O
a	O
separate	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
subsumed	O
all	O
remaining	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
API	B-Application
calls	O
still	O
needed	O
for	O
application	O
development	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Present( )	O
,	O
the	O
function	O
used	O
to	O
display	O
rendering	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
was	O
not	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
user	O
friendly	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
version	O
8.1	B-Device
,	O
many	O
usability	O
problems	O
were	O
resolved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
8	O
contained	O
many	O
powerful	O
3D	O
graphics	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
vertex	O
shaders	O
,	O
pixel	O
shaders	O
,	O
fog	O
,	O
bump	O
mapping	O
and	O
texture	O
mapping	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
9.0	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
December	O
2002	O
,	O
added	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
High	B-Language
Level	I-Language
Shader	I-Language
Language	I-Language
support	O
for	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
texture	O
formats	O
,	O
Multiple	B-General_Concept
Render	I-General_Concept
Targets	I-General_Concept
(	O
MRT	O
)	O
,	O
Multiple-Element	O
Textures	O
,	O
texture	O
lookups	O
in	O
the	O
vertex	O
shader	O
and	O
stencil	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
extension	O
only	O
available	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
newer	O
(	O
7	O
,	O
8	O
,	O
8.1	B-Device
,	O
10	O
,	O
and	O
11	O
)	O
,	O
called	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9Ex	O
(	O
previously	O
versioned	O
9.0L	O
(	O
L	O
–	O
codename	O
Windows	O
Longhorn	O
)	O
)	O
,	O
allows	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
advantages	O
offered	O
by	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
's	O
Windows	B-Device
Display	I-Device
Driver	I-Device
Model	I-Device
(	O
WDDM	B-Device
)	O
and	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
Windows	O
Aero	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
9Ex	O
,	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
DirectX	B-Application
9	I-Application
class	O
WDDM	B-Device
drivers	B-Application
allows	O
graphics	O
memory	O
to	O
be	O
virtualized	O
and	O
paged	B-Architecture
out	I-Architecture
to	O
system	O
memory	O
,	O
allows	O
graphics	O
operations	O
to	O
be	O
interrupted	O
and	O
scheduled	O
and	O
allow	O
DirectX	B-Application
surfaces	O
to	O
be	O
shared	O
across	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
9Ex	O
was	O
previously	O
known	O
as	O
version	O
1.0	O
of	O
Windows	O
Graphics	O
Foundation	O
(	O
WGF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
includes	O
a	O
major	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
called	O
WGF	O
2.0	O
(	O
Windows	O
Graphics	O
Foundation	O
2.0	O
)	O
,	O
then	O
DirectX	B-Application
10	I-Application
and	O
DirectX	B-Application
Next	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
features	O
an	O
updated	O
shader	B-Language
model	I-Language
4.0	I-Language
and	O
optional	O
interruptibility	O
for	O
shader	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
previously	O
available	O
vertex	O
and	O
pixel	O
shader	O
stages	O
,	O
the	O
API	B-Application
includes	O
a	O
geometry	O
shader	O
stage	O
that	O
breaks	O
the	O
old	O
model	O
of	O
one	O
vertex	O
in/one	O
vertex	O
out	O
,	O
to	O
allow	O
geometry	O
to	O
be	O
generated	O
from	O
within	O
a	O
shader	O
,	O
thus	O
allowing	O
for	O
complex	O
geometry	O
to	O
be	O
generated	O
entirely	O
by	O
the	O
graphics	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
is	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
DirectX10.0	O
and	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
Direct3D10	O
dropped	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
retained	O
mode	O
API	B-Application
which	O
had	O
been	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
since	O
the	O
beginning	O
making	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
incompatible	O
with	O
3D	O
games	O
that	O
had	O
used	O
the	O
retained	O
mode	O
API	B-Application
as	O
their	O
rendering	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
prior	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
no	O
longer	O
uses	O
"	O
capability	O
bits	O
"	O
(	O
or	O
"	O
caps	O
"	O
)	O
to	O
indicate	O
which	O
features	O
are	O
supported	O
on	O
a	O
given	O
graphics	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Direct3D10	O
hardware	O
was	O
comparatively	O
rare	O
after	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
massive	O
installed	O
base	O
of	O
non-Direct3D10	O
compatible	O
graphics	B-Device
cards	I-Device
,	O
the	O
first	O
Direct3D10-compatible	O
games	O
still	O
provide	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
render	O
paths	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
such	O
titles	O
are	O
games	O
originally	O
written	O
for	O
Direct3D9	O
and	O
ported	O
to	O
Direct3D10	O
after	O
their	O
release	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Company	B-Application
of	I-Application
Heroes	I-Application
,	O
or	O
games	O
originally	O
developed	O
for	O
Direct3D9	O
with	O
a	O
Direct3D10	O
path	O
retrofitted	O
later	O
during	O
their	O
development	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Hellgate	B-Application
:	I-Application
London	I-Application
or	O
Crysis	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DirectX10	B-Application
SDK	B-Application
became	O
available	O
in	O
February	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10.0	O
level	O
hardware	O
must	O
support	O
the	O
following	O
features	O
:	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
process	O
entire	O
primitives	O
in	O
the	O
new	O
geometry-shader	O
stage	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
output	O
pipeline-generated	O
vertex	O
data	O
to	O
memory	O
using	O
the	O
stream-output	O
stage	O
,	O
multisampled	O
alpha-to-coverage	O
support	O
,	O
readback	O
of	O
a	O
depth/stencil	O
surface	O
or	O
a	O
multisampled	O
resource	O
once	O
it	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
bound	O
as	O
a	O
render	O
target	O
,	O
full	O
HLSL	B-Language
integration	O
–	O
all	O
Direct3D10	O
shaders	O
are	O
written	O
in	O
HLSL	B-Language
and	O
implemented	O
with	O
the	O
common-shader	O
core	O
,	O
integer	O
and	O
bitwise	O
shader	O
operations	O
,	O
organization	O
of	O
pipeline	O
state	O
into	O
5	O
immutable	O
state	O
objects	O
,	O
organization	O
of	O
shader	O
constants	O
into	O
constant	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
,	O
increased	O
number	O
of	O
render	O
targets	O
,	O
textures	O
,	O
and	O
samplers	O
,	O
no	O
shader	O
length	O
limit	O
,	O
new	O
resource	O
types	O
and	O
resource	O
formats	O
,	O
layered	O
runtime/API	O
layers	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
perform	O
per-primitive	O
material	O
swapping	O
and	O
setup	O
using	O
a	O
geometry	O
shader	O
,	O
increased	O
generalization	O
of	O
resource	O
access	O
using	O
a	O
view	O
,	O
removed	O
legacy	O
hardware	O
capability	O
bits	O
(	O
caps	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shader	B-Language
model	I-Language
4.0	I-Language
enhances	O
the	O
programmability	O
of	O
the	O
graphics	B-General_Concept
pipeline	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Geometry	O
shaders	O
,	O
which	O
work	O
on	O
adjacent	O
triangles	O
which	O
form	O
a	O
mesh	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enables	O
rapid	O
occlusion	B-Algorithm
culling	I-Algorithm
,	O
which	O
prevents	O
objects	O
from	O
being	O
rendered	O
if	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
visible	O
or	O
too	O
far	O
to	O
be	O
visible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instancing	B-General_Concept
2.0	I-General_Concept
support	O
,	O
allowing	O
multiple	O
instances	O
of	O
similar	O
meshes	B-Algorithm
,	O
such	O
as	O
armies	O
,	O
or	O
grass	O
or	O
trees	O
,	O
to	O
be	O
rendered	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
draw	O
call	O
,	O
reducing	O
the	O
processing	O
time	O
needed	O
for	O
multiple	O
similar	O
objects	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
was	O
announced	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
shortly	O
after	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
as	O
a	O
minor	O
update	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
specification	O
was	O
finalized	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
November	O
2007	O
DirectX	B-Application
SDK	B-Application
and	O
the	O
runtime	O
was	O
shipped	O
with	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
SP1	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
available	O
since	O
mid-March	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
sets	O
a	O
few	O
more	O
image	O
quality	O
standards	O
for	O
graphics	O
vendors	O
,	O
and	O
gives	O
developers	O
more	O
control	O
over	O
image	O
quality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
level	O
hardware	O
must	O
support	O
the	O
following	O
features	O
:	O
Multisampling	O
has	O
been	O
enhanced	O
to	O
generalize	O
coverage	O
based	O
transparency	O
and	O
make	O
multisampling	O
work	O
more	O
effectively	O
with	O
multi-pass	O
rendering	O
,	O
better	O
culling	B-Algorithm
behavior	O
–	O
Zero-area	O
faces	O
are	O
automatically	O
culled	O
;	O
this	O
affects	O
wireframe	O
rendering	O
only	O
,	O
independent	O
blend	B-Algorithm
modes	I-Algorithm
per	O
render	O
target	O
,	O
new	O
sample-frequency	O
pixel	O
shader	O
execution	O
with	O
primitive	O
rasterization	O
,	O
increased	O
pipeline	O
stage	O
bandwidth	O
,	O
both	O
color	O
and	O
depth/stencil	O
MSAA	O
surfaces	O
can	O
now	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
CopyResource	O
as	O
either	O
a	O
source	O
or	O
destination	O
,	O
MultisampleEnable	O
only	O
affects	O
line	O
rasterization	O
(	O
points	O
and	O
triangles	O
are	O
unaffected	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
choose	O
a	O
line	O
drawing	O
algorithm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
means	O
that	O
some	O
multisample	O
rasterization	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
are	O
no	O
longer	O
supported	O
,	O
Texture	O
Sampling	O
–	O
sample_c	O
and	O
sample_c_lz	O
instructions	O
are	O
defined	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
both	O
Texture2DArrays	O
and	O
TextureCubeArrays	O
use	O
the	O
Location	O
member	O
(	O
the	O
alpha	O
component	O
)	O
to	O
specify	O
an	O
array	O
index	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
TextureCubeArrays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mandatory	O
32-bit	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
filtering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Floating	B-Algorithm
Point	I-Algorithm
Rules	O
–	O
Uses	O
the	O
same	O
IEEE-754	O
rules	O
for	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
EXCEPT	O
32-bit	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
operations	O
have	O
been	O
tightened	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
result	O
within	O
0.5	O
unit-last-place	O
(	O
0.5	O
ULP	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
infinitely	O
precise	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
which	O
strictly	O
required	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10-class	O
hardware	O
and	O
driver	O
interfaces	O
,	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
runtime	O
can	O
run	O
on	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.0	O
hardware	O
using	O
a	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
feature	O
levels	O
"	O
,	O
but	O
new	O
features	O
are	O
supported	O
exclusively	O
by	O
new	O
hardware	O
which	O
expose	O
feature	O
level	O
10_1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
available	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
hardware	O
as	O
of	O
June	O
2008	O
were	O
the	O
Radeon	O
HD	B-Application
3000	I-Application
series	O
and	O
Radeon	B-Device
HD	I-Device
4000	I-Device
series	I-Device
from	O
ATI	O
;	O
in	O
2009	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
joined	O
by	O
Chrome	O
430/440GT	O
GPUs	O
from	O
S3	O
Graphics	O
and	O
select	O
lower-end	O
models	O
in	O
GeForce	O
200	O
series	O
from	O
Nvidia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
Intel	O
chipsets	O
started	O
supporting	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
with	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
Intel	B-Application
HD	I-Application
Graphics	I-Application
2000	O
(	O
GMA	O
HD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
Technical	O
Preview	O
has	O
been	O
included	O
in	O
November	O
2008	O
release	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
SDK	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
AMD	O
previewed	O
working	O
DirectX11	O
hardware	O
at	O
Computex	O
on	O
June	O
3	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
running	O
some	O
DirectX	B-Application
11	O
SDK	B-Application
samples	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
runtime	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
and	O
10.x-class	O
hardware	O
and	O
drivers	B-Application
using	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
feature	O
levels	O
"	O
,	O
expanding	O
on	O
the	O
functionality	O
first	O
introduced	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
runtime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Feature	O
levels	O
allow	O
developers	O
to	O
unify	O
the	O
rendering	B-General_Concept
pipeline	I-General_Concept
under	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
API	B-Application
and	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
API	B-Application
improvements	O
such	O
as	O
better	O
resource	O
management	O
and	O
multithreading	B-Operating_System
even	O
on	O
entry-level	O
cards	O
,	O
though	O
advanced	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
new	O
shader	B-Language
models	I-Language
and	O
rendering	O
stages	O
will	O
only	O
be	O
exposed	O
on	O
up-level	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
"	O
10	O
Level	O
9	O
"	O
profiles	O
which	O
encapsulate	O
various	O
capabilities	O
of	O
popular	O
DirectX	B-Application
9.0a	I-Application
cards	O
,	O
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
,	O
10.1	O
,	O
and	O
11	O
each	O
have	O
a	O
separate	O
feature	O
level	O
;	O
each	O
upper	O
level	O
is	O
a	O
strict	O
superset	O
of	O
a	O
lower	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tessellation	B-Algorithm
was	O
earlier	O
considered	O
for	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
later	O
abandoned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GPUs	O
such	O
as	O
Radeon	O
R600	O
feature	O
a	O
tessellation	B-Algorithm
engine	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9/10/10.1	O
and	O
OpenGL	B-Application
,	O
but	O
it	O
's	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
(	O
according	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
also	O
hinted	O
at	O
other	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
order	O
independent	O
transparency	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
never	O
exposed	O
by	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
API	B-Application
but	O
supported	O
almost	O
transparently	O
by	O
early	O
Direct3D	B-Application
hardware	O
such	O
as	O
Videologic	O
's	O
PowerVR	B-Device
line	O
of	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.0	O
features	O
include	O
:	O
Support	O
for	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
5.0	O
,	O
Dynamic	O
shader	O
linking	O
,	O
addressable	O
resources	O
,	O
additional	O
resource	O
types	O
,	O
subroutines	O
,	O
geometry	B-General_Concept
instancing	I-General_Concept
,	O
coverage	O
as	O
pixel	O
shader	O
input	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
programmable	O
interpolation	O
of	O
inputs	O
,	O
new	O
texture	O
compression	O
formats	O
(	O
1	O
new	O
LDR	O
format	O
and	O
1	O
new	O
HDR	O
format	O
)	O
,	O
texture	O
clamps	O
to	O
limit	O
WDDM	B-Device
preload	O
,	O
require	O
8-bits	O
of	O
subtexel	O
and	O
sub-mip	O
precision	O
on	O
texture	O
filtering	O
,	O
16K	O
texture	O
limits	O
,	O
Gather4(support for multi-component textures, support for programmable offsets )	O
,	O
DrawIndirect	O
,	O
conservative	O
oDepth	O
,	O
Depth	O
Bias	O
,	O
addressable	O
stream	O
output	O
,	O
per-resource	O
mipmap	B-Data_Structure
clamping	O
,	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
viewports	O
,	O
shader	O
conversion	O
instructions	O
,	O
improved	O
multithreading	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compute	B-Architecture
shaders	I-Architecture
—	O
which	O
exposes	O
the	O
shader	O
pipeline	O
for	O
non-graphical	O
tasks	O
such	O
as	O
stream	B-Application
processing	I-Application
and	O
physics	O
acceleration	O
,	O
similar	O
in	O
spirit	O
to	O
what	O
OpenCL	B-Application
,	O
Nvidia	B-Architecture
CUDA	I-Architecture
,	O
ATI	O
Stream	O
,	O
and	O
HLSL	B-Language
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
5	O
achieve	O
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
seen	O
in	O
the	O
Release	O
Candidate	O
version	O
,	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
integrates	O
the	O
first	O
released	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Platform	O
Update	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
includes	O
full-featured	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
runtime	O
and	O
DXGI	B-Device
1.1	O
update	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
other	O
related	O
components	O
from	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
like	O
WARP	O
,	O
Direct2D	B-Library
,	O
DirectWrite	O
,	O
and	O
WIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.1	O
is	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
API	B-Application
that	O
ships	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Direct3D	B-Application
runtime	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
features	O
DXGI	B-Device
1.2	O
and	O
requires	O
new	O
WDDM	B-Device
1.2	I-Device
device	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Preliminary	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
SDK	B-Application
for	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
Developer	O
Preview	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
September	O
13	O
,	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
API	B-Application
features	O
shader	O
tracing	O
and	O
HLSL	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
enhancements	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
minimum	O
precision	O
HLSL	B-Language
scalar	O
data	O
types	O
,	O
UAVs	O
(	O
Unordered	O
Access	O
Views	O
)	O
at	O
every	O
pipeline	O
stage	O
,	O
target-independent	O
rasterization	O
(	O
TIR	O
)	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
map	O
SRVs	O
of	O
dynamic	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
with	O
N	O
O_O	O
VERWRITE	O
,	O
shader	O
processing	O
of	O
video	O
resources	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
use	O
logical	O
operations	O
in	O
a	O
render	O
target	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
bind	O
a	O
subrange	O
of	O
a	O
constant	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
to	O
a	O
shader	O
and	O
retrieve	O
it	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
create	O
larger	O
constant	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
than	O
a	O
shader	O
can	O
access	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
discard	O
resources	O
and	O
resource	O
views	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
change	O
subresources	O
with	O
new	O
copy	O
options	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
force	O
the	O
sample	O
count	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
rasterizer	O
state	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
clear	O
all	O
or	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
resource	O
view	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
use	O
Direct3D	B-Application
in	O
Session	O
0	O
processes	O
,	O
option	O
to	O
specify	O
user	O
clip	O
planes	O
in	O
HLSL	B-Language
on	O
feature	O
level	O
9	O
and	O
higher	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
shadow	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
on	O
feature	O
level	O
9	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
video	O
playback	O
,	O
extended	O
support	O
for	O
shared	O
Texture2D	O
resources	O
,	O
and	O
on-the-fly	O
swapping	O
between	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
and	O
11	O
contexts	O
and	O
feature	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.1	O
includes	O
new	O
feature	O
level	O
11_1	O
,	O
which	O
brings	O
minor	O
updates	O
to	O
the	O
shader	O
language	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
larger	O
constant	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
and	O
optional	O
double-precision	O
instructions	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
improved	O
blending	O
modes	O
and	O
mandatory	O
support	O
for	O
16-bit	B-Device
color	O
formats	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
performance	O
of	O
entry-level	O
GPUs	O
such	O
as	O
Intel	B-Application
HD	I-Application
Graphics	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Platform	O
Update	O
for	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
includes	O
a	O
limited	O
set	O
of	O
features	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.1	O
,	O
though	O
components	O
that	O
depend	O
on	O
WDDM	B-Device
1.2	I-Device
–	O
such	O
as	O
feature	O
level	O
11_1	O
and	O
its	O
related	O
APIs	B-Application
,	O
or	O
quad	O
buffering	O
for	O
stereoscopic	B-Algorithm
rendering	O
–	O
are	O
not	O
present	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.2	O
was	O
shipped	O
with	O
Windows	B-Device
8.1	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
hardware	O
features	O
require	O
DXGI	B-Device
1.3	O
with	O
WDDM	B-Device
1.3	O
drivers	B-Application
and	O
include	O
runtime	O
shader	O
modification	O
and	O
linking	O
,	O
Function	O
linking	O
graph(FLG )	O
,	O
inbox	O
HLSL	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
,	O
option	O
to	O
annotate	O
graphics	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
feature	O
effectively	O
provides	O
control	O
over	O
the	O
hardware	O
page	B-General_Concept
tables	I-General_Concept
present	O
in	O
many	O
current	O
GPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
new	O
"	O
features	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.2	O
actually	O
expose	O
some	O
old	O
hardware	O
features	O
in	O
a	O
more	O
granular	O
way	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
D3D11_FEATURE_D3D9_SIMPLE_INSTANCING_SUPPORT	O
exposes	O
partial	O
support	O
for	O
instancing	O
on	O
feature	O
level	O
9_1	O
and	O
9_2	O
hardware	O
,	O
otherwise	O
fully	O
supported	O
from	O
feature	O
level	O
9_3	O
onward	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.X	O
is	O
a	O
superset	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
11.2	O
running	O
on	O
the	B-Device
Xbox	I-Device
One	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
includes	O
some	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
draw	O
bundles	O
,	O
that	O
were	O
later	O
announced	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
12	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.3	O
shipped	O
in	O
July	O
2015	O
with	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
;	O
it	O
includes	O
minor	O
rendering	O
features	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
,	O
while	O
keeping	O
the	O
overall	O
structure	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.x	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.3	O
introduces	O
optional	O
Shader	O
Specified	O
Stencil	O
Reference	O
Value	O
,	O
Typed	O
Unordered	O
Access	O
View	O
Loads	O
,	O
Rasterizer	O
Ordered	O
Views	O
(	O
ROVs	O
)	O
,	O
optional	O
Standard	O
Swizzle	O
,	O
optional	O
Default	O
Texture	O
Mapping	O
,	O
Conservative	O
Rasterization	O
(	O
out	O
of	O
three	O
tiers	O
)	O
,	O
optional	O
Unified	O
Memory	O
Access	O
(	O
UMA	O
)	O
support	O
,	O
and	O
additional	O
Tiled	O
Resources	O
(	O
tier	O
2	O
)	O
(	O
Volume	O
tiled	O
resources	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
version	O
1511	O
–	O
Initial	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
was	O
introduced	O
with	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Threshold	O
2	O
update	O
(	O
version	O
1511	O
)	O
improving	O
external	O
graphics	B-Device
adapters	I-Device
support	O
and	O
DXGI	B-Device
1.5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
version	O
1607	O
–	O
Updated	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
with	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Anniversary	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1607	O
)	O
includes	O
support	O
WDDM	B-Device
2.1	O
and	O
for	O
UHDTV	O
HDR10	B-Device
format	O
(	O
ST	B-Algorithm
2084	I-Algorithm
)	O
and	O
variable	B-General_Concept
refresh	I-General_Concept
rates	I-General_Concept
support	O
for	O
UWP	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
allows	O
a	O
lower	O
level	O
of	O
hardware	B-Operating_System
abstraction	I-Operating_System
than	O
earlier	O
versions	O
,	O
enabling	O
future	O
games	O
to	O
significantly	O
improve	O
multithreaded	B-Operating_System
scaling	O
and	O
decrease	O
CPU	O
utilization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
achieved	O
by	O
better	O
matching	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
abstraction	O
layer	O
with	O
the	O
underlying	O
hardware	O
,	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
new	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
Indirect	O
Drawing	O
,	O
descriptor	O
tables	O
,	O
concise	O
pipeline	O
state	O
objects	O
,	O
and	O
draw	O
call	O
bundles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reducing	O
driver	O
overhead	O
is	O
in	O
fact	O
the	O
main	O
attraction	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
,	O
similarly	O
to	O
AMD	O
's	O
Mantle	B-Application
;	O
in	O
the	O
words	O
of	O
its	O
lead	O
developer	O
Max	O
McMullen	O
,	O
the	O
main	O
goal	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
is	O
to	O
achieve	O
"	O
console-level	O
efficiency	O
"	O
and	O
improved	O
CPU	O
parallelism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Nvidia	O
has	O
announced	O
broad	O
support	O
for	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
also	O
somewhat	O
reserved	O
about	O
the	O
universal	O
appeal	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
API	B-Application
,	O
noting	O
that	O
while	O
game	O
engine	O
developers	O
may	O
be	O
enthusiastic	O
about	O
directly	O
managing	O
GPU	O
resources	O
from	O
their	O
application	O
code	O
,	O
"	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
 [ other ] 	O
folks	O
would	O
n't	O
"	O
be	O
happy	O
to	O
have	O
to	O
do	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
new	O
hardware	O
features	O
are	O
also	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
,	O
including	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
5.1	O
,	O
Volume	O
Tiled	O
Resources(Tier 2 )	O
,	O
Shader	O
Specified	O
Stencil	O
Reference	O
Value	O
,	O
Typed	O
UAV	O
Load	O
,	O
Conservative	O
Rasterization(Tier 1 )	O
,	O
better	O
collision	O
and	O
culling	B-Algorithm
with	O
Conservative	O
Rasterization	O
,	O
Rasterizer	O
Ordered	O
Views	O
(	O
ROVs	O
)	O
,	O
Standard	O
Swizzles	O
,	O
Default	O
Texture	O
Mapping	O
,	O
Swap	O
Chains	O
,	O
swizzled	O
resources	O
and	O
compressed	O
resources	O
,	O
additional	O
blend	B-Algorithm
modes	I-Algorithm
,	O
programmable	O
blend	O
and	O
efficient	O
order-independent	O
transparency	O
(	O
OIT	O
)	O
with	O
pixel	O
ordered	O
UAV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pipeline	O
state	O
objects	O
have	O
evolved	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
new	O
concise	O
pipeline	O
states	O
mean	O
that	O
the	O
process	O
has	O
been	O
simplified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DirectX	B-Application
11	O
offered	O
flexibility	O
in	O
how	O
its	O
states	O
could	O
be	O
altered	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
detriment	O
of	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
pixel	O
shader	O
states	O
)	O
lead	O
to	O
a	O
more	O
streamlined	O
process	O
,	O
significantly	O
reducing	O
the	O
overheads	O
and	O
allowing	O
the	O
graphics	B-Device
card	I-Device
to	O
draw	O
more	O
calls	O
for	O
each	O
frame	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
also	O
learned	O
from	O
AMD	B-Application
Mantle	I-Application
in	O
command	O
lists	O
and	O
bundles	O
,	O
aiming	O
to	O
ensure	O
the	O
CPU	O
and	O
GPU	O
working	O
together	O
in	O
a	O
more	O
balanced	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
,	O
the	O
commands	O
are	O
sent	O
from	O
the	O
CPU	O
to	O
the	O
GPU	O
one	O
by	O
one	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
GPU	O
works	O
through	O
these	O
commands	O
sequentially	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
DirectX	B-Application
12	O
these	O
commands	O
are	O
sent	O
as	O
command	O
lists	O
,	O
containing	O
all	O
the	O
required	O
information	O
within	O
a	O
single	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
resource	O
binding	O
is	O
fairly	O
convenient	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
for	O
developers	O
at	O
the	O
moment	O
,	O
its	O
inefficiency	O
means	O
several	O
modern	O
hardware	O
capabilities	O
are	O
being	O
drastically	O
underused	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
,	O
descriptor	O
heaps	O
and	O
tables	O
mean	O
the	O
most	O
often	O
used	O
resources	O
can	O
be	O
allocated	O
by	O
developers	O
in	O
tables	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
GPU	O
can	O
quickly	O
and	O
easily	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
contribute	O
to	O
better	O
performance	O
than	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
on	O
equivalent	O
hardware	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
also	O
entails	O
more	O
work	O
for	O
the	O
developer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dynamic	O
Heaps	O
are	O
also	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
features	O
explicit	O
multi-adapter	O
support	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
explicit	O
control	O
of	O
multiple	O
GPUs	O
configuration	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
configurations	O
can	O
be	O
built	O
with	O
graphics	B-Device
adapter	I-Device
of	O
the	O
same	O
hardware	O
vendor	O
as	O
well	O
of	O
different	O
hardware	O
vendor	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
experimental	O
support	O
of	O
D3D	O
12	O
for	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
SP1	O
has	O
been	O
released	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
in	O
2019	O
via	O
a	O
dedicated	O
NuGet	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
1607	O
–	O
With	O
the	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
anniversary	O
update	O
(	O
version	O
1607	O
)	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
August	O
2	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
runtime	O
has	O
been	O
updated	O
to	O
support	O
constructs	O
for	O
explicit	O
multithreading	B-Operating_System
and	O
inter-process	O
communication	O
,	O
allowing	O
developers	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
modern	O
massively	O
parallel	O
GPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
features	O
include	O
updated	O
root	O
signatures	O
version	O
1.1	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
support	O
for	O
HDR10	B-Device
format	O
and	O
variable	B-General_Concept
refresh	I-General_Concept
rates	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
1703	O
–	O
With	O
the	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Creators	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1703	O
)	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
April	O
11	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
runtime	O
has	O
been	O
updated	O
to	O
support	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
6.0	O
and	O
DXIL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
6.0	O
requires	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Anniversary	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1607	O
)	O
,	O
WDDM	B-Device
2.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
1709	O
–	O
Direct3D	B-Application
in	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Fall	O
Creators	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1709	O
)	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
October	O
17	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
includes	O
improved	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
1809	O
–	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
October	O
2018	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1809	O
)	O
brings	O
support	O
for	O
DirectX	B-Algorithm
Raytracing	I-Algorithm
so	O
GPUs	O
can	O
benefit	O
from	O
its	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
1903	O
–	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
May	O
2019	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
1903	O
)	O
brings	O
support	O
for	O
DirectML	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
version	O
2004	O
–	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
May	O
2020	O
Update	O
(	O
version	O
2004	O
)	O
brings	O
support	O
for	O
Mesh	B-Algorithm
&	O
Amplification	O
Shaders	O
,	O
Sampler	O
Feedback	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
DirectX	B-Algorithm
Raytracing	I-Algorithm
Tier	O
1.1	O
and	O
memory	O
allocation	O
improvements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Microsoft	B-Application
DirectX	I-Application
API	B-Application
subsystem	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
aim	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
to	O
abstract	O
the	O
communication	O
between	O
a	O
graphics	O
application	O
and	O
the	O
graphics	O
hardware	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
presented	O
like	O
a	O
thin	O
abstract	O
layer	O
at	O
a	O
level	O
comparable	O
to	O
GDI	B-Operating_System
(	O
see	O
attached	O
diagram	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
contains	O
numerous	O
features	O
that	O
GDI	B-Operating_System
lacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
is	O
an	O
Immediate	O
mode	O
graphics	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
a	O
low-level	O
interface	O
to	O
every	O
video	B-Device
card	I-Device
3D	O
function	O
(	O
transformations	B-Algorithm
,	I-Algorithm
clipping	I-Algorithm
,	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
,	O
materials	O
,	O
textures	O
,	O
depth	O
buffering	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
immediate	O
mode	O
presents	O
three	O
main	O
abstractions	O
:	O
devices	O
,	O
resources	O
and	O
Swap	O
Chains	O
(	O
see	O
attached	O
diagram	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HAL	O
(	O
hardware	B-Operating_System
abstraction	I-Operating_System
layer	I-Operating_System
)	O
device	O
:	O
For	O
devices	O
supporting	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
necessary	O
to	O
install	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
SDK	B-Application
to	O
use	O
this	O
device	O
type	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
device	O
is	O
used	O
when	O
the	O
SDK	B-Application
is	O
not	O
installed	O
and	O
a	O
reference	O
device	O
is	O
requested	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
device	O
was	O
introduced	O
with	O
DirectX	B-Application
9.0	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
swap	O
chain	O
is	O
made	O
up	O
of	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
back	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
surfaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rendering	O
occurs	O
in	O
the	O
back	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Type	O
:	O
Determines	O
the	O
type	O
of	O
resource	O
:	O
surface	O
,	O
volume	O
,	O
texture	O
,	O
cube	O
texture	O
,	O
volume	O
texture	O
,	O
surface	O
texture	O
,	O
index	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
or	O
vertex	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pool	B-General_Concept
:	O
Describes	O
how	O
the	O
resource	O
is	O
managed	O
by	O
the	O
runtime	O
and	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
stored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Default	O
pool	B-General_Concept
the	O
resource	O
will	O
exist	O
only	O
in	O
device	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Resources	O
in	O
the	O
managed	O
pool	B-General_Concept
will	O
be	O
stored	O
in	O
system	O
memory	O
,	O
and	O
will	O
be	O
sent	O
to	O
the	O
device	O
when	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Resources	O
in	O
system	O
memory	B-General_Concept
pool	I-General_Concept
will	O
only	O
exist	O
in	O
system	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
the	O
scratch	O
pool	B-General_Concept
is	O
basically	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
the	O
system	O
memory	B-General_Concept
pool	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
resources	O
are	O
not	O
bound	O
by	O
hardware	O
restrictions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
implements	O
two	O
display	O
modes	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Fullscreen	O
mode	O
:	O
The	O
Direct3D	B-Application
application	O
generates	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
graphical	O
output	O
for	O
a	O
display	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
mode	O
Direct3D	B-Application
automatically	O
captures	O
Alt-Tab	O
and	O
sets/restores	O
screen	O
resolution	O
and	O
pixel	O
format	O
without	O
the	O
programmer	O
intervention	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
communicates	O
with	O
GDI	B-Operating_System
to	O
generate	O
the	O
graphical	O
output	O
in	O
the	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Direct3D	I-Application
11	O
API	B-Application
defines	O
a	O
process	O
to	O
convert	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
vertices	O
,	O
textures	O
,	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
state	O
into	O
an	O
image	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
process	O
is	O
described	O
as	O
a	O
rendering	B-General_Concept
pipeline	I-General_Concept
with	O
several	O
distinct	O
stages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
different	O
stages	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
pipeline	O
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Input-Assembler	O
:	O
Reads	O
in	O
vertex	O
data	O
from	O
an	O
application	O
supplied	O
vertex	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
and	O
feeds	O
them	O
down	O
the	O
pipeline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain-Shader	O
:	O
Performs	O
operations	O
on	O
vertices	O
output	O
by	O
the	O
tessellation	B-Algorithm
stage	O
,	O
in	O
much	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
as	O
a	O
vertex	O
shader	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Rasterizer	O
may	O
also	O
perform	O
other	O
tasks	O
such	O
as	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
what	O
is	O
not	O
visible	O
,	O
or	O
interpolating	O
vertex	O
data	O
into	O
per-pixel	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pixel	O
Shader	O
:	O
Determines	O
the	O
final	O
pixel	O
color	O
to	O
be	O
written	O
to	O
the	O
render	O
target	O
and	O
can	O
also	O
calculate	O
a	O
depth	O
value	O
to	O
be	O
written	O
to	O
the	O
depth	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Output-Merger	O
:	O
Merges	O
various	O
types	O
of	O
output	O
data	O
(	O
pixel	O
shader	O
values	O
,	O
alpha	B-Algorithm
blending	I-Algorithm
,	O
stencil	O
...	O
)	O
to	O
build	O
the	O
final	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Direct3D	B-Application
5	O
to	O
9	O
,	O
when	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
introduced	O
support	O
for	O
new	O
hardware	O
capabilities	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
them	O
were	O
optional	O
–	O
each	O
graphics	O
vendor	O
maintained	O
their	O
own	O
set	O
of	O
supported	O
features	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
basic	O
required	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
introduced	O
a	O
much	O
simplified	O
set	O
of	O
mandatory	O
hardware	O
requirements	O
based	O
on	O
most	O
popular	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
capabilities	O
which	O
all	O
supporting	O
graphics	B-Device
cards	I-Device
had	O
to	O
adhere	O
to	O
,	O
with	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
optional	O
capabilities	O
for	O
supported	O
texture	O
formats	O
and	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
10.1	O
added	O
a	O
few	O
new	O
mandatory	O
hardware	O
requirements	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
remain	O
compatible	O
with	O
10.0	O
hardware	O
and	O
drivers	B-Application
,	O
these	O
features	O
were	O
encapsulated	O
in	O
two	O
sets	O
called	O
"	O
feature	O
levels	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
10.1	O
level	O
forming	O
a	O
superset	O
of	O
10.0	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.0	O
,	O
11.1	O
and	O
12	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
new	O
hardware	O
,	O
new	O
mandatory	O
capabilities	O
were	O
further	O
grouped	O
in	O
upper	O
feature	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
also	O
introduced	O
"	O
10level9	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
API	B-Application
with	O
three	O
feature	O
levels	O
encapsulating	O
various	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
cards	O
with	O
WDDM	B-Device
drivers	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.1	O
re-introduced	O
a	O
few	O
optional	O
features	O
for	O
all	O
levels	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
expanded	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.2	O
and	O
later	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
approach	O
allows	O
developers	O
to	O
unify	O
the	O
rendering	B-General_Concept
pipeline	I-General_Concept
and	O
use	O
a	O
single	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
on	O
both	O
newer	O
and	O
older	O
hardware	O
,	O
taking	O
advantage	O
of	O
performance	O
and	O
usability	O
improvements	O
in	O
the	O
newer	O
runtime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
feature	O
levels	O
are	O
introduced	O
with	O
updated	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
and	O
typically	O
encapsulate	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
major	O
mandatory	O
features	O
–	O
(	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.0	O
,	O
12	O
)	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
common	O
set	O
of	O
previously	O
optional	O
features	O
(	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.0	O
"	O
10	O
level	O
9	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
advanced	O
features	O
in	O
a	O
major	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
API	B-Application
such	O
as	O
new	O
shader	B-Language
models	I-Language
and	O
rendering	O
stages	O
are	O
only	O
exposed	O
on	O
up-level	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
12_1	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
API/runtime	O
versions	O
use	O
dot	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
for	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
,	O
there	O
are	O
nine	O
feature	O
levels	O
provided	O
by	O
structure	O
;	O
levels	O
9_1	O
,	O
9_2	O
and	O
9_3	O
(	O
collectively	O
known	O
as	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
Level	O
9	O
)	O
re-encapsulate	O
various	O
features	O
of	O
popular	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
cards	O
,	O
levels	O
10_0	O
,	O
10_1	O
refer	O
to	O
respective	O
legacy	O
versions	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
10	O
,	O
11_0	O
and	O
11_1	O
reflects	O
the	O
feature	O
introduced	O
with	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.1	O
APIs	B-Application
and	O
runtimes	O
,	O
while	O
levels	O
12_0	O
and	O
12_1	O
correspond	O
the	O
new	O
feature	O
levels	O
introduced	O
with	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
+	O
Feature	O
levels	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11.4	O
Feature	O
level	O
Mandatory	O
hardware	O
features	O
Optional	O
features	O
9_1Shader	O
Model	O
2.0	O
(	O
/	O
)	O
,	O
2K	O
textures	O
,	O
volume	O
textures	O
,	O
event	O
queries	O
,	O
BC1-3	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
rowspan	O
="3	O
"	O
9_2	O
Occlusion	O
queries	O
,	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
formats	I-Algorithm
(	O
no	O
blending	O
)	O
,	O
extended	O
caps	O
,	O
all	O
9_1	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
9_3	O
/	O
with	O
instancing	O
and	O
additional	O
shader	O
caps	O
,	O
4K	O
textures	O
,	O
multiple	B-General_Concept
render	I-General_Concept
targets	I-General_Concept
(	O
4	O
MRTs	O
)	O
,	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
blending	O
(	O
limited	O
)	O
,	O
all	O
9_2	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
10_0	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
4.0	I-Language
,	O
geometry	O
shader	O
,	O
stream	O
out	O
,	O
alpha-to-coverage	O
,	O
8K	O
textures	O
,	O
MSAA	O
textures	O
,	O
2-sided	O
stencil	O
,	O
general	O
render	O
target	O
views	O
,	O
texture	O
arrays	O
,	O
BC4/BC5	O
,	O
full	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
format	I-Algorithm
support	O
,	O
all	O
9_3	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
11_0	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
5.0/5.1	O
,	O
hull	O
&	O
domain	O
shaders	O
,	O
DirectCompute	O
(	O
CS	O
5.0/5.1	O
)	O
,	O
16K	O
textures	O
,	O
BC6H/BC7	O
,	O
extended	O
pixel	O
formats	O
,	O
all	O
10_1	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UAV	O
only	O
rendering	O
with	O
force	O
sample	O
count	O
,	O
constant	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
offsetting	O
and	O
partial	O
updates	O
,	O
double	O
precision	O
(	O
64-bit	O
)	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
operations	O
,	O
minimum	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
precision	O
(	O
10	O
-	O
or	O
16-bit	B-Device
)	O
,	O
min/max	O
filtering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
11_1	O
Logical	O
blend	O
operations	O
,	O
target-independent	O
rasterization	O
,	O
UAVs	O
at	O
every	O
pipeline	O
stage	O
with	O
increased	O
slot	O
count	O
,	O
UAV	O
only	O
rendering	O
with	O
force	O
sample	O
count	O
,	O
constant	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
offsetting	O
and	O
partial	O
updates	O
,	O
all	O
11_0	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
for	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
requires	O
graphics	O
hardware	O
conforming	O
to	O
feature	O
levels	O
11_0	O
and	O
11_1	O
which	O
support	O
virtual	O
memory	O
address	O
translations	O
and	O
requires	O
WDDM	B-Device
2.0	O
drivers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
two	O
new	O
feature	O
levels	O
,	O
12_0	O
and	O
12_1	O
,	O
which	O
include	O
some	O
new	O
features	O
exposed	O
by	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
that	O
are	O
optional	O
on	O
levels	O
11_0	O
and	O
11_1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
6.0	O
has	O
been	O
released	O
with	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Creators	O
Update	O
and	O
requires	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Anniversary	O
Update	O
,	O
WDDM	B-Device
2.1	O
drivers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
+	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
feature	O
levels	O
Level	O
Mandatory	O
features	O
Optional	O
features	O
11_0	O
All	O
mandatory	O
11_0	O
features	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
,	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
5.1	O
,	O
Resource	O
binding	O
Tier	O
1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Logical	O
blend	O
operations	O
,	O
double	O
precision	O
(	O
64-bit	O
)	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
operations	O
,	O
minimum	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
precision	O
(	O
10	O
-	O
or	O
16-bit	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metacommands	O
,	O
variable	O
shading	O
rate	O
,	O
raytracing	O
,	O
mesh	B-Algorithm
shaders	O
,	O
sampler	O
feedback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UAVs	O
at	O
every	O
pipeline	O
stage	O
,	O
UAV	O
only	O
rendering	O
with	O
force	O
sample	O
count	O
,	O
constant	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
offsetting	O
and	O
partial	O
updates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
12_0	O
Resource	O
Binding	O
Tier	O
2	O
,	O
Tiled	O
Resources	O
Tier	O
2	O
(	O
Texture2D	O
)	O
,	O
Typed	O
UAV	O
Loads	O
(	O
additional	O
formats	O
)	O
,	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
6.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
12_2	O
DirectX	B-Application
12	O
Ultimate	O
:	O
Shader	B-Language
Model	I-Language
6.5	O
,	O
Raytracing	O
Tier	O
1.1	O
,	O
Mesh	B-Algorithm
Shaders	O
,	O
Variable-Rate	O
Shading	O
,	O
Sampler	O
Feedback	O
,	O
Resource	O
Binding	O
Tier	O
3	O
,	O
Tiled	O
Resources	O
Tier	O
3	O
(	O
Texture3D	O
)	O
,	O
Conservative	O
Rasterization	O
Tier	O
3	O
,	O
40-bit	O
virtual	O
address	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
introduces	O
a	O
revamped	O
resource	O
binding	O
model	O
which	O
allows	O
explicit	O
control	O
of	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Abstract	O
"	O
resource	O
view	O
"	O
objects	O
are	O
now	O
represented	O
with	O
resource	O
descriptors	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
allocated	O
using	O
memory	B-General_Concept
heaps	I-General_Concept
and	O
tables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Resource	O
Binding	O
tiers	O
define	O
maximum	O
number	O
of	O
resources	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
addressed	O
using	O
CBV	O
(	O
constant	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
view	O
)	O
,	O
SRV	O
(	O
shader	O
resource	O
view	O
)	O
and	O
UAV	O
(	O
unordered	O
access	O
view	O
)	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
texture	O
sampler	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WDDM	B-Device
driver	O
model	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
higher	O
supports	O
arbitrarily	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
execution	O
contexts	O
(	O
or	O
threads	B-Operating_System
)	O
in	O
hardware	O
or	O
in	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
only	O
supported	O
multitasked	O
access	O
to	O
Direct3D	B-Application
,	O
where	O
separate	O
applications	O
could	O
execute	O
in	O
different	O
windows	O
and	O
be	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
accelerated	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
the	O
OS	O
had	O
limited	O
control	O
about	O
what	O
the	O
GPU	O
could	O
do	O
and	O
the	O
driver	O
could	O
switch	O
execution	O
threads	B-Operating_System
arbitrarily	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ability	O
to	O
execute	O
the	O
runtime	O
in	O
a	O
multi-threaded	B-Operating_System
mode	O
has	O
been	O
introduced	O
with	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
runtime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OS	O
manages	O
the	O
threads	B-Operating_System
all	O
by	O
itself	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
hardware	O
to	O
switch	O
from	O
one	O
thread	B-Operating_System
to	O
the	O
other	O
when	O
appropriate	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
handles	O
memory	O
management	O
and	O
paging	B-Architecture
(	O
to	O
system	O
memory	O
and	O
to	O
disk	O
)	O
via	O
integrated	O
OS-kernel	O
memory	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
being	O
able	O
to	O
switch	O
two	O
execution	O
threads	B-Operating_System
at	O
the	O
shader-instruction	O
level	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
single-command	O
level	O
or	O
even	O
batch	O
of	O
commands	O
,	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
WDDM/DXGI	O
1.2	O
which	O
shipped	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WDDM	B-Device
2.0	O
and	O
DirectX	B-Application
12	O
have	O
been	O
reengineered	O
to	O
allow	O
fully	O
multithreaded	B-Operating_System
draw	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
avoids	O
complex	O
resource	O
management	O
in	O
the	O
kernel-mode	O
driver	O
,	O
making	O
possible	O
multiple	O
reentrant	O
calls	O
to	O
the	O
user-mode	O
driver	O
via	O
concurrent	O
executions	O
contexts	O
supplied	O
by	O
separate	O
rendering	O
threads	B-Operating_System
in	O
the	O
same	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
Mobile	O
is	O
derived	O
from	O
Direct3D	B-Application
but	O
has	O
a	O
smaller	O
memory	O
footprint	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Operating_System
CE	I-Operating_System
provides	O
Direct3D	B-Application
Mobile	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
alternative	O
implementations	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
API	B-Application
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WineD3D	O
–	O
The	O
Wine	B-Application
open	O
source	O
project	O
has	O
working	O
implementations	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
APIs	B-Application
via	O
translation	O
to	O
OpenGL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wine	B-Application
's	O
implementation	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
run	O
on	O
Windows	O
under	O
certain	O
conditions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
vkd3d	O
–	O
vkd3d	O
is	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
3D	O
graphics	O
library	O
built	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
Vulkan	B-Application
which	O
allows	O
to	O
run	O
Direct3D	B-Application
12	O
applications	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
Vulkan	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
's	O
primarily	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
Wine	B-Application
project	I-Application
,	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
included	O
with	O
Valve	O
's	O
Proton	B-Application
project	O
bundled	O
with	O
steam	B-Application
on	O
linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DXVK	O
–	O
An	O
open	O
source	O
Vulkan-based	O
translation	O
layer	O
for	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9/10/11	O
which	O
allows	O
running	O
3D	O
applications	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
using	O
Wine	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
used	O
by	O
Proton/Steam	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DXVK	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
modern	O
Windows	O
games	O
under	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
D9VK	O
–	O
A	O
fork	O
of	O
DXVK	O
for	O
adding	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
support	O
,	O
included	O
with	O
Steam/Proton	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gallium	O
Nine	O
–	O
Gallium	O
Nine	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
run	O
Direct3D	B-Application
9	O
applications	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
natively	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
requires	O
the	O
cooperation	O
of	O
Wine	B-Application
and	O
Mesa	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Direct3D	B-Application
comes	O
with	O
D3DX	O
,	O
a	O
library	O
of	O
tools	O
designed	O
to	O
perform	O
common	O
mathematical	O
calculations	O
on	O
vectors	O
,	O
matrices	B-Architecture
and	O
colors	O
,	O
calculating	O
look-at	O
and	O
projection	O
matrices	B-Architecture
,	O
spline	B-Algorithm
interpolations	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
several	O
more	O
complicated	O
tasks	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
compiling	B-Language
or	O
assembling	O
shaders	O
used	O
for	O
3D	O
graphic	O
programming	O
,	O
compressed	O
skeletal	O
animation	O
storage	O
and	O
matrix	O
stacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
functions	O
that	O
provide	O
complex	O
operations	O
over	O
3D	B-Algorithm
meshes	I-Algorithm
like	O
tangent-space	O
computation	O
,	O
mesh	B-Algorithm
simplification	O
,	O
precomputed	B-General_Concept
radiance	I-General_Concept
transfer	I-General_Concept
,	O
optimizing	O
for	O
vertex	O
cache	O
friendliness	O
and	O
stripification	O
,	O
and	O
generators	O
for	O
3D	O
text	O
meshes	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
D3DX	O
is	O
deprecated	O
from	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
onward	O
and	O
ca	O
n't	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
Windows	O
Store	O
apps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
features	O
present	O
in	O
previous	O
versions	O
of	O
D3DX	O
were	O
removed	O
in	O
Direct3D	B-Application
11	O
and	O
now	O
provided	O
as	O
separate	O
sources	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
recommends	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
DirectX	B-Application
Math	O
library	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mesh	B-Algorithm
interface	O
and	O
geometry	O
functions	O
have	O
been	O
removed	O
and	O
are	O
now	O
distributed	O
as	O
source	O
via	O
CodePlex	O
under	O
DirectXMesh	O
geometry	O
processing	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
General	O
helpers	O
have	O
been	O
removed	O
and	O
are	O
now	O
distributed	O
as	O
source	O
via	O
CodePlex	O
under	O
DirectX	B-Application
Tool	O
Kit	O
(	O
DirectXTK	O
)	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DXUT	O
(	O
also	O
called	O
the	O
sample	O
framework	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
layer	O
built	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
Direct3D	B-Application
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DXUT	O
have	O
been	O
removed	O
with	O
the	O
Windows	O
SDK	B-Application
8.0	O
and	O
now	O
distributed	O
as	O
source	O
via	O
CodePlex	O
.	O
</s>
