OpenCL Definition
Stands for "Open Computing Language." OpenCL is an open standard for cross-platform, parallel programming. It was originally developed by Apple in 2008 and is now maintained by the Khronos Group. The first major operating system to support OpenCL was Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6), which was released in 2009.
OpenCL provides an API that allows software programs to access multiple processors simultaneously to perform parallel processing. Examples include CPUs, GPUs, digita...
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Graphics
CUDA Definition
Stands for "Compute Unified Device Architecture." CUDA is a parallel computing platform developed by NVIDIA and introduced in 2006. It enables software programs to perform calculations using both the CPU and GPU. By sharing the processing load with the GPU (instead of only using the CPU), CUDA-enabled programs can achieve significant increases in performance.
CUDA is one of the most widely used GPGPU(General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units) platforms. Unlike OpenCL, another p...
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GPGPU Definition
GPGPU Definition
Stands for "General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units." GPGPU, or GPU computing, is the use of a GPU to handle general computing operations. Modern operating systems allow programs to access the GPU alongside the CPU, speeding up the overall performance.
While GPUs are designed to process graphics calculations, they can also be used to perform other operations. GPGPU maximizes processing efficiency by offloading some operations from the central processing unit...
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OpenGL Definition
OpenGL Definition
OpenGL, or the Open Graphics Library, is a 3D graphics language developed by Silicon Graphics. Before OpenGL was available, software developers had to write unique 3D graphics code for each operating system platform as well as different graphics hardware. However, with OpenGL, developers can create graphics and special effects that will appear nearly identical on any operating system and any hardware that supports OpenGL. This makes it much easier for developers of 3D game...
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AGP Definition
AGP Definition
Stands for "Accelerated Graphics Port." AGP is a type of expansion slot designed specifically for graphics cards. It was developed in 1996 as an alternative to the PCI standard. Since the AGP interface provides a dedicated bus for graphics data, AGP cards are able to render graphics faster than comparable PCI graphics cards.
Like PCI slots, AGP slots are built into a computer's motherboard. They have a similar form factor to PCI slots, but can only be used for graphics car...
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GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
The GIF (pronounced DJIF by many, including its designer; pronounced GIF with a hard G by many others) stands for Graphics Interchange Format and is one of the two most common file formats for graphic images on the World Wide Web. The other is the JPEG.
On the Web and elsewhere on the Internet (for example, bulletin board services), the GIF has become a de facto standard form of image. The LZW compression algorithm used in the GIF format is owned by Unisys, ...
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