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System Integration

A version of this page is also available for

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3

4/8/2010

The following illustration shows the relationships between DirectDraw, the graphics device interface (GDI), the hardware abstraction layer (HAL), the hardware emulation layer (HEL) and the hardware.

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As the preceding diagram shows, a DirectDraw object exists alongside GDI, and both have direct access to the hardware through a device-dependent abstraction layer. Unlike GDI, DirectDraw makes use of special hardware capability whenever possible.

If the hardware does not support a capability, DirectDraw attempts to emulate it by using the HEL. DirectDraw can provide surface memory in the form of a device context, making it possible for you to use GDI functions to work with surface objects.