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Differences Between Direct3D Mobile and Other Versions of Direct3D

A version of this page is also available for

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3

4/8/2010

Microsoft® Direct3D® Mobile is an implementation of the most common interfaces and elements from the Direct3D API on Windows-based desktop system, but it is specifically designed for embedded devices. It is designed around the idea of providing basic and capable 3-D rendering support in a small footprint.

Embedded systems typically lack the computational power, storage space, displays, and battery power to attempt the more advanced graphics techniques supported by Direct3D for Windows-based desktop systems. As a result the Direct3D Mobile does not support these advanced techniques.

Direct3D Mobile compares most closely with Direct3D 8, but it also incorporates a few elements and behaviors of Direct3D 9.

Direct3D Mobile supports the following functionality:

  • Support for 3-D z-buffers.
  • Switchable depth buffering (using z-buffers or w-buffers).
  • Flat and Gouraud shading.
  • Multiple light sources and types.
  • Full material and texture support, including mipmapping.
  • Precise software emulation drivers.
  • Transformation and clipping.
  • Hardware independence.
  • Support for page flipping with multiple back buffers in full-screen applications.
  • Support for rendering to windowed or full-screen applications.
  • Access to image-stretching hardware.
  • Exclusive hardware access.

See Also

Concepts

Introduction to Direct3D Mobile