OpenGL 4.5 Specifications Released

At Siggraph 2014, the Khronos Group has announced both OpenGL 4.5 and, more excitingly, the Next Generation OpenGL Initiative. OpenGL 4.5, except for some new Direct3D 11 emulation features for easier porting, is your fairly standard annual OpenGL update.

Next Generation OpenGL (OpenGL NG), however, is a complete rebuild of the OpenGL API. The idea, much like AMD's Mantle and DirectX 12, is to build an entirely new version of OpenGL that removes a lot of the abstraction, significantly reducing the overhead and inefficiencies when working at a low level with the bare metal GPU hardware. Khronos has an uphill struggle ahead, though: While AMD and Microsoft are focusing on their own specific implementations, OpenGL NG will be a cross-platform solution for all operating systems and hardware makers, just like the existing OpenGL specs.

New functionality in the core OpenGL 4.5 specification includes: 

-Direct State Access (DSA) – object accessors enable state to be queried and modified without binding objects to contexts, for increased application and middleware efficiency and flexibility;
-Flush Control – applications can control flushing of pending commands before context switching – enabling high-performance multithreaded applications; -Robustness – providing a secure platform for applications such as WebGL browsers, including preventing a GPU reset affecting any other running applications;
-OpenGL ES 3.1 API and shader compatibility – to enable the easy development and execution of the latest OpenGL ES applications on desktop systems;
-DX11 emulation features – for easier porting of applications between OpenGL and Direct3D.