THORLABS DCU223x Operation Manual And Sdk page 24

DCx Cameras
implementations are always dependent on the graphics card manufacturer.
Comparison of the display modes
The following table illustrates the major differences between the display modes:
Graphics card
requirements
Operating system
Programming effort
CPU load
Overlay functions
Access to image
memory
22
How the OpenGL mode works
Bitmap mode
Low. No special graphics
hardware required. Runs on
all systems.
Windows, Linux
Greater. Memory
management, event handling
and display performed by the
application.
Slightly increased by copying
of data.
Not available. A simple
overlay can be programmed
by the user.
Direct access possible.
Image data already provided
in user memory.
Direct3D mode
High. Graphics card has to
support Direct3D. Does not
run on all systems.
Only Windows with DirectX
Low. Memory management,
event handling and display
performed by DirectX.
Low. Display performed by
graphics card.
Integrated. Complex overlays
can be displayed without
flicker.
Possible using Steal Mode.
Single images can be copied
to the user memory.
OpenGL mode
High. Graphics card has to
support OpenGL.
Cross-platform
High. OpenGL itself does not
provide functions for opening
windows or reading files.
However, there are related
libraries, e.g. GLUT.
Low. Display performed by
graphics card.
Integrated.
Direct access to graphics
card and image memory.
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