Re: [pygame] 10 bits per color

[Ian Mallett <geometrian@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, someone mentioned OpenGL using higher bit depths...

OpenGL's higher bit textures are available through ARB extensions:
from OpenGL.GL.ARB.texture_float import *

Then, when creating textures, use:
          RGB            RGBA            Depth
Depth=16: GL_RGB16F_ARB, GL_RGBA16F_ARB, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT16

Depth=24: GL_RGB16F_ARB, GL_RGBA16F_ARB, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT24
Depth=32: GL_RGB32F_ARB, GL_RGBA32F_ARB, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT32

...for internal format, (use what you'd normally use for 8 bit textures for format).

I use these not for actually displaying things, because the screen can't really show their benefit.  However, framebuffer objects can render and read higher bit depths, so high precision textures are useful for storing things like position and velocity for FBO updated objects like GPU cloth and GPU particles.  

-Ian