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Shader Model 3.0: The Future of Graphics Rendering



The High-Level Shader Language[1] or High-Level Shading Language[2] (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for the Direct3D 9 API to augment the shader assembly language, and went on to become the required shading language for the unified shader model of Direct3D 10 and higher.


HLSL is analogous to the GLSL shading language used with the OpenGL standard. It is very similar to the Nvidia Cg shading language, as it was developed alongside it. Early versions of the two languages were considered identical, only marketed differently.[3] HLSL shaders can enable profound speed and detail increases as well as many special effects in both 2D and 3D computer graphics.[citation needed]




Shader Model 3.0



HLSL programs come in six forms: pixel shaders (fragment in GLSL), vertex shaders, geometry shaders, compute shaders, tessellation shaders (Hull and Domain shaders), and ray tracing shaders (Ray Generation Shaders, Intersection Shaders, Any Hit/Closest Hit/Miss Shaders). A vertex shader is executed for each vertex that is submitted by the application, and is primarily responsible for transforming the vertex from object space to view space, generating texture coordinates, and calculating lighting coefficients such as the vertex's normal, tangent, and bitangent vectors. When a group of vertices (normally 3, to form a triangle) come through the vertex shader, their output position is interpolated to form pixels within its area; this process is known as rasterization.


Optionally, an application using a Direct3D 10/11/12 interface and Direct3D 10/11/12 hardware may also specify a geometry shader. This shader takes as its input some vertices of a primitive (triangle/line/point) and uses this data to generate/degenerate (or tessellate) additional primitives or to change the type of primitives, which are each then sent to the rasterizer.


GPUs listed are the hardware that first supported the given specifications. Manufacturers generally support all lower shader models through drivers. Note that games may claim to require a certain DirectX version, but don't necessarily require a GPU conforming to the full specification of that version, as developers can use a higher DirectX API version to target lower-Direct3D-spec hardware; for instance DirectX 9 exposes features of DirectX7-level hardware that DirectX7 did not, targeting their fixed-function T&L pipeline.


General information about Microsoft's Shader Model 3.0 as incorporated in DirectX 9.0c has been accessible for a while. Now, the basic parameters have been finalized. As NVIDIA likes to emphasize, this model was developed hand in hand with Microsoft. Does that mean that we can expect another performance leap similar to what we saw a year and a half ago with the Shader Model 2.0, which was jointly developed by MS and ATi?


At present, that question is rather hard to answer. We do know, however, that the GeForce 6800 fulfills all requirements of the new shader model. There's a good chance the same will hold true for the rest of the NV4x family. At this point, the most interesting question is therefore what ATi will do. The new minimum requirement of 32 Bit floating point precision may prove troublesome for ATi if the company is planning on staying with the 24 Bit implementation.


3D developers in forums everywhere are also debating the potential that the new shader model brings to the table for game development. Gamers are wondering how long it will take before they see any real benefit from the switch to SM3.0. It seems certain that the changeover will occur faster than that from SM1.x (DirectX 8.x) to SM2.x (DirectX 9), as nowadays most of the optimization work is done by compilers. All developers need to do is set a few options and voila - they either get a shader optimized for SM2.x or 3.x (Well, I don't think it's that easy in the end...). This should make it relatively easy and painless to convert a game to the newer shader model. Of course, the question remains whether developers and gamers will see any benefit from such a conversion at this point and whether the NV4x generation will actually be fast enough for longer and more complex shader programs.


While NVIDIA is loudly and proudly advertising the new shader model, ATi is attempting to downplay it. A wonderful and quite humorous example of this tactic is a developer presentation titled "Save the Nanosecond" by ATIs Richard Huddy which was accidentally leaked on the internet. The trouble was, the presentation still sported some personal notes which made it clear that the presenter was trying to convince developers to stay away from Flow Control in PS3.0, as it incurs a very tangible performance hit. Quote:


The shader model can be identified using a Microsoft utility called DirectX Capabilities Viewer. If the shader model is older than version 6, but the graphics card or chip is fairly new, the display driver may need to be updated.


GLSL is OpenGL's high level shading language, HLSL is Direct3D's. Shader model 3.0 and 4.0 refer to the Direct3D shader model. Wikipedia has good explanations, and summary of the version differences.What shader model is supported on a system mainly depends on the GPU hardware. (But for shader model 4.0 under Direct3D at least DirectX 10 or newer is required, which requires at least Windows Vista.)


SM3.0 includes a number of enhancements to both pixel shaders and vertex shaders. On the pixel shader side, 3.0 allows an expanded graphics programming model with much longer instructions lengths in programs, plus dynamic branching and looping with conditionals. SM3.0 also requires 32 bits of precision per color channel, up from the max of 24 bits available in SM2.0 and in current ATI pixel shaders. On the vertex shader side, Shader Model 3.0 enables vertex texture fetch, a feature useful in creating certain types of special effects. Also, Microsoft has slipped support for some other new features into SM3.0, including geometry instancing, which allows for more efficient organization and transfer of geometry data to the graphics card.


I don t know what version is on my notebook because of this I detailed all the components on it ,probably is intel hd graphics 2000 or 3000, please tell me if it supports pixel shader 3 this model or if they are new drivers to improve the performance for this model.I want to know what games can I play with this laptop and if it is a list made for my model processor.I want to know if I can play Counter Strike Global Offensive, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3, Battlefield: Bad Company, Street Fighter IV and others.


I have downloaded the latest drivers for intel hd graphics i3 version 8.15.10.2993 but shaders 3.0 aren't still supported. I checked it by GPU caps viewer and it shows that supported just 2.0 not over


glclal, I am sorry about the trouble, I have confirmed through engineering that once you install the latest video drivers, shader model is available with version 4, please take a look at some specifications here:


Olá boa tarde! Alguém poderia me ajudar? Estava fuçando os programas pelo painel de controle do note para desinstalar algum programa que possívelmente estivesse muito pesado e acabei desinstalando o gpu shader 3.0. Agora meu jogo Pes 2012 não roda mais. Como posso reinstalar este programa?


You can use #pragma directives to indicate that a shaderA program that runs on the GPU. More infoSee in Glossary requires certain GPU features. At runtime, Unity uses this information to determine whether a shader program is compatible with the current hardware.


You can specify individual GPU features with the #pragma require directive, or specify a shader model with the #pragma target directive. A shader model is a shorthand for a group of GPU features; internally, it is the same as a #pragma require directive with the same list of features.


It is important to correctly describe the GPU features that your shader requires. If your shader uses features that are not included in the list of requirements, this can result in either compile time errors, or in devices failing to support shaders at runtime.


If the list of requirements (or the equivalent target value) does not already include these values, Unity displays a warning message when it compiles the shader, to indicate that it has added these requirements. To avoid seeing this warning message, explicitly add the requirements or use an appropriate target value in your code.


You can also use the #pragma require directive followed by a colon and a list of space-delimited shader keywords. This means that the requirement applies only to variants that are used when any of the given keywords are enabled.


You can also use the #pragma target directive followed by a list of space-delimited shader keywords. This means that the requirement applies only to variants that are used when any of the given keywords are enabled.


DXTweaker aka DirectX Tweaker spoofs values but apps/games do some additional checks and do not detect shaders 3.0. By the way, it only exists as time bombed beta and you need to set date in VM to somewhere in 2005 to get it working if you want to try its tweaks.


I have tried updating all drivers in Device manager, and Windows says all are up to date. When I try launching the game, a black screen comes up, but nothing starts. Alt Tabing out shows there is an error window saying "Video Device Critical Error" and in the grey of the box "Shader model 3.0 or better graphic device required.


Video cards by AMD ATI and NVIDIA utilize an instruction set known as "pixel shading" to bring realistic special effects to video games and rendered videos. Each video card model series features a specific pixel shader, or shader model; shader models with a higher numerical value have increased efficiency when performing graphical-related tasks, while also providing superior special effects. To find out the pixel shader on your video card, get to know the exact model of your video card. 2ff7e9595c


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