| abstract | - Direct3D is an application program interface (API) developed by Microsoft that provides a set of commands and functions for manipulating 3D objects.
- Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. Direct3D is only for use in Microsoft's various Windows operating systems (Windows 95 and above) and, although in a quite different version, in the Xbox and the Xbox 360. Direct3D is used to render three dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D also allows applications to run fullscreen instead of embedded in a window, though they can still run in a window if programmed for that feature. Direct3D uses hardware acceleration if it is available on the graphic board. Direct3D is a 3D API. That is, it contains many commands for 3D rendering, but contains few commands for rendering 2D graphics. Microsoft strives to continually update Direct3D to support the latest technology available on 3D graphics cards. Direct3D offers full vertex software emulation but no pixel software emulation for features not available in hardware. For example, if a program programmed using Direct3D requires pixel shaders and the graphics card on the user's computer does not support that feature, Direct3D will not emulate it. The program will most likely exit with an error message. The API does define a Reference Rasterizer (or REF device), which emulates a generic graphics card, although it's too slow to be used in any application to emulate pixel shaders and is usually ignored. Direct3D's main competitor is OpenGL. There are numerous features and issues that proponents for either API disagree over, see Direct3D vs. OpenGL for a summary.
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