Hello !
I just tested Maelstrom -speedtest with DirectX and
WinDIB on my system.
Years ago, WinDIB was always x-Times slower than DirectX,
but now WinDIB is actually faster on my system than DirectX.
Is there any known reason for this ?
CU
Years ago, WinDIB was always x-Times slower than DirectX,
but now WinDIB is actually faster on my system than DirectX.
Is there any known reason for this ?
I’m not entirely sure, but it’s my impression that the older DirectDraw
interfaces are being implemented in software on top of the newer Direct3D
interfaces. It may be that GDI is getting a more accelerated path than
SDL’s use of DirectDraw.
This is totally conjecture, and I could be wrong. 
The SDL 1.3 API is being specifically designed to take advantage of the
latest OpenGL and Direct3D technology, while still working well on older
2D APIs.
-Sam Lantinga, Senior Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainmentslouken at devolution.com says…
I’m not entirely sure, but it’s my impression that the older DirectDraw
interfaces are being implemented in software on top of the newer Direct3D
interfaces. It may be that GDI is getting a more accelerated path than
SDL’s use of DirectDraw.
For me it’s the opposite. DirectDraw is about 2-3 times faster. I’m
doing a LOT of blitting though, and some alpha blending here and there.
The SDL 1.3 API is being specifically designed to take advantage of the
latest OpenGL and Direct3D technology, while still working well on older
2D APIs.
Interesting. Are you going to implement transparent 3D acceleration when
it’s available, and fall back to DirectDraw/Windib/etc when it’s not?
Normally I’d say I’m looking forward to that, but I already spent a lot
of time implementing a dual renderer system that does exactly that.
My system uses OpenGL acceleration when it’s available, otherwise just
uses SDL’s drawing routines. Oh well, I never thought that SDL would
eventually do something like this natively.–
Ilya Olevsky
Valen Games
www.valengames.com