1 Release Notes {#mainpage}
6 # Introduction {#Introduction}
8 Welcome to Equalizer, the standard middleware to create and deploy
9 parallel, scalable OpenGL applications. This release introduces major
10 new features, most notably integrated head tracking
using VRPN or OpenCV.
12 Equalizer 1.8 is a feature release extending the 1.0 API, distilling
13 over several years of development and decades of experience into a
14 feature-rich, high-performance and mature parallel rendering
15 framework. It is intended
for all application developers creating
16 parallel, interactive OpenGL applications. Equalizer 1.8 can be
17 retrieved by downloading the [source code](http:
19 ## Features {#Features}
21 Equalizer provides the following major features to facilitate the development and deployment of scalable OpenGL applications. A [detailed feature list](http:
23 * Runtime Configurability: An Equalizer application is configured
24 automatically or manually at runtime and can be deployed on laptops,
25 multi-GPU workstations and large-scale visualization clusters without
27 * Runtime Scalability: An Equalizer application can benefit from
28 multiple graphics cards, processors and computers to scale rendering
29 performance, visual quality and display size.
30 * Distributed Execution: Equalizer applications can be written to
31 support cluster-based execution. Equalizer uses the
32 [Collage network library](http:
33 C++ library
for building heterogenous, distributed applications.
34 * Support
for Stereo and Immersive Environments: Equalizer supports
35 stereo rendering head tracking, head-mounted displays and other
36 advanced features
for immersive Virtual Reality installations.
38 # New in
this release {#New}
40 Equalizer 1.8 contains the following features, enhancements, bug fixes
41 and documentation changes over the Equalizer 1.7 release:
43 ## New Features {#NewFeatures}
45 * Implemented Qt window system
for onscreen windows. Issue
48 ## Enhancements {#Enhancements}
50 * New EqGLLibraries.cmake script
for simpler OpenGL configuration in
52 * Compression is enabled
for DisplayCluster streaming
53 * DisplayCluster streaming is now asynchronous
54 * The application now doesn
't abort if the init fails
55 * Enable FBO rendering using QGLWidget
57 ## Optimizations {#Optimizations}
59 * DisplayCluster streaming is optimized: no alpha, and reuse FBO texture
62 ## Examples {#Examples}
64 * A DisplayCluster example config was added
66 ## Documentation {#Documentation}
68 The following documentation has been added or substantially improved
69 since the last release:
71 * Improved init documentation
75 Equalizer 1.8 includes various bugfixes over the 1.7 release, including
78 * [281](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/pull/281): Pan in Sequel with
79 the right button as in eqPly
80 * [304](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/pull/304): Configs with no
81 running channels should exit or fail
82 * [368](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/pull/368): Fix mixup of
83 horizontal and vertical wheel events
84 * [370](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/pull/370): VRPN head tracking
85 changes not visible when idle
86 * Universal AGL build is now fixed
87 * Fix crash while streaming to non-running DisplayCluster application
88 * Fix crash in eqPly render clients with Qt
92 The following bugs were known at release time. Please file a
93 [Bug Report](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues) if you find
94 any other issue with this release.
96 * [17](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/17): AGL: Window
98 * [18](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/18): zoom: depth
99 readback does not work
100 * [19](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/19): zoom readback with FBO
101 * [77](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/77):
102 7-window.DB.PIXEL.eqc broken
103 * [78](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/78): AGL: assertion
104 on interaction with multiple GPUs
105 * [167](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/167): HWLOC:
106 Segmentation Fault with empty auto thread affinity mask
107 * [226](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/226): Crash with
108 layout switch on multi GPU system
109 * [232](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/232): ROI with
110 monitor equalizer results in wrong compositing
111 * [286](https://github.com/Eyescale/Equalizer/issues/286): Certain combinations
112 of 2D and subpixels compounds don't work in eqPly
114 server from rendering client crashes
118 Equalizer is a cross-platform framework, designed to run on any modern
119 operating system, including all Unix variants and the Windows operating
120 system. Equalizer requires at least [OpenGL 1.1](http:
121 but uses newer OpenGL features when available. Equalizer uses CMake and
123 platform-specific build environment. The following platforms and build
124 environments are tested
for version 1.8:
126 * Linux: Ubuntu 14.04, RHEL 6.5 (Makefile, i386, x64)
127 * Windows: 7 (Visual Studio 2008, i386, x64)
128 * Mac OS X: 10.8 (Makefile, XCode, i386, x64)
130 The Equalizer Programming and User Guide covers the basics of Collage
131 programming. The API documentation can be found on
134 As with any open source project, the available source code, in
135 particular the shipped examples provide a reference
for developing or
136 porting applications.
138 Technical questions can be posted to the eq-dev Mailing List, or
139 directly to info@equalizergraphics.com.
141 Commercial support, custom software development and porting services are
142 available from [Eyescale](http:
143 [info@eyescale.ch](mailto:info@eyescale.ch?subject=Collage%20support)
144 for further information.
1.8.5 
