WGL: OpenGL Extensions for Microsoft Windows

OpenGL rendering is supported on systems that run any modern version of Microsoft Windows (from Windows 95 and later). The functions and routines of the Win32 library are necessary to initialize the pixel format and control rendering, and for access to extensions for OpenGL. Some routines, which are prefixed by wgl, extend Win32 so that OpenGL can be fully supported.

For Win32/WGL, the PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR is the key data structure for maintaining pixel format information about the OpenGL window.

A variable of data type PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR keeps track of pixel information, including pixel type (RGBA or color-index); single- or double-buffering; resolution of colors; and presence of depth, stencil, ...

Get OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 4.3, Eighth Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.