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Multiple buffering

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is flipped with (or copied from) the back buffer holding the most recent complete image. Since one of the back buffers is always complete, the graphics card never has to wait for the software to complete. Consequently, the software and the graphics card are completely independent and can run at their own pace. Finally, the displayed image was started without waiting for synchronization and thus with minimum lag.
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In triple buffering, the program has two back buffers and can immediately start drawing in the one that is not involved in such copying. The third buffer, the front buffer, is read by the graphics card to display the image on the monitor. Once the image has been sent to the monitor, the front buffer
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In the page-flip method, instead of copying the data, both buffers are capable of being displayed. At any one time, one buffer is actively being displayed by the monitor, while the other, background buffer is being drawn. When the background buffer is complete, the roles of the two are switched. The
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the graphics hardware for monitor refresh events, the algorithm may continuously draw additional frames as fast as the hardware can render them. For frames that are completed much faster than interval between refreshes, it is possible to replace a back buffers' frames with newer iterations multiple
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in the illustration shows double buffering. Transitions W1 and W2 represent writing to buffer 1 and 2 respectively while R1 and R2 represent reading from buffer 1 and 2 respectively. At the beginning, only the transition W1 is enabled. After W1 fires, R1 and W2 are both enabled and can proceed in
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It is difficult for a program to draw a display so that pixels do not change more than once. For instance, when updating a page of text, it is much easier to clear the entire page and then draw the letters than to somehow erase only the pixels that are used in old letters but not in new ones.
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beam in order to avoid tearing. Software implementations of double buffering necessarily require more memory and CPU time than single buffering because of the system memory allocated for the back buffer, the time for the copy operation, and the time waiting for synchronization.
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shows what happens when a frame (B, in this case) takes longer than normal to draw. In this case, a frame update is missed. In time-sensitive implementations such as video playback, the whole frame may be dropped. With a three-buffer swap chain in set
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is similar to double buffering but can provide improved performance. In double buffering, the program must wait until the finished drawing is copied or swapped before starting the next drawing. This waiting period could be several
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constantly redraw the visible video page (traditionally at around 60 times a second), so even a perfect update may be visible momentarily as a horizontal divider between the "new" image and the un-redrawn "old" image, known as
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times before copying. This means frames may be written to the back buffer that are never used at all before being overwritten by successive frames. Nvidia has implemented this method under the name "Fast Sync".
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three buffers long. After the program has drawn both back buffers, it waits until the first one is placed on the screen, before drawing another back buffer (i.e. it is a 3-long
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with three buffers; the original definition of triple buffering would throw away frame C as soon as frame D finished, and start drawing frame E into buffer 1 with no delay. Set
600:(DMA) transfers, not for enhancing performance, but to meet specific addressing requirements of a device (esp. 32-bit devices on systems with wider addressing provided via 451:; any such region is often called a "back buffer". When all drawing operations are considered complete, the whole region (or only the changed portion) is copied into the 391:
After the initial transient where W1 fires alone, this system is periodic and the transitions are enabled – always in pairs (R1 with W2 and R2 with W1 respectively).
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Quad buffering requires special support in the graphics card drivers which is disabled for most consumer cards. AMD's Radeon HD 6000 Series and newer support it.
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The page-flip is much faster than copying the data and can guarantee that tearing will not be seen as long as the pages are switched over during the monitor's
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buffers). The command to swap or copy the buffer typically applies to both pairs at once, so at no time does one eye see an older image than the other eye.
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are a place where the term "double buffering" is likely to be used. Linux and BSD source code calls these "bounce buffers".
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A software implementation of double buffering has all drawing operations store their results in some region of system
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implementations, thus four buffers total (if triple buffering was used then there would be
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queue). Most Windows games seem to refer to this method when enabling triple buffering.
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represent the operation of single, double and triple buffering, respectively, with
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is the use of double buffering for each of the left and right eye images in
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An alternative method sometimes referred to as triple buffering is a
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parallel. When they finish, R2 and W1 proceed in parallel and so on.
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Some programmers try to avoid this kind of double buffering with
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Triple buffering: improve your PC gaming performance for free
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is a technique for drawing graphics that shows less stutter,
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Double buffering is also used as a technique to facilitate
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However, this intermediate image is seen by the user as
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may be too technical for most readers to understand
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Use of more than one buffer to hold a block of data
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June 26, 2009 602:Physical Address Extension 492:vertical blanking interval 401:Double Buffering Petri Net 379:Double buffering Petri net 443:Software double buffering 653:Vertical synchronization 588:Double buffering for DMA 584:support quad buffering. 485:video display controller 319:vertical synchronization 422:, and other artifacts. 402: 339: 648:Adaptive tile refresh 400: 304: 678:Virtual DMA Services 598:direct memory access 530:Due to the software 110:"Multiple buffering" 95:improve this article 548:first in, first out 354:to hold a block of 821:2016-08-18 at the 663:LC shutter glasses 638:of video signals. 576:3D standards like 403: 348:multiple buffering 340: 512:computer graphics 481:hardware register 432:computer monitors 412:computer graphics 299: 298: 291: 281: 280: 273: 226: 225: 218: 192:used on Knowledge 190:encyclopedic tone 171: 170: 163: 145: 68: 16:(Redirected from 855: 843:Image processing 795: 794: 786: 780: 779: 777: 776: 765: 759: 758: 756: 748: 742: 737: 731: 730: 728: 727: 716: 710: 709: 707: 706: 695: 668:Nvidia 3D Vision 594:double buffering 516:triple buffering 506:Triple buffering 416:double buffering 344:computer science 294: 287: 276: 269: 265: 262: 256: 236: 235: 228: 221: 214: 210: 207: 201: 200:for suggestions. 196:See Knowledge's 181: 180: 173: 166: 159: 155: 152: 146: 144: 103: 79: 71: 60: 38: 37: 30: 21: 863: 862: 858: 857: 856: 854: 853: 852: 828: 827: 823:Wayback Machine 804: 799: 798: 787: 783: 774: 772: 767: 766: 762: 754: 750: 749: 745: 738: 734: 725: 723: 717: 713: 704: 702: 697: 696: 692: 687: 644: 628: 590: 556: 508: 476: 445: 430:. 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Index

Page flipping
improve it
talk page
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verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Multiple buffering"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
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encyclopedic tone
guide to writing better articles
Learn how and when to remove this message
help improve it
make it understandable to non-experts
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vertical synchronization
swap chain
computer science
buffer
data
reader
writer

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