#define S_HOME
#define S_HOME_MAIN
#define PAGE Parallel Rendering
#define DESCRIPTION "Equalizer is an open source programming interface and resource management system for scalable OpenGL applications"
#define KEYWORDS "parallel rendering, parallel OpenGL, Equalizer, OpenGL, scalable graphics, graphics cluster, graphics clusters, visualization, multi-GPU"

#include "header.shtml"

<div class="float_right">
  <a href="/images/release-0.4.png"><img src="/images/release-0.4-small.jpg" 
                                         alt="Scalable Rendering"></a>
  <div class="label">Four-to-One Scalable Volume Rendering</div>
</div>
<p>
  Equalizer is an open source project providing a minimally invasive programming
  interface and resource management system for parallel, scalable OpenGL
  applications. It allows an application to run unmodified on any visualization
  system, from a simple workstation to large scale graphics clusters and
  multi-GPU workstations.
</p>
<p>
  <a href="/gallery.html">Video and Image Gallery...</a>
</p>

<h2>Applications</h2>
<p>
  Equalizer is the industry-leading toolkit for parallel rendering, and is used
  by numerous commercial and research applications. Since it can be combined
  with any OpenGL-based rendering, Equalizer is used in a variety of vertical
  markets, for example content creation or scientific visualization.
</p>
<p>
  <a href="/applications/thirdParty.html">Applications...</a><br>
  <a href="/useCases.html">Use Cases...</a>
</p>

<h2>Benefits</h2>
<p>
  Equalizer-based applications can be used to:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><b>Visualize more:</b> Scalable rendering is often used to visualize
    larger data sets at a higher visual quality. The focus is not always
    achieving higher framerates for existing data sets, but to visualize more
    data at a higher quality and increased resolution.</li>
  <li><b>Visualize anywhere:</b> The same application can be used for all kind
    of installations without any changes, which is achieved by modularizing the
    rendering from the application logics.</li>
  <li><b>Visualize in parallel:</b> Parallel rendering optimally exploits
    multicore architectures. One or more rendering threads execute in parallel
    to the application thread, providing the optimal performance for
    OpenGL-based rendering.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Compatibility</h2>
<div class="float_right">
  <a href="http://www.opengl.org"><img src="images/ogl.jpg"
                                       alt="OpenGL logo"></a>
</div>
<p>
  Equalizer is a cross-platform toolkit, available for Linux, Windows XP and Mac
  OS X and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit execution.
</p>
<p>
  Equalizer does not interfere with the application's OpenGL rendering
  code. Equalizer requires at a minimum OpenGL 1.1 in order to run, but uses
  later OpenGL features and extensions where available.
</p>
<p>
  <a href="/compatibility.html">Compatibility matrix...</a>
</p>

<h2>License</h2>
<p>
  The Equalizer framework is licensed under the
  <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html">LGPL open source license</a>,
  which allows free usage in commercial and open source projects. Any changes to
  the framework itself have to be contributed back to open source.
</p>
<p>
 Consulting, software development service and support are available
 from <a href="http://www.eyescale.ch">Eyescale Software GmbH</a>.
</p>

<h2>Features</h2>
<p>
  Applications written using the <a href="/api.html">Equalizer programming
  interface</a> benefit from the following features:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><a href="/configuration.html">Runtime Configurability</a>: An Equalizer
    application can run on any configuration, from laptops to large scale
    visualization clusters, without recompilation. The runtime configuration is
    externalized from the application to a systemwide resource server, and
    choosen at runtime.</li>
  <li><a href="/scalability.html">Runtime Scalability</a>: Applications written
    using Equalizer take advantage of multiple graphics cards, processors and
    computers to scale the display size and the rendering performance
    using <em>scalable graphics</em> algorithms.</li>
  <li><b>Distributed Execution:</b> Equalizer applications can be written to
    support cluster-based execution. The task of distributing the application
    data is facilitated by support for versioned, distributed objects.</li>
  <li><a href="/documents/design/immersive.html">Support for Stereo and
      Immersive Environments:</a> Equalizer supports both active and passive
    stereo rendering, as well as the head tracking, which is required for
    immersive Virtual Reality installations.</li>
</ul>
<p>
  <a href="/documents/user/crComparison.html">Difference to Chromium...</a><br>
  <a href="/features.html">Feature List...</a>
</p>

<h2>Project Mission</h2>
<p>
  Equalizer is an open platform for high-performance visualization:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><b>Vendor Independence:</b> The development is not governed by a single
    company. We work with several industry-leading hardware and software vendors
    as well as research institutions on improving Equalizer.</li>
  <li><b>Open Source:</b> Equalizer uses a liberal license which allows usage in
    both open source and commercial products. The license ensures progress on
    the core framework and protects the ISV's investment in the future.</li>
  <li><b>Open Community:</b> We encourage the usage in custom projects and
    welcome contributions to Equalizer by the community. We contribute our
    experience in parallel rendering back to the OpenGL community.</li>
</ul>

<div class="footnote">
Linux&reg; is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. Mac OS&reg; is a trademark of Apple
Computer, Inc. OpenGL&reg; is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Windows&reg;
is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other products named are trademarks
of their respective owners.
</div>

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