ImgTec to demo Vulkan graphics API on Android tab

Vulkan, which is not yet publically available, will mark the entry of open standards consortium Khronos into the low-level graphics API field. The proposed API will be a lightweight, close-to-the-metal interface which will allow GPU driver software to exploit multicore and multi-threaded CPUs. It will also allow expert programmers for the first time to fully exploit the advantages of tile based renderers, the dominant architecture in the mobile industry. Vulkan will enable performance and efficiency for high-end graphics while coexisting with the widely deployed OpenGL ES APIs, which will continue to be the natural choice for programmers who prefer a higher-level interface.

This latest achievement follows Imagination's Vulkan demonstration earlier this year against an early preliminary specification and represents the latest status of the evolving API by Khronos, taking into account the detailed inputs of Google and others over the subsequent months.

Neil Trevett, President of the Khronos Group, commented: “Today, OpenGL and OpenGL ES provide access to billions of GPUs, and Khronos will continue to evolve and maintain these popular 3D APIs. The complementary Vulkan open standard API will deliver high-efficiency access to graphics and compute on modern GPUs, providing applications with direct control over GPU acceleration for maximised performance and predictability. We’re delighted that developers will be able to use Vulkan on Android devices.”

Peter McGuinness, Director of Multimedia Technology Marketing, Imagination, added: “Imagination is a major contributor to the Vulkan specification. We’ve been working closely with Google to integrate their input to the spec, using our PowerVR based platform. We are very enthusiastic that Google is embracing Vulkan on its Android products.”