Name

    NV_half_float

Name Strings

    GL_NV_half_float

Contact

    Pat Brown, NVIDIA Corporation (pbrown 'at' nvidia.com)

Notice

    Copyright NVIDIA Corporation, 2001-2002.

IP Status

    NVIDIA Proprietary.

Status

    Implemented in CineFX (NV30) Emulation driver, August 2002.
    Shipping in Release 40 NVIDIA driver for CineFX hardware, January 2003.

Version

    Last Modified Date:         02/25/2004
    NVIDIA Revision:            9

Number

    283

Dependencies

    Written based on the wording of the OpenGL 1.3 specification.

    OpenGL 1.1 is required.

    NV_float_buffer affects the definition of this extension.

    EXT_fog_coord affects the definition of this extension.

    EXT_secondary_color affects the definition of this extension.

    EXT_vertex_weighting affects the definition of this extension.

    NV_vertex_program affects the definition of this extension.

Overview

    This extension introduces a new storage format and data type for
    half-precision (16-bit) floating-point quantities.  The floating-point
    format is very similar to the IEEE single-precision floating-point
    standard, except that it has only 5 exponent bits and 10 mantissa bits.
    Half-precision floats are smaller than full precision floats and provide a
    larger dynamic range than similarly-sized normalized scalar data types.

    This extension allows applications to use half-precision floating point
    data when specifying vertices or pixel data.  It adds new commands to
    specify vertex attributes using the new data type, and extends the
    existing vertex array and image specification commands to accept the new
    data type.

    This storage format is also used to represent 16-bit components in the
    floating-point frame buffers, as defined in the NV_float_buffer extension.

Issues

    What should the new data type be called?  "half"?  "hfloat"?  In addition,
    what should the immediate mode function suffix be?  "h"?  "hf"?

        RESOLVED:  half and "h".  This convention builds on the convention of
        using the type "double" to describe double-precision floating-point
        numbers.  Here, "half" will refer to half-precision floating-point
        numbers.

        Even though the 16-bit float data type is a first-class data type, it
        is still more problematic than the other types in the sense that no
        native programming languages support the data type.  "hfloat/hf" would
        have reflected a second-class status better than "half/h".

        Both names are not without conflicting precedents.  The name "half" is
        used to connote 16-bit scalar values on some 32-bit CPU architectures
        (e.g., PowerPC).  The name "hfloat" has been used to describe 128-bit
        floating-point data on VAX systems.

    Should we provide immediate-mode entry points for half-precision
    floating-point data types?

        RESOLVED:  Yes, for orthogonality.  Also useful as a fallback for the
        "general" case for ArrayElement.

    Should we support half-precision floating-point color index data?

        RESOLVED:  No.

    Should half-precision data be accepted by all commands that accept pixel
    data or only a subset?

        RESOLVED:  All functions.  Note that some textures or frame buffers
        may store the half-precision floating-point data natively.

        Since half float data would be accepted in some cases, it will be
        necessary for drivers to provide some data conversion code.  This code
        can be reused to handle the less common commands.


New Procedures and Functions

    void Vertex2hNV(half x, half y);
    void Vertex2hvNV(const half *v);
    void Vertex3hNV(half x, half y, half z);
    void Vertex3hvNV(const half *v);
    void Vertex4hNV(half x, half y, half z, half w);
    void Vertex4hvNV(const half *v);
    void Normal3hNV(half nx, half ny, half nz);
    void Normal3hvNV(const half *v);
    void Color3hNV(half red, half green, half blue);
    void Color3hvNV(const half *v);
    void Color4hNV(half red, half green, half blue, half alpha);
    void Color4hvNV(const half *v);
    void TexCoord1hNV(half s);
    void TexCoord1hvNV(const half *v);
    void TexCoord2hNV(half s, half t);
    void TexCoord2hvNV(const half *v);
    void TexCoord3hNV(half s, half t, half r);
    void TexCoord3hvNV(const half *v);
    void TexCoord4hNV(half s, half t, half r, half q);
    void TexCoord4hvNV(const half *v);
    void MultiTexCoord1hNV(enum target, half s);
    void MultiTexCoord1hvNV(enum target, const half *v);
    void MultiTexCoord2hNV(enum target, half s, half t);
    void MultiTexCoord2hvNV(enum target, const half *v);
    void MultiTexCoord3hNV(enum target, half s, half t, half r);
    void MultiTexCoord3hvNV(enum target, const half *v);
    void MultiTexCoord4hNV(enum target, half s, half t, half r, half q);
    void MultiTexCoord4hvNV(enum target, const half *v);
    void VertexAttrib1hNV(uint index, half x);
    void VertexAttrib1hvNV(uint index, const half *v);
    void VertexAttrib2hNV(uint index, half x, half y);
    void VertexAttrib2hvNV(uint index, const half *v);
    void VertexAttrib3hNV(uint index, half x, half y, half z);
    void VertexAttrib3hvNV(uint index, const half *v);
    void VertexAttrib4hNV(uint index, half x, half y, half z, half w);
    void VertexAttrib4hvNV(uint index, const half *v);
    void VertexAttribs1hvNV(uint index, sizei n, const half *v);
    void VertexAttribs2hvNV(uint index, sizei n, const half *v);
    void VertexAttribs3hvNV(uint index, sizei n, const half *v);
    void VertexAttribs4hvNV(uint index, sizei n, const half *v);

    (added if EXT_fog_coord is supported)

    void FogCoordhNV(half fog);
    void FogCoordhvNV(const half *fog);

    (added if EXT_secondary_color is supported)

    void SecondaryColor3hNV(half red, half green, half blue);
    void SecondaryColor3hvNV(const half *v);

    (added if EXT_vertex_weighting is supported)

    void VertexWeighthNV(half weight);
    void VertexWeighthvNV(const half *weight);

New Tokens

    Accepted by the <type> argument of VertexPointer, NormalPointer,
    ColorPointer, TexCoordPointer, FogCoordPointerEXT,
    SecondaryColorPointerEXT, VertexWeightPointerEXT, VertexAttribPointerNV,
    DrawPixels, ReadPixels, TexImage1D, TexImage2D, TexImage3D, TexSubImage1D,
    TexSubImage2D, TexSubImage3D, and GetTexImage:

        HALF_FLOAT_NV                                   0x140B

Additions to Chapter 2 of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (OpenGL Operation)

    Modify Section 2.3, GL Command Syntax (p. 7)

    (Modify the last paragraph, p. 7.  In the text below, "e*" represents the
     epsilon character used to indicate no character.)

    These examples show the ANSI C declarations for these commands. In
    general, a command declaration has the form

        rtype Name{e*1234}{e* b s i h f d ub us ui}{e*v}
          ( [args ,] T arg1, ... , T argN [, args]);

    (Modify Table 2.1, p. 8 -- add new row)
    
        Letter  Corresponding GL Type
        ------  ---------------------
           h           half  

    (add after last paragraph, p. 8) The half data type is a floating-point
    data type encoded in an unsigned scalar data type.  If the unsigned scalar
    holding a half has a value of N, the corresponding floating point number
    is

        (-1)^S * 0.0,                        if E == 0 and M == 0,
        (-1)^S * 2^-14 * (M / 2^10),         if E == 0 and M != 0,
        (-1)^S * 2^(E-15) * (1 + M/2^10),    if 0 < E < 31,
        (-1)^S * INF,                        if E == 31 and M == 0, or
        NaN,                                 if E == 31 and M != 0,

    where

        S = floor((N mod 65536) / 32768),
        E = floor((N mod 32768) / 1024), and
        M = N mod 1024.

    INF (Infinity) is a special representation indicating numerical overflow.
    NaN (Not a Number) is a special representation indicating the result of
    illegal arithmetic operations, such as computing the square root or
    logarithm of a negative number.  Note that all normal values, zero, and
    INF have an associated sign.  -0.0 and +0.0 are considered equivalent for
    the purposes of comparisons.  Note also that half is not a native type in
    most CPUs, so some special processing may be required to generate or
    interpret half data.

    (Modify Table 2.2, p. 9 -- add new row)

                    Minimum
        GL Type    Bit Width    Description
        -------    ---------    -----------------------------------
        half          16        half-precision floating-point value
                                encoded in an unsigned scalar

    Modify Section 2.7, Vertex Specification, p. 19

    (Modify the descriptions of the immediate mode functions in this section,
     including those introduced by extensions.)
 
        void Vertex[234][sihfd]( T coords );
        void Vertex[234][sihfd]v( T coords );
    ...
        void TexCoord[1234][sihfd]( T coords );
        void TexCoord[1234][sihfd]v( T coords );
    ...
        void MultiTexCoord[1234][sihfd](enum texture, T coords);
        void MultiTexCoord[1234][sihfd]v(enum texture, T coords);
    ...
        void Normal3[bsihfd][ T coords );
        void Normal3[bsihfd]v( T coords );
    ...
        void Color[34][bsihfd ubusui]( T components );
        void Color[34][bsihfd ubusui]v( T components );
    ...   
        void FogCoord[fd]EXT(T fog);
        void FogCoordhNV(T fog);
        void FogCoord[fd]vEXT(T fog);
        void FogCoordhvNV(T fog);
    ...
        void SecondaryColor3[bsihfd ubusui]( T components );
        void SecondaryColor3hNV( T components );
        void SecondaryColor3[bsihfd ubusui]v( T components );
        void SecondaryColor3hvNV( T components );
    ...
        void VertexWeightfEXT(T weight);
        void VertexWeighthNV(T weight);
        void VertexWeightfvEXT(T weight);
        void VertexWeighthvNV(T weight);
    ...
        void VertexAttrib[1234][shfd]NV(uint index, T components);
        void VertexAttrib4ubNV(uint index, T components);
        void VertexAttrib[1234][shfd]vNV(uint index, T components);
        void VertexAttrib4ubvNV(uint index, T components);
        void VertexAttribs[1234][shfd]vNV(uint index, sizei n, T components);
        void VertexAttribs4ubvNV(uint index, sizei n, T components);
    ....

    Modify Section 2.8, Vertex Arrays, p. 21

    (Modify 1st paragraph on p. 22) ... For <type>, the values BYTE, SHORT,
    INT, FLOAT, HALF_FLOAT_NV, and DOUBLE indicate types byte, short, int,
    float, half, and double, respectively. ...

    (Modify Table 2.4, p. 23)

        Command                   Sizes      Types
        ------------------        -------    ---------------------------------
        VertexPointer             2,3,4      short, int, float, half, double
        NormalPointer             3          byte, short, int, float, half, 
                                             double
        ColorPointer              3,4        byte, ubyte, short, ushort, int,
                                             uint, float, half, double
        IndexPointer              1          ubyte, short, int, float, double 
        TexCoordPointer           1,2,3,4    short, int, float, half, double
        EdgeFlagPointer           1          boolean
        FogCoordPointerEXT        1          float, half, double
        SecondaryColorPointerEXT  3          byte, ubyte, short, ushort, int,
                                             uint, float, half, double
        VertexWeightPointerEXT    1          float, half

        Table 2.4: Vertex array sizes (values per vertex) and data types.

    Modify Section 2.13, Colors and Coloring, p.44

    (Modify Table 2.6, p. 45)  Add new row to the table:

         GL Type    Conversion
         -------    ----------
         half          c

    Modify NV_vertex_program_spec, Section 2.14.3, Vertex Arrays for Vertex
    Attributes.

    (modify paragraph describing VertexAttribPointer) ... type specifies the
    data type of the values stored in the array.  type must be one of SHORT,
    FLOAT, HALF_FLOAT_NV, DOUBLE, or UNSIGNED_BYTE and these values correspond
    to the array types short, int, float, half, double, and ubyte
    respectively. ...

    (add to end of paragraph describing mapping of vertex arrays to
    immediate-mode functions) ... For each vertex attribute, the corresponding
    command is VertexAttrib[size][type]v, where size is one of [1,2,3,4], and
    type is one of [s,f,h,d,ub], corresponding to the array types short, int,
    float, half, double, and ubyte respectively.

        
Additions to Chapter 3 of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (Rasterization)

    Modify Section 3.6.4, Rasterization of Pixel Rectangles (p. 91)

    (Modify Table 3.5, p. 94 -- add new row)

        type Parameter     Corresponding       Special
        Token Name         GL Data Type     Interpretation
        --------------     -------------    --------------
        HALF_FLOAT_NV         half               No

Additions to Chapter 4 of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (Per-Fragment
Operations and the Frame Buffer)

    Modify Section 4.3.2, Reading Pixels (p. 173)

    (modify Final Conversion, p. 177) For an index, if the type is not FLOAT
    or HALF_FLOAT_NV, final conversion consists of masking the index with the
    value given in Table 4.6; if the type is FLOAT or HALF_FLOAT_NV, then the
    integer index is converted to a GL float or half data value.  For an RGBA
    color, components are clamped depending on the data type of the buffer
    being read.  For fixed-point buffers, each component is clamped to [0.1].
    For floating-point buffers, if <type> is not FLOAT or HALF_FLOAT_NV, each
    component is clamped to [0,1] if <type> is unsigned or [-1,1] if <type> is
    signed and then converted according to Table 4.7.

    (Modify Table 4.7, p. 178 -- add new row)

        type Parameter    GL Data Type    Component Conversion Formula
        --------------    ------------    ----------------------------
        HALF_FLOAT_NV        half                  c = f

Additions to Chapter 5 of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (Special Functions)

    None.

Additions to Chapter 6 of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (State and
State Requests)

    None.

Additions to Appendix A of the OpenGL 1.3 Specification (Invariance)

    None.

Additions to the AGL/GLX/WGL Specifications

    None.

GLX Protocol (Modification to the GLX 1.3 Protocol Encoding Specification)

    Add to Section 1.4 (p.2), Common Types

        FLOAT16     A 16-bit floating-point value in the format specified
                    in the NV_half_float extension specification.

    Modify Section 2.3.3 (p. 79), GL Rendering Commands

      The following rendering commands are sent to the server as part of a
      glXRender request:

         Vertex2hvNV
            2           8               rendering command length
            2           4240            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]

         Vertex3hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4241            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         Vertex4hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4242            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2           FLOAT16         v[3]

         Normal3hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4243            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         Color3hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4244            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         Color4hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4245            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2           FLOAT16         v[3]

         TexCoord1hvNV
            2           8               rendering command length
            2           4246            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2                           unused

         TexCoord2hvNV
            2           8               rendering command length
            2           4247            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]

         TexCoord3hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4248            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         TexCoord4hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4249            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2           FLOAT16         v[3]

         MultiTexCoord1hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4250            rendering command opcode
            4           ENUM            target
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2                           unused

         MultiTexCoord2hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4251            rendering command opcode
            4           ENUM            target
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]

         MultiTexCoord3hvNV
            2           16              rendering command length
            2           4252            rendering command opcode
            4           ENUM            target
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         MultiTexCoord4hvNV
            2           16              rendering command length
            2           4253            rendering command opcode
            4           ENUM            target
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2           FLOAT16         v[3]

         FogCoordhvNV
            2           8               rendering command length
            2           4254            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2                           unused

         SecondaryColor3hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4255            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         VertexWeighthvNV
            2           8               rendering command length
            2           4256            rendering command opcode
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2                           unused

         VertexAttrib1hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4257            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2                           unused

         VertexAttrib2hvNV
            2           12              rendering command length
            2           4258            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]

         VertexAttrib3hvNV
            2           16              rendering command length
            2           4259            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2                           unused

         VertexAttrib4hvNV
            2           16              rendering command length
            2           4260            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            2           FLOAT16         v[0]
            2           FLOAT16         v[1]
            2           FLOAT16         v[2]
            2           FLOAT16         v[3]

         VertexAttribs1hvNV
            2           12+2*n+p        rendering command length
            2           4261            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            4           CARD32          n
            2*n         LISTofFLOAT16   v
            p                           unused, p=pad(2*n)

         VertexAttribs2hvNV
            2           12+4*n          rendering command length
            2           4262            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            4           CARD32          n
            4*n         LISTofFLOAT16   v

         VertexAttribs3hvNV
            2           12+6*n+p        rendering command length
            2           4263            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            4           CARD32          n
            6*n         LISTofFLOAT16   v
            p                           unused, p=pad(6*n)

         VertexAttribs4hvNV
            2           12+8*n          rendering command length
            2           4264            rendering command opcode
            4           CARD32          index
            4           CARD32          n
            8*n         LISTofFLOAT16   v


    Modify Section 2.3.4, GL Rendering Commands That May Be Large (p. 127)

     (Modify the ARRAY_INFO portion of the DrawArrays encoding (p.129) to
      reflect the new data type supported by vertex arrays.)

         ARRAY_INFO
    
            4       enum                    data type
                    0x1400   i=1            BYTE
                    0x1401   i=1            UNSIGNED_BYTE
                    0x1402   i=2            SHORT
                    ...
                    0x140B   i=2            HALF_FLOAT_NV
            4       INT32                   j
            4       ENUM                    array type
                ...

    Modify Appendix A, Pixel Data (p. 148)

      (Modify Table A.1, p. 149 -- add new row for HALF_FLOAT_NV data)

          type             Encoding    Protocol Type    nbytes
          -------------    --------    -------------    ------
          HALF_FLOAT_NV    0x140B      CARD16           2


Dependencies on NV_float_buffer

    If NV_float_buffer is not supported, the fixed and floating-point color
    buffer language in ReadPixels "Final Conversion" should be removed.


Dependencies on EXT_fog_coord, EXT_secondary_color, and EXT_vertex_weighting 

    If EXT_fog_coord, EXT_secondary_color, or EXT_vertex_weighting are not
    supported, references to FogCoordPointerEXT, SecondaryColorPointerEXT, and
    VertexWeightPointerEXT, respectively, should be removed.

    If EXT_fog_coord is not supported, remove language adding immediate mode
    FogCoordh[v]NV APIs.

    If EXT_secondary_color is not supported, remove language adding immediate
    mode SecondaryColor3h[v]NV APIs.

    If EXT_vertex_weighting is not supported, remove language adding immediate
    mode VertexWeighth[v]NV APIs.

Dependencies on NV_vertex_program

    If NV_vertex_program is not supported, references to VertexAttribPointerNV
    should be removed, as should references to VertexAttrib*h[v] commands.

          
Errors

    None.


New State

    None.


New Implementation Dependent State

    None.


Revision History

    Rev.    Date    Author   Changes
    ----  -------- --------  --------------------------------------------
     10   03/21/10  pbrown   Clarify that FogCoord*, SecondaryColor*, and 
                             VertexWeight* APIs are supported only if
                             corresponding extensions are also supported.
                             Recent NVIDIA drivers and GPUs do not support
                             EXT_vertex_weighting.

      9   02/25/04  pbrown   Fixed incorrect language using division by zero
                             as an example of something producing a NaN.

      8   07/19/02  pbrown   Add GLX protocol.  Modified enumerant value for
                             HALF_FLOAT_NV to use new value assigned from the
                             registry.

      7   01/31/02  pbrown   Add revision history.

      6   12/26/01  pbrown   Add immediate-mode entry points for all functions
                             that may accept half-precision float vertex data.

      4   10/19/01  pbrown   Fixed incorrect description of encoding of hfloat
                             denorms.  Addressed issue that there's no reason
                             to require hfloats to be exactly 16 bits on all
                             architectures.  Instead, they are documented as 
                             needing to be at least 16 bits, and as using only
                             the 16 least significant bits.  Practically
                             speaking, they will probably always be 16 bits.