I am reading an awesome OpenGL tutorial. It’s really great, trust me. The topic I am currently at is Z-buffer. Aside from explaining what’s it all about, the author mentions that we can perform custom depth tests, such as GL_LESS, GL_ALWAYS, etc. He also explains that the actual meaning of depth values (which is top and which isn’t) can also be customized. I understand so far. And then the author says something unbelievable:
The range zNear can be greater than the range zFar; if it is, then the
window-space values will be reversed, in terms of what constitutes
closest or farthest from the viewer.Earlier, it was said that the window-space Z value of 0 is closest and
1 is farthest. However, if our clip-space Z values were negated, the
depth of 1 would be closest to the view and the depth of 0 would be
farthest. Yet, if we flip the direction of the depth test (GL_LESS to
GL_GREATER, etc), we get the exact same result. So it’s really just a
convention. Indeed, flipping the sign of Z and the depth test was once
a vital performance optimization for many games.
If I understand correctly, performance-wise, flipping the sign of Z and the depth test is nothing but changing a < comparison to a > comparison. So, if I understand correctly and the author isn’t lying or making things up, then changing < to > used to be a vital optimization for many games.
Is the author making things up, am I misunderstanding something, or is it indeed the case that once < was slower (vitally, as the author says) than >?
Thanks for clarifying this quite curious matter!
Disclaimer: I am fully aware that algorithm complexity is the primary source for optimizations. Furthermore, I suspect that nowadays it definitely wouldn’t make any difference and I am not asking this to optimize anything. I am just extremely, painfully, maybe prohibitively curious.
