[Open-graphics] [OT] efficiet remote 2D

[Hugh Fisher]

Daniel Rozsnyó wrote:
> Hello,
>   I have a similarly OT question as Nicolas.
> 
>   While working on my Ethernet attached TFT, I need to decide where to
> "cut" the video output chain. The choices are:
> 
>   *) X driver: the interface might have acceleration, but I'm not sure
> if modern apps (kde/gnome) use the line drawing, or they just do bitmap
> copy on almost everything. I hope that at least scrolling can be
> accelerated this way.

A lot of modern X apps do their own offscreen rendering and copy
everything because basic X is pretty awful (no antialiasing, etc).
Others expect Xrender to be present with a whole new set of
graphic primitives. Given what you say below about simplicity,
I wouldn't recommend it.

> 
>   *) Use an invisible framebuffer and implement own change transmission
> protocol similar to VNC, optimized for 100Mbps.

Sun did this for their thin-client Javastation (or something like
that?) terminals which they sold for a while. We got decent screen
refresh speed over 100M Ethernet, and it works with everything,
not just X.

> 
> 
>   Other, which are be impossible (with a Spartan3E-500 & ATmega128):
> 
>   *) Use a standard VNC protocol

VNC is really pretty simple, and it would be a considerable
advantage if you could just plug these things into an existing
VNC server.

-- 
	Hugh Fisher
	DCS, ANU