Italian start-up Mazatech is offering a technology preview of a commercial library for hardware-accelerated 2D vector graphics. The company's AmanithVG library implements most of the Khronos Group's OpenVG specification, using a pair of 3D APIs, also from the Khronos Group.

(Click for larger view of the “Postscript Tiger” implemented with AmanithVG)

Mazatech says AmanithVG implements nearly all of the OpenVG specification, “entirely on top of” a pair of open standard 3D graphics APIs: OpenGL 1.1 to 2.0, using extensions where available; and OpenGL ES (embedded subset) 1.1 and 2.0. The company claims that using 3D hardware to accelerate 2D graphics can produce quality comparable to software rasterizers, while achieving speeds many times faster or, in embedded systems, using far fewer processor cycles.

OpenVG is an open standard maintained by the Khronos Group. It defines a low-level API for vector graphics libraries, such as those associated with Macromedia Flash, or the W3C's SVG (scalable vector graphics) specification. OpenVG enables “fluidly interactive 2D performance” at very low power levels, Khronos says, and targets small-screen devices with user interfaces based on vector graphics.

AmanithVG is implemented in portable ANSI C, and should support Linux and other embedded OSes.

Availability

AmanithVG is available now, with registration, as a “technology preview.” Several videos of the library in use are available on the company's website, here.

 
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