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DirectDraw

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The DirectDraw® API provides support for hardware-accelerated 2-D graphics. It offers fast access to display hardware while retaining compatibility with the Windows graphics device interface (GDI). DirectDraw is a specialized memory manager for both system and display device memory and uses hardware acceleration where available. With DirectDraw, you can allocate and manipulate both system and graphics memory, including transfers between the two.

DirectDraw for Microsoft® Windows® CE is adapted from DirectDraw for Windows-based desktop operating systems. Some capabilities from the desktop version have been extended and others have been curtailed to better suit embedded devices.

DirectDraw supports the following effects:

  • Bit-block transfers (blits)
  • Page flipping and multiple back buffers
  • Overlays, which is placing one image surface over another on the video display
  • Alpha source over destination blending, which is blending two surfaces using the source alpha image component
  • Video YUV pixel formats and color conversion
  • Direct video access to the frame buffer

In this Section

  • DirectDraw Application Development
    Provides architectural background information about DirectDraw and practical design details that you will need to know to create a DirectDraw application.
  • DirectDraw Registry Settings
    Provides information about the registry settings that affect DirectDraw OS designs and applications.
  • DirectDraw Security
    Describes factors that you should consider to enhance security in your DirectDraw OS design or application.
  • DirectDraw Migration
    Highlights the changes that you must make so that your existing DirectDraw code works with the latest version of Windows CE.
  • DirectDraw Reference
    Provides individual reference descriptions for the DirectDraw programming elements.
  • Graphics Device Interface (GDI)
    Provides information about basic graphics support in Windows CE through the graphics device interface (GDI).
  • Graphics
    Provides links to information about other graphics technologies for Windows CE.

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