Direct3D Device Driver Interface

The Microsoft® Direct3D® device driver interface (DDI) is a graphics interface that allows vendors to provide hardware acceleration for Direct3D. The interface is flexible, allowing vendors to provide Direct3D acceleration according to hardware capabilities. Driver writers implement the Direct3D DDI as an integral part of the display driver.

The topics in this section describe the Direct3D architecture and interface, and provide implementation guidelines for Direct3D driver writers. These topics assume that you are familiar with the Direct3D and Microsoft DirectDraw® application programming interfaces (APIs), and that you have an in-depth understanding of the Microsoft Windows® CE .NET display driver model, including DirectDraw Display Drivers. When using the DirectDraw API set keep the following restrictions in mind.

Note   You can enable both GDI multiple screens and DirectDraw entry points in your display driver. However, there are significant restrictions for using the DirectDraw API set while running multiple screens on your system. Also, the GDI screen rotation cannot be used with DirectDraw. For more information about GDI multiple screens and screen rotation, see the Multiple Screen and Screen Rotation topics under Display Driver Extensions.

All Direct3D drivers for Windows CE .NET and later must conform to the Microsoft DirectX® 8.0 or later Direct3D driver model.

The following topics explain the Direct3D DDI in detail:

• Direct3D Implementation Guide contains practical information about creating a Windows CE–based Direct3D driver.
• The Direct3D Driver Reference contains the Direct3D Driver Functions, Direct3D Driver Structures, and Direct3D Driver Enumerations, which provide reference pages for the functions, structures, and enumerations needed to implement a Direct3D driver.

 Last updated on Tuesday, May 18, 2004

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