Delphi XE2: Why FireMonkey HD Applications?

Question

According to Delphi XE2 release notes. FireMonkey can create high-definition applications. HD stands for High Definition. Why HD? Can a VCL app create HD apps like FireMonkey?

Answer 1

Here is the documentation on Firemonkey , from it you can see several functions.

Compare a regular TV with high definition TV. This is similar to comparing VCL with what Firemonkey can do. This is a marketing term that I suspect will catch him, really emphasizes power.

HD applications cite many Firemonkey features, but the following stand out.

• 2D applications (VCL can do this)
• 3D applications (VCL cannot do this)
• Powerful vector engine (VCL cannot do this)
• Uses a GPU (most VCL does not)

The first paragraph of this above Doc page sums up.

FireMonkey uses the graphics processing unit (GPU) in modern desktop and mobile devices to create visually appealing applications across multiple platforms, targeting the entire range from personal to enterprise

I suspect more demo videos will appear over the next few weeks, but the difference will be significant compared to VCL.

Answer 2

“HD” is just a marketing alias for “2D,” because they wanted to convey something more than what VCL offers.

And it provides more, primarily because it is based on a vector, while VCL is based on a raster basis.

Answer 3

All coordinates have floating point precision, and in standard VCL they are integer. This is perfectly reasonable: the definition above is therefore HD ... as simple as

In the standard VCL application, you can also have HD graphics, but not without using a third-party graphics library such as Gdi + or GLScene.