16 Display Lists and Vertex Arrays

16.010 Why does a display list take up so much memory?

An OpenGL display list must make a copy of all data it requires to recreate the call sequence that created it. This means that for every glVertex3f() call, for example, the display list must provide storage for 3 values (usually 32-bit float values in most implementations). This is where most of the memory used by a typical display list goes.

However, in most implementations, there's also some memory that's needed to manage the display lists of a given context and other overhead. In certain pathological cases, this overhead memory can be larger than the memory used to store the display list data!

16.020 How can I share display lists between different contexts?

If you're using Microsoft Windows, use the wglShareLists() function. If you are using GLX, see the share parameter to glXCreateContext().

GLUT does not allow display list sharing. You can obtain the GLUT source, and make your own glutCreateWindow() and glutSetWindow() function calls. You can then modify the source to expose display list sharing. When doing so, you need to make sure your modified routines still work with the rest of GLUT.

16.030 How does display list nesting work? Is the called list copied into the calling list?

No. Only the call to the enclosed display list is copied into the parent list. This way a program can delete or replace a child list, call the parent, and see changes that were made.

16.040 Can I do a particular function while a display list is called?

A display list call is an atomic operation and therefore, it can't be interrupted. You can't call part of it, for example, then do something, then call the rest of it. Nor can you have a display list somehow signal your program from some point within the list.

However, an application doesn't have to create one large monolithic display list. By creating several smaller lists to call sequentially, an application is free to perform tasks between calls to glCallList().

An application can also use multithreading, so one thread can perform one task while another thread is calling a display list.

16.050 How can I change an OpenGL function call in a display list that contains many other OpenGL function calls?

OpenGL display lists aren't editable, so you can't modify the call sequence in them or even see which calls are embedded in them.

One way of creating a pseudo-editable display list is to create a hierarchical display list. (i.e., create a display list parent that contains calls to glCallList()). Then you can edit the display list by replacing the child display lists that the parent list references.

16.060 How can I obtain a list of function calls and OpenGL call parameters from a display list?

Currently, there isn't a way to programatically obtain either the function calls contained within a list or the parameters to those calls. An application that requires this information must track the data stored in a display list.

One option is to use an OpenGL call logging utility. These utilities capture the OpenGL calls a program makes, enabling you to see the calls that an application stores in a display list.

16.070 I've converted my program to use display lists, and it doesn't run any faster. Why not?

Achieving the highest performance from display lists is highly dependent on the OpenGL implementation, but here are a few pointers:

First, make sure that your application's process size isn't becoming so large that it's causing memory thrashing. Using display lists generally takes more memory than immediate mode, so it's possible that your program is spending more time thrashing memory blocks than rendering OpenGL calls.

Display lists won't improve the performance of a fill-limited application. Try rendering to a smaller window, and if your application runs faster, it's likely that it's fill-limited.

Stay away from GL_COMPILE_AND_EXECUTE mode. Instead, create the list using GL_COMPILE mode, then execute it with glCallList().

In some cases if you group your state changes together, the display list can optimize them as a group (i.e., it can remove redundant state changes, concatenate adjacent matrix changes, etc.).

Read the section on Performance for other tips.

16.080 To save space, should I convert all my coordinates to short before storing them in a display list?

No. Most implementations will convert your data to an internal format for storage in the display list anyway, and usually, that format will be single-precision float.

16.090 Will putting textures in a display list make them run faster?

In some implementations, a display list can optimize texture download and use of texture memory. In OpenGL 1.0, storing texture maps in display lists was the preferred method for optimizing texture performance. However, it resulted in increased memory usage in many implementations. Many vendors rallied around a better solution, texture objects, introduced in OpenGL 1.1. If your app is running on OpenGL 1.1 or later, texture objects are preferred.

16.100 Will putting vertex arrays in a display list make them run faster?

It depends on the implementation. In most implementations, it might decrease performance because of the increased memory use. However, some implementations may cache display lists on the graphics hardware, so the benefits of this caching could easily offset the extra memory usage.

16.110 When sharing display lists between contexts, what happens when I delete a display list in one context? Do I have to delete it in all the contexts to make it really go away?

When a display list is modified in one context (deleting is a form of modification), the results of that modification are immediately available in all shared contexts. So, deleting a display list in one context will cause it to cease to exist in all contexts in which it was previously visible.

16.120 How many display lists can I create?

There isn't a limit based on the OpenGL spec. Because a display list ID is a GLuint, 2³² display list identifiers are available. A more practical limit to go by is system memory resources.

16.130 How much memory does a display list use?

See the first question in this section. It depends on the implementation.

16.140 How will I know if the memory used by a display list has been freed?

This depends on the implementation. Some implementations free memory as soon as a display list is deleted. Others won't free the memory until it's needed by another display list or until the process dies.