XFree86 Acceleration Architecture
Encyclopedia
In the X Window System
, XFree86 Acceleration Architecture (XAA) is a driver architecture to make a video card's 2D hardware acceleration
available to the X server. It was written by Harm Hanemaayer in 1996 and first released in XFree86
version 3.3. It was completely rewritten for XFree86 4.0.
Most drivers implement acceleration using the XAA module. XAA is on by default, though acceleration of individual functions can be switched off as needed in the server configuration file (XF86Config or xorg.conf).
The driver for the ARK chipset was the original development platform for XAA.
In X.Org Server
release 6.9/7.0, EXA
was released as a replacement for XAA, as XAA supplies almost no speed advantage for current video cards. EXA is regarded as an intermediate step to converting the entire X server to using OpenGL
.
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
, XFree86 Acceleration Architecture (XAA) is a driver architecture to make a video card's 2D hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration
In computing, Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU...
available to the X server. It was written by Harm Hanemaayer in 1996 and first released in XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
version 3.3. It was completely rewritten for XFree86 4.0.
Most drivers implement acceleration using the XAA module. XAA is on by default, though acceleration of individual functions can be switched off as needed in the server configuration file (XF86Config or xorg.conf).
The driver for the ARK chipset was the original development platform for XAA.
In X.Org Server
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
release 6.9/7.0, EXA
EXA
In computing, EXA is a graphics acceleration architecture of the X.Org Server designed to replace XAA and to make the XRender extension more usable, with only minor changes needed to adapt XFree86 video drivers written to use XAA; it was designed by Zack Rusin and announced at LinuxTag 2005 and...
was released as a replacement for XAA, as XAA supplies almost no speed advantage for current video cards. EXA is regarded as an intermediate step to converting the entire X server to using OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
.