3D visualization has always been of enthusiasm to researchers, developers, users, and vendors. Researchers daily grind on developing 3D rendering algorithms and techniques for faster, realistic rendering with minimum resource requirements. Developers drudgery on these techniques to ante up users monumental and absorbing experience. Hardware vendors facilitate the 3D lifetime by contributing in improved graphics card and graphics consoles. 3D visualization is seeing explosive life for of online gaming industry, gaming consoles enjoy X-Box and PlayStations, and entertainment industry, in mainly the movies coextensive Jurassic Park, Gozilla, and lousy with more.

Let us peep what are the competing 3D software technologies. In this article, we testament compare OpenGL from Silicon Graphics, DirectX from Microsoft, and Java 3D from Sun Microsystems.

Following parameters can be used in comparing 3D technologies:

• Functionality
• Approach
• Driver Support
• Platform
• Performance
• Ease of Programming

• Only DirectX provides both graphics and audio functionality. Java 3D and OpenGL bring graphics functionality only


• OpenGL follows procedural C. DirectX and Java3D come from object-oriented path using C++ and Java respectively.


• DirectX has first chauffeur support. Driver collar for OpenGL and Java3D is poor.


• While OpenGL and Java3D are platform independent, DirectX is by oneself for Windows platform


• DirectX has first-rate performance (10/10) followed by OpenGL (7.5/10) and Java3D (3/10)


• OpenGL is most basic to become able (10/10) followed by Java3D (9/10) and DirectX (2/10)

And there are reasons in column of above statements. For example, DirectX has cool performance as it directly access Hardware Abstraction Layer (HLA) in Windows Architecture. Biased readers can Google Internet to jewel them.