page.title=Implementing graphics
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    <h2>In this document</h2>
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<p>To implement the Android graphics HAL, review the following requirements,
implementation details, and testing advice.</p>

<h2 id=requirements>Requirements</h2>

<p>Android graphics support requires the following components:</p>

<ul>
    <li>EGL driver</li>
    <li>OpenGL ES 1.x driver</li>
    <li>OpenGL ES 2.0 driver</li>
    <li>OpenGL ES 3.x driver (optional)</li>
    <li>Vulkan (optional)</li>
    <li>Gralloc HAL implementation</li>
    <li>Hardware Composer HAL implementation</li>
</ul>

<h2 id=implementation>Implementation</h2>

<h3 id=opengl_and_egl_drivers>OpenGL and EGL drivers</h3>

<p>You must provide drivers for EGL, OpenGL ES 1.x, and OpenGL ES 2.0 (support
for OpenGL 3.x is optional). Key considerations include:</p>

<ul>
    <li>GL driver must be robust and conformant to OpenGL ES standards.</li>
    <li>Do not limit the number of GL contexts. Because Android allows apps in
    the background and tries to keep GL contexts alive, you should not limit the
    number of contexts in your driver.</li>
    <li> It is common to have 20-30 active GL contexts at once, so be
    mindful of the amount of memory allocated for each context.</li>
    <li>Support the YV12 image format and other YUV image formats that come from
    other components in the system, such as media codecs or the camera.</li>
    <li>Support the mandatory extensions: <code>GL_OES_texture_external</code>,
    <code>EGL_ANDROID_image_native_buffer</code>, and
    <code>EGL_ANDROID_recordable</code>. In addition, the
    <code>EGL_ANDROID_framebuffer_target</code> extension is required for
    Hardware Composer v1.1 and higher.</li>
    </ul>
<p>We highly recommend also supporting <code>EGL_ANDROID_blob_cache</code>,
<code>EGL_KHR_fence_sync</code>, <code>EGL_KHR_wait_sync</code>, and <code>EGL_ANDROID_native_fence_sync</code>.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: The OpenGL API exposed to app developers
differs from the OpenGL implemented on the device. Apps cannot directly access
the GL driver layer and must go through the interface provided by the APIs.</p>

<h3 id=pre-rotation>Pre-rotation</h3>

<p>Many hardware overlays do not support rotation (and even if they do it costs
processing power); the solution is to pre-transform the buffer before it reaches
SurfaceFlinger. Android supports a query hint
(<code>NATIVE_WINDOW_TRANSFORM_HINT</code>) in <code>ANativeWindow</code> to
represent the most likely transform to be applied to the buffer by
SurfaceFlinger. GL drivers can use this hint to pre-transform the buffer
before it reaches SurfaceFlinger so when the buffer arrives, it is correctly
transformed.</p>

<p>For example, when receiving a hint to rotate 90 degrees, generate and apply a
matrix to the buffer to prevent it from running off the end of the page. To save
power, do this pre-rotation. For details, see the <code>ANativeWindow</code>
interface defined in <code>system/core/include/system/window.h</code>.</p>

<h3 id=gralloc_hal>Gralloc HAL</h3>

<p>The graphics memory allocator allocates memory requested by image producers.
You can find the interface definition of the HAL at
<code>hardware/libhardware/include/hardware/gralloc.h</code>.</p>

<h3 id=protected_buffers>Protected buffers</h3>

<p>The gralloc usage flag <code>GRALLOC_USAGE_PROTECTED</code> allows the
graphics buffer to be displayed only through a hardware-protected path. These
overlay planes are the only way to display DRM content (DRM-protected buffers
cannot be accessed by SurfaceFlinger or the OpenGL ES driver).</p>

<p>DRM-protected video can be presented only on an overlay plane. Video players
that support protected content must be implemented with SurfaceView. Software
running on unprotected hardware cannot read or write the buffer;
hardware-protected paths must appear on the Hardware Composer overlay (i.e.,
protected videos will disappear from the display if Hardware Composer switches
to OpenGL ES composition).</p>

<p>For details on protected content, see
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/drm.html">DRM</a>.</p>

<h3 id=hardware_composer_hal>Hardware Composer HAL</h3>

<p>The Hardware Composer HAL (HWC) is used by SurfaceFlinger to composite
surfaces to the screen. It abstracts objects such as overlays and 2D blitters
and helps offload some work that would normally be done with OpenGL. For details
on the HWC, see <a href="{@docRoot}devices/graphics/implement-hwc.html">Hardware
Composer HAL</a>.</p>

<h3 id=vsync>VSYNC</h3>

<p>VSYNC synchronizes certain events to the refresh cycle of the display.
Applications always start drawing on a VSYNC boundary, and SurfaceFlinger always
composites on a VSYNC boundary. This eliminates stutters and improves visual
performance of graphics. For details on VSYNC, see
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/graphics/implement-vsync.html">Implementing
VSYNC</a>.</p>

<h3 id=vulkan>Vulkan</h3>

<p>Vulkan is a low-overhead, cross-platform API for high-performance 3D graphics.
Like OpenGL ES, Vulkan provides tools for creating high-quality, real-time
graphics in applications. Vulkan advantages include reductions in CPU overhead
and support for the <a href="https://www.khronos.org/spir">SPIR-V Binary
Intermediate</a> language. For details on Vulkan, see
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/graphics/implement-vulkan.html">Implementing
Vulkan</a>.</p>

<h3 id=virtual_displays>Virtual displays</h3>

<p>Android added platform support for virtual displays in Hardware Composer v1.3.
The virtual display composition is similar to the physical display: Input
layers are described in prepare(), SurfaceFlinger conducts GPU composition, and
layers and GPU framebuffer are provided to Hardware Composer in set(). For
details on virtual displays, see
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/graphics/implement-vdisplays.html">Implementing
Virtual Displays</a>.</p>

<h2 id=testing>Testing</h2>

<p>For benchmarking, use the following flow by phase:</p>

<ul>
  <li><em>Specification</em>. When initially specifying the device (such as when
  using immature drivers), use predefined (fixed) clocks and workloads to
  measure frames per second (fps) rendered. This gives a clear view of hardware
  capabilities.</li>
  <li><em>Development</em>. As drivers mature, use a fixed set of user actions
  to measure the number of visible stutters (janks) in animations.</li>
  <li><em>Production</em>. When a device is ready for comparison against
  competitors, increase the workload until stutters increase. Determine if the
  current clock settings can keep up with the load. This can help you identify
  where to slow the clocks and reduce power use.</li>
</ul>

<p>For help deriving device capabilities during the specification phase, use the
Flatland tool at <code>platform/frameworks/native/cmds/flatland/</code>.
Flatland relies upon fixed clocks and shows the throughput achievable with
composition-based workloads. It uses gralloc buffers to simulate multiple window
scenarios, filling in the window with GL then measuring the compositing.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Flatland uses the synchronization
framework to measure time, so your implementation must support the
synchronization framework.</p>