A utility that enhances multimedia capabilities on your computer. DirectX provides better playback of different types of multimedia and manages 3-D graphics better than console computers.
A technology which permits software programmers to directly access hardware devices for improved performance. Includes DirectDraw, Direct3D, DirectInput, DirectSound and DirectPlay.
A technology developed by Microsoft that gives programmers low-level access to the sound and graphics capabilities of a computer in order to optimize and accelerate performance. This technology is most often used for games that require "real time" rendering of visuals.
A set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide resources enabling the design of high-performance, real-time applications.
A set of APIs developed by Microsoft that enables programmers to write programs that access hardware features of a computer without knowing exactly what hardware will be installed on the machine where the program eventually runs. DirectX achieves this by creating an intermediate layer that translates generic hardware commands into specific commands for particular pieces of hardware. In particular, DirectX lets multimedia applications take advantage of hardware acceleration features supported by graphics accelerators. DirectX 2, released in 1996, supports the Direct3D architecture. DirectX 5, released in 1998, adds new layers to the DirectX API. In addition to the low-level layer that communicates directly with multimedia hardware, DirectX 5 also includes a Media layer that enables programmers to manipulate multimedia objects and streams. DirectX 5 also supports USB and IEEE 1394 buses, AGP, and MMX.
Microsoft DirectX is an advanced suite of multimedia APIs built into Microsoft Windows operating systems. DirectX provides a standard development platform for Windows-based PCs by enabling software developers to access specialised hardware features without having to write hardware-specific code.
DirectX is a collection of APIs for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming, on Microsoft platforms. It is competing with Open GL and with SDL and is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Xbox 360.