display list vs. vertex arrays

OpenGL Development JOGL Development
#1

I’m trying to speed up rendering performance and would like to know if there is there any rule of thumb on whether to use display list or vertex arrays?

My work mostly involves the rendering of 3D models and all I do is rotate, translate, select sections of the mesh to add information, and will soon be texturing the surfaces for material information. Display lists look realy easy to convert to but I couldn’t quite understand how the vertex arrays would improve performance or what there benefit was.

Any help much appreciated.

#2

My impression is that with display lists, once the list is compiled, you can’t change anything without compiling a whole new list. With vertex arrays, you get many of the same benefits as using a display list, but you can freely modify array elements.

If you’re changing the position of the vertices, or changing texture coordinates, then my guess is display lists aren’t going to do that very quickly.

#3

-You can only use static geometry with display lists.
-Vertex arrays can have dynamic geomtry. (you can change the content of the arrays)
-Display lists is in theory faster than vertex arrays because the geometry can be stored on the card, just like vertex buffer objects.
-Display lists can in adition to geometry also contain state changes. Many of the gl calls can be stored in a list.
-Createing a display list is VERY slow. Only do it on startup, not while the game is running.