Bink SDK 1.5v

# Pros and Cons of Software Blitting under Win32

#### Discussion

The RAD software blitters are good, because: 1) They always work and always look the same. You don't have to worry about the hardware failing or behaving weirdly. 2) They are actually faster than hardware on high-end machines like Pentium IIIs and Athlons. 3) They scale better - the faster the machine the faster the blitting (that also works in reverse, though - the slower the machine the slower the blitting). 4) You get guaranteed stretching for 2x width, 2x height, and 2x width and height. Some YUV hardware can't do any stretching at all!
The RAD software blitters are bad, because: 1) It's even more thinking for the CPU to do! On a PII and up, doing the blitting is no big deal. On lower-end machines like Pentiums and K-6s, software blitting will chew up a lot of time (you can use the 1x interlaced mode to save time on these machines, though). 2) The software blitters do no clipping at all.

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Group: The Win32 Platform

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