OpenGL 4.2 (Compatibility Profile) - April 27, 2012

2.2. GL STATE 12
exactly expressed in this representation, one value (-128 in the example) is outside
the representable range, and must be clamped before use. This equation is used everywhere
that signed normalized fixed-point values are converted to floating-point,
including for all signed normalized fixed-point parameters in GL commands, such
as vertex attribute values 1 , as well as for specifying texture or framebuffer values
using signed normalized fixed-point.
Conversion from Floating-Point to Normalized Fixed-Point
The conversion from a floating-point value f to the corresponding unsigned normalized
fixed-point value c is defined by first clamping f to the range [0, 1], then
computing
f ′ = f × (2 b − 1). (2.3)
f ′ is then cast to an unsigned binary integer value with exactly b bits.
The conversion from a floating-point value f to the corresponding signed normalized
fixed-point value c is performed by clamping f to the range [−1, 1], then
computing
f ′ = f × (2 b−1 − 1). (2.4)
After conversion, f ′ is then cast to a signed two’s-complement binary integer
value with exactly b bits.
This equation is used everywhere that floating-point values are converted to
signed normalized fixed-point, including when querying floating-point state (see
section 6) and returning integers 2 , as well as for specifying signed normalized texture
or framebuffer values using floating-point.
2.2 GL State
The GL maintains considerable state. This document enumerates each state variable
and describes how each variable can be changed. For purposes of discussion,
state variables are categorized somewhat arbitrarily by their function. Although we
1 This is a behavior change in OpenGL 4.2. In previous versions, a different conversion for
signed normalized values was used in which -128 mapped to -1.0, 127 mapped to 1.0, and 0.0 was
not exactly representable.
2 This is a behavior change in OpenGL 4.2. In previous versions, a different conversion for
signed normalized values was used in which -128 mapped to -1.0, 127 mapped to 1.0, and 0.0 was
not exactly representable.
OpenGL 4.2 (Compatibility Profile) - April 27, 2012