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Slug renders glyph outlines directly in the fragment shader without an atlas

alphapixeldev.com 15 min read Editor score 8/10

Slug renders glyph outlines in a fragment shader without a texture atlas or per-frame tessellation, and the piece compares it with other text-rendering approaches. It offers practical context for choosing GPU rendering techniques under changing content and transforms.

What

Slug is a GPU text-rendering technique that draws glyphs directly from their outlines in the fragment shader.

How

It avoids texture atlases and per-frame tessellation while rendering glyphs at arbitrary sizes and transforms.

Why it matters

Direct outline rendering can keep changing text sharp across scales and 3D views without baking every size into an atlas.

Read on alphapixeldev.com → Hacker News · 58 comments

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