GLRENDERBUFFER

GLRENDERBUFFER is an object in the OpenGL ES (GLES) and OpenGL graphics libraries that serves as a storage area for pixel data. It is typically used to store the color, depth, or stencil buffer of a framebuffer object. Renderbuffers are efficient for off-screen rendering or when the rendered content is not directly intended for display but rather for further processing or as an intermediate step.

Renderbuffers are created using the glGenRenderbuffers function and bound to a target using the glBindRenderbuffer function. Once bound, their storage is allocated using the glRenderbufferStorage function, specifying the internal format of the pixel data (e.g., GL_RGBA4, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT16) and the desired dimensions (width and height).

Renderbuffers can be attached to a framebuffer object (FBO) as one of its attachments, such as GL_COLOR_ATTACHMENT0, GL_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT, or GL_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT. When rendering to an FBO that has a renderbuffer attached, the rendering operations will write directly to the renderbuffer's storage.

Unlike textures, renderbuffers are not directly accessible for reading pixel data by the CPU or for use as texture inputs in subsequent rendering passes without an intermediate step like copying the renderbuffer contents to a texture. This makes them optimized for scenarios where the rendered content is consumed by the GPU itself, such as multisampling operations where a renderbuffer acts as the sample buffer. Deleting a renderbuffer is done using glDeleteRenderbuffers.