GDC 2024 Session Viewer

This talk describes how Frostbite implemented multi platform 16 bit type (FP16) support for shaders in order to increase shader performance, especially on mobile. 16 bit shader types like half and short have advantages over 32 bit types, like occupancy and ALU performance. However, converting shaders to take advantage of half precision types is often not a straightforward process, in particular when accounting for platform and driver quirks.

This talk will cover the process of creating Frostbite's FP16 API, which enables shader programmers to write FP16 shaders while the tools bridge the platform gaps under the hood. The talk will also explain the rationale behind embracing FP16 in our shaders, the various challenges and quirks of FP16 in different platforms, and how we worked around them, and, finally, it concludes by presenting some of our performance and visual results on various console and mobile platforms.

Takeaway

Attendees will learn about writing multiplatform, performant FP16 shaders, and the experience, victories and challenges of Frostbite's approach to implementing FP16 capable shaders across a wide range of devices.

Intended Audience

This talk is intended for graphics and engine programmers, technical artists, and anyone with an interest in writing more performant shaders.