OpenCL–OpenGL Buffer Sharing: Is clEnqueueAcquireGLObjects Enough for Cross-API Visibility?
0 reputation · 04 Sept 2026, 09:44 UTC
I am building a pipeline where OpenGL renders into a shared texture and an OpenCL kernel post-processes it each frame, using cl_khr_gl_sharing with objects created via clCreateFromGLTexture. The context is created with the platform-specific GL context properties, and the device reports the sharing extension.
The specification describes an explicit ownership model: clEnqueueAcquireGLObjects before OpenCL touches the object, clEnqueueReleaseGLObjects afterward, with the object belonging to GL outside that interval. What is less clear to me is whether acquire/release alone guarantees memory visibility and ordering across the two APIs on all conformant stacks, or whether portable code must also insert glFinish, glFlush, clFinish, or event-based waits around the handoff—especially when GL commands affecting the object are still in flight at acquire time.
Assume OpenCL 1.2+ and a recent desktop GL, with the caveat that behavior may be driver-dependent.
Does the acquire/release pair by itself define cross-API visibility, or is additional GL-side flushing required for correctness rather than just latency? Is the answer uniform across WGL, EGL/GLX, and CGL context bindings? What is the minimal test loop that would reveal a driver where acquire/release is insufficient?