FP16 overview

In GLSL shaders, operations like FP16 (16-bit floating point), SOP (Sum of Products), and MAD (Multiply-Add) are essential for crafting efficient and high-performance graphics. FP16 uses half-precision floats, reducing memory bandwidth and speeding up calculations—perfect for devices with limited resources. Withing FP16, SOP refers to computing the sum of multiple products, a common pattern in shading and lighting where values like color, intensity, and direction are combined. MAD operations, which perform (a * b) + c in one go, are a streamlined version of SOP and are heavily used in texture blending and lighting models.

These operations are often optimized at the hardware level, making them fast and ideal for real-time rendering. By using FP16 for lightweight precision, SOP for structured calculations, and MAD for quick math shortcuts, shader developers can create stunning visuals while keeping performance smooth