Don't throw it all away: Caching an immediate-mode UI
Summary
The article explains attaching a GPU-backed cache to an immediate-mode UI to avoid repainting unchanged pixels by tiling the UI, hashing per-tile command streams, and repainting only changed tiles. It covers a lightweight rendering language, groupings, alpha barriers for correct opacity, and an effects pass for media data, with measurements showing ~20% CPU+GPU power reduction and 94% fewer tiles on a test. The piece discusses tradeoffs, costs, and future exploration.