Is it possible to load a .bmp file as texture in runtime without converting into .PVR format?
Our SDK does not come with code to load BMP files, however the BMP file format is rather simple and it should not be hard to find a description or even free loader code or a library for it.
You need to get the source to DevIL
http://openil.sourceforge.net/download.php
Then
rip out the BMP part or if you can find a version built for Arm and
Linux use that. It’s a very good lib although I think it’s not thread
safe. Not tried it in multiple threads but looks like it may not be
thread safe.
As Xmas says, it is certainly possible to use 24bpp BMP data for your textures without converting to .pvr files, but using uncompressed texture data like this is not recommended as an optimal solution for your applications. Using this data will increase the initial upload time of your textures (when compared to smaller and possibly pre-twiddled data) and will also increase the texture bandwidth use of your application by up to 12x (when compared to PVRTC 2bpp).
Typically in mobile applications this bandwidth cost cn severely affect performance e.g. in a recent demo I was presenting, simply optimizing the textures produced a framerate increase of between 40 and 60 percent.
