Shader profile

A shader profile describe the target when compiling a shader. It is a short string with the type of shader first and then the shader model version number. Ex vs_5_1 for shader model 5.1 vertex shader.

Shaders Types

There are five possible shaders that can be used in HLSL. The most common is the Vertex and the Pixel shader.

Vertex Shader - vs_5_1

Performs per-vertex processing such as transformation and skinning.

Hull Shader - hs_5_1

Domain Shader - ds_5_1

Geometry Shader - gs_5_1

Pixel Shader - ps_5_1

Performs per-pixel processing such as lighting and texturing.

Root signature blob - rootsig_1_0

Not a shader stage but a valid compile target. Can then be used when compiling other shaders.

Shader Model

The shader model is the version numbers for the High Level Shading Language.