What's the difference between an image's CL_MEM_ASSOCIATED_MEMOBJECT and CL_IMAGE_OBJECT?
11:36 30 Jul 2026

Suppose I have an OpenCL image (which is, in particular, an OpenCL memory object). I can:

  • clGetMemoryObjectInfo() of that image with CL_MEM_ASSOCIATED_MEMOBJECT; or

  • clGetImageInfo() of that image with CL_IMAGE_BUFFER.

Will this always return the same buffer (or NULL in case the image was not created from a buffer)? If so - why does CL_IMAGE_BUFFER even exist? And if not, what's the difference between them, exactly?

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