This is a glossary of terms relating to computer graphics. For more general computer hardware terms, see glossary of computer hardware terms.
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2D convolution Operation that applies linear filtering to image with a given two-dimensional kernel, able to achieve e.g. edge detection, blurring, etc.
2D image
2D texture map A texture map with two dimensions, typically indexed by UV coordinates.
2D vector A two-dimensional vector, a common data type in rasterization algorithms, 2D computer graphics, graphical user interface libraries.
2.5D Also pseudo 3D. Rendering whose result looks 3D while actually not being 3D or having great limitations, e.g. in camera degrees of freedom.
3D graphics pipeline A graphics pipeline taking 3D models and producing a 2D bitmap image result.
3D paint tool A 3D graphics application for digital painting of multiple texture map image channels directly onto a rotated 3D model, such as zbrush or mudbox, also sometimes able to modify vertex attributes.
3D scene A collection of 3D models and lightsources in world space, into which a camera may be placed, describing a scene for 3D rendering.
3D unit vector A unit vector in 3D space.
4D vector A common datatype in graphics code, holding homogeneous coordinates or RGBA data, or simply a 3D vector with unused W to benefit from alignment, naturally handled by machines with 4-element SIMD registers.
4×4 matrix A matrix commonly used as a transformation of homogeneous coordinates in 3D graphics pipelines.
7e3 format A packed pixel format supported by some graphics processing units (GPUs) where a single 32-bit word encodes three 10-bit floating-point color channels, each with seven bits of mantissa and three bits of exponent.
A
AABB Axis-aligned bounding box (sometimes called "axis oriented"), a bounding box stored in world coordinates; one of the simplest bounding volumes.
Additive blending A compositing operation where d s t = d s t + s r c , {\displaystyle dst=dst+src,} without the use of an alpha channel, used for various effects. Also known as linear dodge in some applications.
Affine texture mapping Linear interpolation of texture coordinates in screen space without taking perspective into account, causing texture distortion.
Aliasing Unwanted effect arising when sampling high-frequency signals, in computer graphics appearing e.g. when downscaling images. Antialiasing methods can prevent it.
Alpha channel An additional image channel (e.g. extending an RGB image) or standalone channel controlling alpha blending.
Ambient lighting An approximation to the light entering a region from a wide range of directions, used to avoid needing an exact solution to the rendering equation.
Ambient occlusion (AO) Effect approximating, in an inexpensive way, one aspect of global illumination by taking into account how much ambient light is blocked by nearby geometry, adding visual clues about the shape.
Analytic model A mathematical model for a phenomenon to be simulated, e.g. some approximation to surface shading. Contrasts with Empirical models based purely on recorded data.
Anisotropic filtering Advanced texture filtering improving on mipmapping, preventing aliasing while reducing blur in textured polygons at oblique angles to the camera.
Anti-aliasing Methods for filtering and sampling to avoid visual artifacts associated with the uniform pixel grid in 3D rendering.
Array texture A form of texture map containing an array of 2D texture slices selectable by a 3rd 'W' texture coordinate; used to reduce state changes in 3D rendering.
Augmented reality Computer-rendered content inserted into the user's view of the real world.
AZDO Approaching zero driver overhead, a set of techniques aimed at reducing the CPU overhead in preparing and submitting rendering commands in the OpenGL pipeline. A compromise between the traditional GL API and other high-performance low-level rendering APIs.
B
Back-face culling Culling (discarding) of polygons that are facing backwards from the camera.
Baking Performing an expensive calculation offline, and caching the results in a texture map or vertex attributes. Typically used for generating lightmaps, normal maps, or low level of detail models.
Barycentric coordinates Three-element coordinates of a point inside a triangle.
Beam tracing Modification of ray tracing which instead of lines uses pyramid-shaped beams to address some of the shortcomings of traditional ray tracing, such as aliasing.
Bicubic interpolation Extension of cubic interpolation to 2D, commonly used when scaling textures.
Bilinear interpolation Linear interpolation extended to 2D, commonly used when scaling textures.
Binding Selecting a resource (texture, buffer, etc.) to be referenced by future commands.
Billboard A textured rectangle that keeps itself oriented towards the camera, typically used e.g. for vegetation or particle effects.
Binary space partitioning (BSP) A data structure that can be used to accelerate visibility determination, used e.g. in Doom engine.
Bit depth The number of bits per pixel, sample, or texel in a bitmap image (holding one or more image channels, typical values being 4, 8, 16, 24, 32)
Bitmap Image stored by pixels.
Bit plane A format for bitmap images storing 1 bit per pixel in a contiguous 2D array; Several such parallel arrays combine to produce the a higher-bit-depth image. Opposite of packed-pixel format.
Blend operation A render state controlling alpha blending, describing a formula for combining source and destination pixels.
Bone Coordinate systems used to control surface deformation (via Weight maps) during skeletal animation. Typically stored in a hierarchy, controlled by key frames, and other procedural constraints.
Bounding box One of the simplest type of bounding volume, consisting of axis-aligned or object-aligned extents.
Bounding volume A mathematically simple volume, such as a sphere or a box, containing 3D objects, used to simplify and accelerate spatial tests (e.g. for visibility or collisions).
BRDF Bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs), empirical models defining 4D functions for surface shading indexed by a view vector and light vector relative to a surface.
Bump mapping Technique similar to normal mapping that instead of normal maps uses so called bump maps (height maps).
BVH Bounding volume hierarchy is a tree structure on a set of geometric objects.
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