Micropolygon - Citizendia

In 3D computer graphics, a micropolygon (or µ-polygon) is a polygon that is very small relative to the image being rendered. 3D computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer In Geometry a polygon (ˈpɒlɨɡɒn ˈpɒliɡɒn is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path or circuit Commonly, the size of a micropolygon is close to or even less than the area of a pixel. In Digital imaging, a pixel ( pict ure el ement is the smallest piece of information in an image Micropolygons allows a renderer to create a highly detailed image. Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model, by means of computer programs

The concept of micropolygons was developed within the REYES algorithm, in which geometric primitives are tessellated at render time into a rectangular grid of tiny, four-sided polygons. Reyes rendering is a computer software architecture used in 3D computer graphics to render photo-realistic images In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation A shader might fill each micropolygon with a single color or assign colors on a per-vertex basis. A shader in the field of Computer graphics is a set of software instructions which is used by the graphic resources primarily to perform rendering effects In Geometry, a vertex (plural "vertices" is a special kind of point. Shaders that operate on micropolygons can process an entire grid of them at once in SIMD fashion. In Computing, SIMD ( S ingle I nstruction M ultiple D ata is a technique employed to achieve data level parallelism as in a Vector This often leads to faster shader execution, and allows shaders to compute spatial derivatives (e. Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another In Calculus, a branch of mathematics the derivative is a measurement of how a function changes when the values of its inputs change g. for texture filtering) by comparing values at neighboring micropolygon vertices. In a mixed-signal system ( analog and digital) a reconstruction filter (or anti-imaging filter) is used to construct a smooth analogue signal from the output

Furthermore, a renderer using micropolygons can support displacement mapping simply by perturbing micropolygon vertices during shading. Displacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to Bump mapping, Normal mapping, and Parallax mapping, using a ( procedural This displacement is usually not limited to the local surface normal but can be given an arbitrary direction.

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