In 3D computer graphics, hidden surface determination (also known as hidden surface removal (HSR), occlusion culling (OC) or visible surface determination (VSD)) is the process used to determine which surfaces and parts of surfaces are not visible from a certain viewpoint. A hidden surface determination algorithm is a solution to the visibility problem, which was one of the first major problems in the field of 3D computer graphics. The process of hidden surface determination is sometimes called hiding, and such an algorithm is sometimes called a hider. The analogue for line rendering is hidden line removal. Hidden surface determination is necessary to render an image correctly, so that one cannot look through walls in virtual reality.
Read more about Hidden Surface Determination: Background, Hidden Surface Removal Algorithms, Culling and VSD, Divide and Conquer
Famous quotes containing the words hidden and/or surface:
“Most men have like plants hidden properties, which chance discloses.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)