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depth buffer
A hidden per-pixel scratchpad that records how far away the nearest drawn surface is.
Alongside the color image, a renderer keeps a depth buffer (or z-buffer) storing, for each pixel, the distance to the closest object drawn there so far. When a new pixel arrives, its depth is compared against this record to decide whether it is in front. Commands like depth bias and depth bounds tune how these comparisons behave.
See also
- depth testThe per-pixel check that decides whether a new surface is in front of what's already been drawn.
- cullingThrowing away geometry the viewer can't see before spending time drawing it.
- draw callA single command telling the GPU to render a batch of geometry.