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depth test
The per-pixel check that decides whether a new surface is in front of what's already been drawn.
For each incoming pixel, the depth test compares its distance to the value stored in the depth buffer; if it is closer, it is kept and the buffer updated, otherwise it is discarded as hidden. This is how a rasterizer resolves which of many overlapping objects you actually see, without sorting them by hand. It is what makes a 'depth-tested rasterizer' draw a correct 3D scene.
See also
- depth bufferA hidden per-pixel scratchpad that records how far away the nearest drawn surface is.
- 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.