◄ Wiki / Graphics
mip / LOD
Choosing which pre-shrunk version of a texture to use based on how far away a surface is.
A texture drawn on a distant surface only covers a few pixels, so sampling the full-size image looks noisy and wastes work. 'LOD' (level-of-detail) selection picks an appropriately downscaled copy — a mip level — so distant things use small versions and close things use large ones. This keeps textures smooth and fast; the pre-shrunk copies themselves are the mipmap.
See also
- mipmapA stack of pre-computed, progressively smaller copies of a texture image.
- mipmap / LODPre-shrunk texture copies (mipmaps) plus the rule that picks which one to sample (LOD).
- MSAAAn anti-aliasing technique that smooths jagged edges by sampling each pixel at several points.