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mipmap / LOD

Pre-shrunk texture copies (mipmaps) plus the rule that picks which one to sample (LOD).

This pairs the two halves of one idea: a mipmap is the chain of downscaled texture images, and LOD (level-of-detail) is how the GPU decides which link in that chain fits the current surface size on screen. Together they make textures look clean at a distance and render faster, because far-away surfaces read tiny images instead of the full-resolution one.

See also

  • mipmapA stack of pre-computed, progressively smaller copies of a texture image.
  • mip / LODChoosing which pre-shrunk version of a texture to use based on how far away a surface is.
  • MSAAAn anti-aliasing technique that smooths jagged edges by sampling each pixel at several points.

Referenced by

mip / LOD · mipmap