Section 7: Glossary Of 3D Terms - 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 Reviewer's Manual

Voodoo3™ Reviewers Guide August 1999

SECTION 7: Glossary of 3D Terms

Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
An expansion bus developed by Intel specifically for the video card subsystem. It operates independent of the PCI
bus and normally runs at 66MHz (i.e., 1x). Whenever you see multipliers attached to AGP, such as 2x or 4x, they
are referring to how much faster the bus will run--2x means 66MHz x 2, or 133MHz.
Alpha Blending
The most common and one of the most important methods of blending 3D accelerated games. Used primarily to
create visual effects like transparency (water or glass), translucency (artifacts that partially obscure objects, such as
smoke, clouds or explosions), lensflare and reflections.
Anti-Aliasing
Techniques for eliminating the stair-step jaggies on lines and edges. Makes edges smooth and realistic.
Application Programming Interface (API)
The software-to-hardware interface that makes your game run 3D.
Bi-Linear Filtering
Blends the colors together for a smoother appearance. As you walk toward a wall in a game, bi-linear filtering
smoothes it out. In the software version, the textures would become chunky.
Bump Mapping
Bump mapping gives an object a rough, textured appearance. As light passes over this texture, different shadows
and reflections appear across the surface, which shift according to the light's movements and placement. For
example, viewing a rug from a distance, the rug looks smooth. But were you to look closely, you would notice
ridges and bumps, crevasses and shadows.
Chipset
Refers to the key components of silicon that drive the graphics of your game. Another way of referring to the
Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo Rush, Voodoo2, Voodoo Banshee or Voodoo3 cards.
Environment Mapping
The process of applying a reflection of the surrounding environment to a model. For example, in Ultimate R@ce
Pro, environment mapping is used to reflect the cloud in the car's rear window.
Frames Per Second
The number of times the monitor draws a screen. Often mistakenly referred to the speed of the game. It actually
refers to the smoothness with which a game runs.
Frame Buffer
The memory used to hold pixels. Voodoo2 cards can have either 2MB of frame buffer or 4MB. The more memory in
the frame buffer, the larger the size of the resolution you are able to display on the screen.
Fill Rate
How fast a system can place pixels on the screen. A Voodoo2 card is capable of displaying up to 90 million pixels
per second.
Level of Detail (LOD)
The difference in textures when objects are at different distances or scales. LOD varies the detail of a texture
according to the distance.
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