A technique for using the data at the edges of a texture when you specify outside the range of the texture.
aliasing
When you display lines or polygons using display equipment that has
pixels (like TV), steps (notches) appear on diagonal and curved lines and
polygon borders. Aliasing refers to these steps.
alpha
--> alpha value
alpha comparison
A function that compares a pixel's alpha value with the set threshold value alpha and performs a conditional write. Used for drawing semi-transparent polygons and composing pixels.
alpha dither comparison
When the pixel alpha value is larger than a random dither value, the frame buffer is provisionally rewritten. This provides a way to attach alpha gradations to a surface and realize particle effects.
alpha value
The fourth color element. It describes the opacity. The larger the alpha value, the more opaque the image. The value is not directly expressed, but used when mixing colors.
ambient light
Diffuse, non-directional light in the environment. It determines the color of parts of the object that are not hit by light.
animate
To create a moving image.
anti-aliasing
A rendering technique used to smooth lines and image edges by reducing the jagged edges (notches) sometimes seen in bitmap images.
aperture angle
The angle that defines the scope of the field of view. The same as the opening in a camera lens.
attribute
Attributes
A value
--> alpha value
bilerp
Bilinear filtering mode.
bilinear filtering
The process of bilinearly interpolating the color variations in a texture so the dots do not look coarse when the texture is enlarged.
bilinear interpolation
The two-dimensional linear interpolation provided in the vertical and horizontal directions.
blend color compare
The alpha value (threshold) used in the alpha compare process.
blender
The RDP component used to mix the calculated pixels and framebuffer
pixels. The blender (BL) is used in translucent polygon drawing process,
the anti-aliasing process, the fog process, the dither process, and so
on.
blender mux control bit
The data used to set the blender hardware. This data defines the blend expression. It is stored in the "othermode" parameter of the RDP.
blend texture
Using the alpha value of a texture to determine the comparative mixture of the shading RGB value and the texture's RGB value.
bounding volume test
--> The test used for volume culling.
The test checks to see if the bounding volume of an object is within the
viewing volume. If it is completely outside the viewing volume, then display
list items for that object are not executed to speed up the process.
box filter
A mode of the texture filter which balances the four texels that lie
around the sampling point. It is most effective when the sampling point
is placed in the center of four texels.
branching
Branching.
chromakey process
The process that sets a specific color (often blue) to be rendered
as transparent and then synthesizes more than two images leaving out the
parts that have the specific (blue) color.
CI
--> color index
clamp
A technique for using the data at the edges of a texture when you specify outside the range of the texture.
clipping
The process that cuts off polygons or lines outside of the view in order to reduce the amount of data being processed during rendering. Although clipping takes a relatively long time to process, you can reduce the process time by changing the ratio between the clipping pyramid and screen, and then using clipping along with the faster process of scissoring.
clipping pyramid
The three-dimensional area outside of which clipping occurs. In other words, objects sticking out of this area are clipped.
clipping pyramid box
Clipping pyramid.
color buffer
A color frame buffer that holds data for rendering.
color combiner mode
The means for blending color sources.
color dither
--> dither
color index
The mode in which palette information is held for every texel. Can be in 4-bit or 8-bit format.
color index (CI) texture
A texture with palette information. The size is 4-bit or 8-bit, and the color is fetched from the TLUT created in the latter 2 Kbytes of TMEM.
color index palette
The color index palette joins each color with its corresponding index (palette number).
color (RGBA) texture
A texture with 16-bit (RGBA/5551) or 32-bit (RGBA/8888) color information and alpha information.
color scheme
The color composition.
copy mode
A special pipeline mode for high-speed copying of images to the frame buffer. The RDP pipeline is all but bypassed, so filter settings are not necessary.
coverage value
The amount of the pixel which is covered by a primitive. Every pixel is comprised of 16 subpixels. A dither mask like the checkered pattern shown below stores how many of the eight subpixels to cover. Used for anti-aliasing.
coverage value unit
A hardware unit used in the processing of data during anti-aliasing. It is the part that calculates the coverage value.
coverage value wrap
This situation arises when the sum of the existing coverage value in memory and the new pixel coverage value is greater than 1.0 (when the sum = 1, then the pixel is completely covered by a primitive.) The blender uses coverage value wrap information to execute anti-aliasing.
crack
crack.
culling
The process whereby unnecessary objects are culled (removed) from the
display and from the graphic command pipeline (the display list).
cvgbit
--> coverage value
decal line
The name for a line that is drawn on top of a rendered surface. This can be used to exaggerate an object comprised of polygons and to give it a more high-tech look.
decal surface
The name for a surface attached on top of another rendered surface. Because the decal surface is only attached under the condition of blending when the coverage value is not wrapped, it is possible with decal writing to overwrite the original surface.
decal texture
The name for a texture that is drawn on top of a rendered surface. This can be used for example to attach a pattern on an airplane wing.
decal Z algorithm
The algorithm for blending when the coverage value is not wrapped (when the value is 1.0) and for overwriting when it is wrapped.
decay coefficient
The illumination from a point light source will attenuate (not so for parallel light rays). This coefficient is the factor by which the value of the light source is multiplied to determine the amount of attenuation.
delta-Z value
The absolute value for the change in Z value in a pixel. Determined with Z buffering and used in various ways, depending on the blender mode setting.
depth buffer
--> Z buffer
depth buffer comparison
When the Z buffer is used for rendering, the depth value of every pixel is compared with the depth value stored in the Z buffer.
depth value
The depth value is determined by interpolating the Z values for the three vertices of the triangle containing the pixel. For rectangles and the like which do not have associated Z values, a single Z value is set for the entire primitive. The depth value is used for depth buffer comparisons.
detail texture
Even if you use tri-linear MIP map interpolation, the texture becomes
blurry when it approaches the maximum level of MIP mapping. The detail
texture shows the detail texture design when MIP mapping is unsuitable.
diffuse light
Light that reflects in all directions with the same strength. The strength of reflecting light depends on the angle of incidence.
discontinuous rectangle command
display list
The series of GBI commands needed for a drawing routine that provides all the necessary GBI commands each time without rerunning the routine. This makes the program simple, and ensures that the object will always be drawn the same way as quickly as possible.
dither
A technique used to enhance image quality by increasing the apparent number of colors beyond those that are actually used to display the image. Basically, a different but close color is specified by using neutral tints and placed here and there in the image. This feature is implemented in the N64 RCP graphics hardware as an implementation of the dither filter.
dither filter
In the 16-bit format, each color is allocated only 5 bits. So, to enhance
the color data, a dither filter is applied to give each color 8 bits by
adding correction data in a special pattern in the lowest 3 bit positions.
This softens the mach band effect.
dither matrix
The correction data pattern for the low 3 bits used by the dither filter.
divot filter
A filter used to eliminate holes in anti-aliased pixels. (These holes arise when 1 pixel overlaps a number of boundary edges.) This filter is only enabled in anti-alias video mode. Also, it is not applicable to areas of full coverage.
double buffer
A pair of image buffers. While the front image buffer is being drawn on the screen, rendering is performed in the back image buffer. When the drawing from one buffer is completed, the roles of the front and back buffers are switched.
dz value
This value is used with objects that are rendered in anti-alias and decal render modes to determine whether the new pixel has the same surface as the pixel already in memory.
environment color
The color of the ambient light.
environment color register
A general-use color register in the color combiner that is set with the gDPSetEnvColor function. It is used to set the environment color and to set the color of the second highlight.
environment light
--> ambient light
environment mapping
Texture mapping that creates reflections of objects on a surface of an object. In other words, it creates realistic-looking reflections on a surface. You can execute easily in N64 development by using refection mapping.
eyepoint
--> view point
fill color
Used to paint in background color and the Z buffer. See fill mode
fill mode
In this mode you can clear frame buffers at the rate of 64-bits per clock tick. This mode is used primarily to clear the color buffer and the Z buffer.
fill rate
The pixel drawing rate per second.
flat shading
To fill up an entire primitive with a single color.
flip
To move the texture by switching the coordinates such that the s coordinate
goes to the y direction and the t coordinate goes to the x direction.
flip book animation
Animation that looks like a flip-book comic.
flush
To completely clean out. Here it refers to cleaning out the entire rendering pipeline.
fog color
The color of fog can be set with the gDPSEtFogColor function.
fog process
The process that makes objects in the distance look misty or foggy
to simulate normal atmospheric effects. This provides realistic views of
objects in the distance. Thanks to this, even if the quality of the far-away
object falls, the whole quality of the image is not affected as much. It
also can be used to soften the pop-in or pop-out effect.
fore (back) ground
fore (back) ground.
fractal
A mathematical expression used to represent complicated objects that would take an enormous amount of processing time to represent with polygons. A fractal is self-similar, meaning that its shape looks the same from up close as it does from far away.
frame rate
The number of frames displayed per second ( FPS ). The maximum is 60
FPS in the NTSC system.
gamma correction
Though color intensity changes in a linear fashion, the response is normally nonlinear, since the output for any given input depends on the quality of the display device and the sensitivity of the human viewer. Gamma correction refers to the action taken to correct for this nonlinearity.
GBI
Graphic Binary Interface. The display list interface used to render graphics. Each command or single instruction in the display list is 64 bits in length. The GBI command string is called the display list.
GBI command
--> GBI
GBI display list command
--> GBI
geometric primitive
--> geometry primitive
geometry
The three-dimensional coordinate data or a graphic form created by
it.
geometry engine
A mechanism that executes numeric value calculations using 3-dimensional coordinate information to create geometric objects.
geometry primitive
The basic solid shapes that comprise a complexly varied image. Examples include points, lines and polygons (regions enclosed by lines).
global state register
The register that specifies the configuration and synchronization of the pipeline inside the RDP. It sets the cycle type, the synchronization between the pipeline and the attributes, and the information about the
atomic primitive mode.
Gouraud shading
A technique of shading to make curved surfaces look smooth by getting the color for each vertex and interpolating the vertex colors so vertices and edges to do stand out.
graphics binary interface
The commands executed by the RSP microcode in order to render graphics. Each command is 64-bits in length. The GBI command string is called the display list.
graphics pipeline
The pipeline that creates the image. It consists of rasterizer, the
texture unit, texture filter, the color combiner, the blender, and memory
interface inside of the RDP.
hidden bit
The 9th bit created because the memory used by the RCP is 9-bit of RDRAM. The RDP's memory interface (MI) is the only thing that can directly read and write this bit. It is used, for example, to store the coverage value in the case of a 16-bit RGBA color image.
highlight
The process used to express illumination from a light source. See also specular highlight.
IA mode
Intensity alpha mode. The mode having the I (intensity) and alpha (opacity)
information at each texel. The 4-bit format is 3/1, the 8-bit format is
4/4 and the 16-bit format is 8/8-bit.
intensity
intensity.
intensity alpha (IA) texture
A texture with intensity information and alpha information. The size can be 4-bit(I=3bit, A=1bit) or 8-bit(I=4bit, A=4bit) or 16bit(I=8bit, A=8bit). Used when processing the transparency of a texture.
intensity gradation
Graduation that uses intensity(i).
intensity mode
The mode having only the intensity information per texel. It has 4-bit and 8-bit formats.
intensity ramp
= The transition difference (slope) of the intensity.
intensity texture
Very compact texture that only holds information regarding intensity, which is suitable when using less color.
internal edge
Edges that two visible-displayed polygons share
interpenetrating mode
This mode assumes that surfaces penetrate and are penetrated by other surfaces (interpenetration). It is not as if you must use this mode to realize this kind of intersection between objects, but when this mode is set, the intersecting parts will be correctly anti-aliased.
interpolator
interpolator (rewriter). Here, this is used to indicate the color converter in the color combiner.
inverse kinematics
The opposite of kinematics, this is a method for determining the angle of all the joints of a multi-jointed model, based on a specified end-point for the model. This approach can be used to animate humans and animals.
I texture
--> intensity texture
I value
The intensity value. Luminance value.
jag part
jag part.
lerp
Line interpolation
level of detail
--> LOD
lighting
Illumination effects. The 3D object is illuminated in a way so you can see that it has depth. To use this, normal vectors must be set in the vertices. For light there is ambient light (uniform) and diffuse light (directional).
lighting calculation
--> lighting
LOD
The level of detail which is used to determine or change the levels
of detail for objects that reside far away or near. Objects located far
away can be rendered with much less detail by setting the level, which
greatly improves the drawing rate.
LSB
The lowest bit or byte in binary expression.
material
The qualities and characteristics of an object.
material properties
The reflection and transparency characteristics of an object's material can be mathematically expressed by using the following data:
| Reflection | Transparency |
|---|---|
| Object's surface color Mirror face factor Plane roughness factor Metal factor Diffusion factor |
Object's internal color Object's density Mirror face density Inside roughness factor Inflectional ratio Diffusion factor |
matrix
Matrices are used to describe an object's position and direction in
three-dimensional space. Matrix calculations are used for coordinate transformations when rotating or moving an object in three-dimensional space and for projecting an object on the screen.
matrix stack
The stack used to implement complex matrix operations. There are two types of stacks: a 10-element modeling matrix stack to hold data relating to the object's position or direction and a 1-element viewing matrix stack
to hold data relating to the viewing position or direction.
memory color
The existing pixel color in the frame buffer.
mesh object
The collection of vertices and triangle faces which forms an object.
MIP map
When a texture is reduced in size, a moire appears that lowers the quality of display. To get around this problem, a set of textures called MIP maps can be prepared at 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. the height/width of the original texture pattern. Then, depending on the scale of enlargement of the texture for a given distance from the viewpoint, the two most appropriate textures from this set can be selected and bilinearly and trilinearly interpolated to eliminate the moire. There are several drawbacks to this process, however. For example, you must use 2 Cycle mode to perform MIP mapping. Also, you must store a number of texture patterns in the small texture memory.
MIP mapping
--> MIP map
mirror
A method for inverting a texture horizontally or vertically.
modeling matrix
A 4 x 4 matrix that transforms points, lines, polygons and raster positions from local coordinates to world coordinates.
modulated texture
A texture that has been modulated by blending texture color and shade color. Performed in the color combiner.
morphing
An animation technique used to transition between two or more shapes and images.
motion path
A method of animating by preparing tracks for the motion of the object and the camera, and then moving them along that track to create the animation.
MPEG
The abbreviation of "Motion Picture Experts Group." The digital compression
method for color animation.
multi tile texture
By using the maximum of eight texture tiles to display a texture, it's possible to MIP map or use detail textures while in a 2-cycle mode.
mux
--> multiplexor
near clipping
A technique that clips any object that lies closer than a near plane. There is microcode that prevents clipping under certain conditions.
near/far plane
The near plane is the plane of the viewing pyramid closest to the observer. The far plane is the farthest plane away from the observer.
--> viewing pyramid
NURBS
= The abbreviation of "Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline." A method used
for expressing a curve or curved surface by using a high-level function.
normal vector
Generally, the vector perpendicular to a plane or a line. In the N64, normal vectors can be specified for vertices to determine which light a vertex will be illuminated by.
Nyquist's law
The sampling theorem that says that if you perform the sampling at
more than twice the maximum frequency of the input signal, you can reproduce
the original signal accurately.
object
An object-coordinate model that is rendered as a collection of primitives.
opacity
--> alpha value
ortho camera
Ortho camera.
orthogonal projection matrix
A projection transformation matrix that does not follow the laws of perspective, but is just an orthogonal projection. It is a parallel field of view, so objects are projected with the same size, regardless of distance. In the N64, the calculations are made with the guOrtho() function.
outer edge
--> silhouette edge
overlay mode
--> overlay
pack level
The level of complexity of texture color, shape etc.
padding
When a texture tile is loaded, it is OK to have the pixel address of the square on a byte boundary, but if the row width of the tile is not on a 64-bit boundary, the hardware will automatically pad the rows in TMEM to be at a 64-bit boundary.
painter's algorithm
A method for rendering polygons in the direction from the distance toward near the viewpoint. This makes anti-aliasing work better.
particle effect
Effect that looks like it has been realized with a particle system.
particle system
A particle is a very small object. A particle system is a modeling technique that uses many of these particles. It is an ideal technique for
expressing something that is comprised of many pieces gathered together
based on some general law.
perspective-corrected texture
Texture for which the calculation of the coordinate values is perspective-corrected.
perspective correction
Correction done to boost the computational precision of the texture coordinate values.
perspective normalization factor
perspective projection
Projecting a figure in the plane of projection. In other words, showing a 3D object on a 2D screen.
perspective projection matrix
A projection transformation matrix that uses the laws of perspective, and not just orthogonal projection. The projection transformation makes objects in the foreground bigger and objects in the distance smaller. In the N64, the calculations are made with the guPerspective() function.
pixel
A single dot on the screen. Minimum unit needed for rendering an object.
pixel color
The current pixel color. The manual differentiates between this and memory color, which is the pixel color existing in memory.
point sampling
Sampling on the assumption that each texel of the source texture represents one pixel on the display screen. This is optimal when the texel size and the pixel size have a 1:1 relationship, but otherwise you cannot get a faithful map.
polygon
Three-dimensional objects are represented by combining the planes of polygons together.
pop-out and pop-in
Pop-out means that the object moves away and suddenly disappears from the screen. Pop-in means that the object moves in and suddenly appears
on the screen.
primitive
The basic elements (dots, lines, and polygons) to be used to draw 3D
objects.
primitive color
The color of each primitive itself.
primitive color register
A general-use register in the color combiner that is set with the gDPSetPrimColor function. This register is used for primitive color settings, and for setting the color of the first highlight and the LOD fraction.
projection matrix
A non-perspective projection transformation performed without reduction to look like a regular engineering drawing.
random alpha source
Refers to use of a random number for the threshold value alpha in an alpha compare. This is called an alpha dither comparison, and it is used for a particle effect.
raster
A scan line. The horizontal line on the display screen (TV).
raster image
An image displayed by using the raster scan line
rasterize
To use each vertex and color of a primitive to create pixels inside the primitive. Each pixel has attributes such as coordinates, depth value, color value, LOD
level, cover value, and so on that are used in calculations later.
RDP display list
--> display list
RDP pipeline
The rendering functionality blocks are structured in a pipeline in the RDP of the N64 RCP.
rectangle
A quadrilateral whose alternate edges are parallel to each other in object coordinates.
reflection highlight
--> specular highlight
reflection mapping
A texture mapping method that dynamically calculates the texture coordinate that reflects into the position by using the normal vector of the reflection mapping object. Used to show the surroundings reflecting on the object's surface.
reject box
The rectangle that defines the area in which the reject process is performed.
rejection process
--> reject process
reject process
A process that controls whether triangles are to be drawn in a certain fixed area around the outside the screen. If all three vertices of a triangle are inside this area, the triangle is drawn. But if even one vertex is not inside this area, then no part of the triangle is drawn. This process is less intensive than clipping.
rendering
To convert a specified primitive in the object coordinate into image data for the frame buffer.
RGBA mode
The mode having the RGB (red, green, blue) and alpha information at
each texel. The 16-bit format is 5/5/5/1 and the 32-bit format is 8/8/8/8-bit.
scale up factor
The setting in the VI (video interface) that is the scaling factor for enlarging or reducing images. You can specify from 0.25 through 1.0
for the X direction and from 0.05 through 1.0 for the Y direction.
scissoring
A process that cuts off parts 2-dimensionally that lie outside the
drawing rectangle. RDP processes this in N64.
scissoring area
--> scissoring box
scissoring box
The area in which scissoring is performed.
scissoring rectangle
--> scissoring box
shading process
The process of color interpolation inside polygons being rasterized and between vertices of a line. Examples include flat shading and Gouraud shading.
Sharp texture
Sharp texture is used under the same circumstances as Detail texture. When approaching the maximum level of MIP mapping, a Sharp texture is artificially created from the pair of the maximum level texture and the next level texture.
silhouette edge
The part of the polygon edge that is shared with the background.
span
A term for length.
span buffer
A line buffer in the RDP used to process a stack of information at
one time to achieve high speed random access while RDRAM cannot achieve
high speed random access.
specular highlight
The bright spot that appears when light reflects off a shiny object. Because it is implemented by using a texture, you cannot use a specular
highlight on a texture-mapped object.
sprite
A rectangle image that is drawn by using a texture. In N64, texture
is used to draw a sprite.
standard bearer matrix order dither
s, t coordinate
A pixel's texture coordinate values. The "s" coordinate defines the horizontal component of the texture while the "t" coordinate defines the vertical component.
stipple transparency process
A transparency process performed at the level of individual pixels.
sub pixel
A piece (1/16) of a pixel obtained when you split one pixel into 16
(4 by 4) sub-pixels. Sub-pixels are used to compute a coverage value.
surface
The surface of a polygon
texel
A point(pixel) within a texture map.
texture
--> texture map
texture coordinate
--> s, t coordinate
texture decal
Using a texture to transfer a pattern (decalcomania).
texture engine
--> TX
texture filter
--> TF
texture map
Bitmapped pictures or patterns placed onto the surface of polygon.
It may be simply called a texture.
texture mapping
The process of placing a texture onto the surface of a polygon.
texture memory
The 4 Kbyte special on-chip memory only for texture built into the
RDP. Because it's separated into 4 simultaneously accessible banks, it
can output four texels with one clock.
texture perspective correction
texture rectangle primitive
The texture rectangle (sprite) drawn to the screen coordinates.
texture tile descriptor
TMEM can store a maximum of eight texture tile descriptors that hold the following information for each tile: the texture size, flags of wrap/clamp/mirror, the format, the TMEM address, and so on.
TLUT
The color index palette that holds the color information corresponding
to each palette number that is created in the last 2 Kbytes of TMEM when
you use the color index (CI) mode.
TLUT palette
--> TLUT
TMEM
--> texture memory
transformation modeling matrix
transparent decal surface mode
triangle
triangle.
trilinear
--> trilinear interpolation
trilinear interpolation
The three-dimensional linear interpolation provided to the vertical, horizontal, and depth directions.
vertex
A point where two or more lines intersect in 3D space.
vertex alpha
The alpha value (opacity value) specified by the vertex.
vertex cache
Cache that holds the vertex data after the coordinate transformation operation. There are 16 of those.
video display logic
The VI (video interface).
viewing pyramid
The definition of the three-dimensional area that shows the view (inside the screen).
view point
View point.
view port
The region of the screen ultimately occupied by the image when it is displayed. To give an example with a camera, it is the size of the developed picture.
volume culling
A technique that checks to see which parts of a complex object are completely off-screen. Then it culls (removes) all operations in the display list that deal with these off-screen objects.
wireframe
A shape comprised solely of the outlines of an object.
wrap
A technique that creates large textures by repeatedly displaying a small texture over and over. If you use wrap technique, the texture size must be an exponent of 2. 
YUV
The digital video signal standard consisting of the intensity (Y) and
the color difference (UV) components. Because human eyes are not so sensitive
to the color component, it decreases the sampling of the color component
and provides effective compression. For example, it is used in MPEG animation.
YUV-RGB conversion
The conversion from YUV into RGB provided by the texture filter and the color combiner.
zap
To force the coverage value to be 1.0 so the VI does not perform anti-aliasing.
Z buffer
A buffer or its algorithm that holds depth values used to display the
closest polygon from a given view point A technique that removes shaded
area.
Z stepper
One of the hardware units in the anti-aliasing process. It calculates an 18-bit Z value for each pixel of a primitive.
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