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Color Depth
Color depth is the number of color shades available on
your display. The color depth of your monitor usually
includes; 256 colors (8-bpp), Thousands of colors
(16-bpp), and Millions of colors (32-bpp), and is also
measured in bits per pixel (bpp). You can switch your
color depth using the ATI Popup Menu, Apple’s Control
Strip, or the Monitors control panel. Higher bit-depths
require more display buffer memory.
Note:
The ATI 3D Accelerator only functions in
Thousands and Millions of colors modes.
Fog
The blending of an object with a fixed color as objects or
pixels increase distance away from the viewer.
Frame
Buffer
Memory buffer used to store the image being displayed.
Gouraud
Shading
One of the more sophisticated shading methods used to
produce a smooth lighting effect across a 3D object. A
specific color is used at each vertice of a triangle or
polygon, and interpolated across the entire face.
MIP Map
Multum In Parvum (Latin) means “many in one.” It is a
method of increasing quality of a texture map by storing
multiple resolutions of the same image and dynamically
switching between them depending on the size and depth
of the object being textured.
Offscreen
Memory
An area of memory used to preload and place images so
that they can be quickly drawn on the screen. Offscreen
memory refers to all the memory on your ATI accelerator
card that is not taken up by the front buffer, which holds
the display screen that you see.
Pixel, Pel
Picture element. Smallest addressable area of the
computer screen. Pixels on computer displays are square;
pixels on NTSC televisions have a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Refresh Rate
Also referred to as “vertical refresh rate”. The rate at
which a monitor or television can redraw the screen from
top to bottom. NTSC television systems have a refresh rate
of approximately 60 Hz (but only draw one-half of the
video frame in one pass); computer displays typically have
refresh rates of 75 Hz or more. At a refresh rate of 70 Hz
and lower, screen flicker is often noticeable.
Specular
Highlight
The bright, usually small, intense light reflected from a 3-
D surface with a high refraction value.
