Polygon (computer graphics)

Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance. Usually (but not always) triangular, polygons arise when an object's surface is modeled, vertices are selected, and the object is rendered in a wire frame model. This is quicker to display than a shaded model; thus the polygons are a stage in computer animation. The polygon count refers to the number of polygons being rendered per frame.

Competing methods for rendering polygons that avoid seams

• point
  • floating point
  • Fixed-point
  • polygon
  • because of rounding, every scanline has its own direction in space and may show its front or back side to the viewer.
• Fraction (mathematics)
  • Bresenham's line algorithm
  • polygons have to be split into triangles
  • the whole triangle shows the same side to the viewer
  • the point numbers from the Transform and lighting stage have to converted to Fraction (mathematics)
• Barycentric coordinates (mathematics)
  • used in raytracing

See also

• Polygon, for general polygon information
• Polygon mesh, for polygon object representation
• Polygon modeling