Visibility in Computer Graphics

Jiří Bittner, Peter Wonka
Visibility in Computer Graphics
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 30(5):729-756, September 2003.

Information

Abstract

Visibility computation is crucial for computer graphics from its very beginning. The first visibility algorithms in computer graphics aimed to determine visible surfaces in a synthesized image of a 3D scene. Nowadays there are many different visibility algorithms for various visibility problems. We propose a new taxonomy of visibility problems that is based on a classification according to the problem domain. We provide a broad overview of visibility problems and algorithms in computer graphics grouped by the proposed taxonomy. The paper surveys visible surface algorithms, visibility culling algorithms, visibility algorithms for shadow computation, global illumination, point-based and image-based rendering, and global visibility computations. Finally, we discuss common concepts of visibility algorithm design and several criteria for the classification of visibility algorithms.

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BibTeX

@article{Bittner-2003-Vis,
  title =      "Visibility in Computer Graphics",
  author =     "Ji\v{r}\'{i} Bittner and Peter Wonka",
  year =       "2003",
  abstract =   "Visibility computation is crucial for computer graphics from
               its very beginning. The first visibility algorithms in
               computer graphics aimed to determine visible surfaces in a
               synthesized image of a 3D scene. Nowadays there are many
               different visibility algorithms for various visibility
               problems. We propose a new taxonomy of visibility problems
               that is based on a classification according to the problem
               domain. We provide a broad overview of visibility problems
               and algorithms in computer graphics grouped by the proposed
               taxonomy. The paper surveys visible surface algorithms,
               visibility culling algorithms, visibility algorithms for
               shadow computation, global illumination, point-based and
               image-based rendering, and global visibility computations.
               Finally, we discuss common concepts of visibility algorithm
               design and several criteria for the classification of
               visibility algorithms.",
  month =      sep,
  issn =       "0265-8135",
  journal =    "Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design",
  number =     "5",
  volume =     "30",
  pages =      "729--756",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2003/Bittner-2003-Vis/",
}