Polygon (computer graphics)

Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance. Polygons are built up of vertices, and are typically used as triangles.

A model's polygons can be rendered and seen simply in a wire frame model, where the outlines of the polygons are seen, as opposed to having them be shaded. This is the reason for a polygon stage in computer animation. The polygon count refers to the number of polygons being rendered per frame.

Beginning with the fifth generation of video game consoles, the use of polygons became more common, and with each succeeding generation, polygonal models became increasingly complex.

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

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