GRAPHICS TECHNIQUES

Some of the most frequently used effects for enhancing the perceived quality of the output of graphics cards include the following:

* Anti-aliasing (AA): a technique used to counter distortion caused by aliasing effects.

* Shader: pixel and vertex processing in terms of illumination, atmospheric optical phenomena or multi-layer surfaces.

* High dynamic range rendering (HDR): a technique used to enable a wider range of brightness in real scenes (from light sources to dark shadows).

* Texture mapping: allows the addition of details on surfaces, without adding complexity.

* Motion blur: technique that blurs objects in motion.

* Depth of field: technique that blurs out of focus objects.

* Lens flare: imitation of light sources.

* Fresnel effect: reflections over an object, depending on the angle of vision. The more angle of vision, the more reflection.

* Anisotropic filtering: enhances viewing angle of a displayed texture as it increases.