ATI Technologies X1550 SERIES manual Texel, Texture Mapping, Texture Preference

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contain 4-pins within a single connection housing and are commonly found on consumer DVD players, VCRs, game consoles, and related devices.

Texel

Short for “texture element,” the 3D equivalent of a pixel, describing the base unit of the surface of a 3D object, such as a sphere; for a 2D object, such as a circle, the base unit is a pixel.

Texture Mapping

In computer graphics, two-dimensional textured surfaces are referred to as texture maps. Texture mapping is the process by which a two-dimensional surface gets wrapped around a three-dimensional object so that the 3D object takes on the same texture qualities. For example, if you take a 2D textured surface that looks like cloth and wrap it around a 3D sphere, the sphere will now appear to have a cloth-like surface.

Texture Preference

Texture Preference is a feature enabling the user to select the texture quality level for the surface of a 3D object. Selecting the highest quality possible will provide the most realism, although it may also have some impact on the performance of any 3D intensive application.

Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS)

A technology designed to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) and improve the digital signal delivered to flat panel displays. Its encoding algorithm converts the original 8-bit graphic data into a more fault-tolerant 10-bit signal, which is then converted back to its original 8-bit form at the display device. The signal is also DC-balanced, allowing for the option of transmitting the signal over fibre-optic cable. DVI connectors can incorporate up to two TMDS links, with each “link” comprised of the number of signals required for standard RGB output. Higher resolutions and refresh rates than standard are possible if multiple TMDS links are available by using multiple DVI connectors.