Sparse Virtual Texturing is an approach to simulating very large textures using much less texture memory than they'd require in full by downloading only the data that is needed, and using a pixel shader to map from the virtual large texture to the actual physical texture.
The technique could be used for very large textures, or simply for large quantities of smaller textures (by packing them into the large texture, or by using multiple page tables).
It was mostly inspired by John Carmack's descriptions of MegaTexturing in several public and private forums and emails. It may not be exactly the same as MegaTexture, but it's probably close.
by
jstone
2008-09-10 21:55
gpu
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programming
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algorithm
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research
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reference
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streaming
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textures
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computer.graphics
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rendering
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3D