MIP Mapping

What is MIP Mapping?

MIP Mapping is a variation of texture mapping. It has the advantages of increasing the rendering speed and the level of detail, and no real disadvantages. MIP Mapping works by using more than one version of each texture. When objects are far away from the view coordinate, a low-resolution texture is used. As the view coordinate move closer, a different texture is applied.

With multiple levels of detail, it is not necessary to do as much computation to draw the texture, saving valuable processor time. When the object being textured is closer, an even higher level of detail can be used, resulting in a more realistic image. This is an important variation on the normal texture mapping scheme and is used in many three dimensional games.

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