Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Progressive refinement is a ray tracing algorithm that quickly reveals coarse structure of an image, and gradually reveals additional detail over time. The first pixel is rendered as a single rectangle occupying the entire work area. The second through fourth each occupy a quarter ...Full description
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Progressive refinement is a ray tracing algorithm that quickly reveals coarse structure of an image, and gradually reveals additional detail over time. The first pixel is rendered as a single rectangle occupying the entire work area. The second through fourth each occupy a quarter of the work area. Sufficient progression will refine the image until the rendered rectangles correspond to a target resolution (for example, a screen resolution). Rectangles are laid out with an overlap pattern so as to avoid unnecessary rendering.