C-Buffers And Z-Buffers Question submitted by (03 August 2000) | Return to The Archives

| Hello. I was just wondering- what would be the advantage of rendering to a cBuffer and a zBuffer? Thanks. |

| Here's a quick run-down. These are the key points. Depending on your situation, there may be other minor advantages or disadvantages that apply. Advantages of a z-buffer:

> - Easily implemented in hardware.
> - Easily implemented in software.
> - Works well on any scene.

Disadvantages of a z-buffer:

> - Highly memory intensive (specialized hardware can avoid this drawback.)
> - Not well suited for higher-level visibility/occlusion culling.
> - Highly resolution dependent.
> - Prone to accuracy problems.

Advantages of the c-buffer:

> - Works well on scenes with large polygons (in these cases, faster than z-buffer and uses less memory.)
> - Not resolution dependent in the X-direction.
> - Works very well with higher-level visibility/occlusion culling algorithms.
> - Less prone to accuracy problems than z-buffers.

Disadvantages of the c-buffer:

> - Fast complexity growth with lots of small polygons in complex scenes.
> - Not as easily adapted for hardware as z-buffers.
> - Much trickier to code than a z-buffer (especially if you allow interpenetration.)
> - Resolution dependent in the Y direction (same as z-buffer.)

Response provided by Paul Nettle

This article was originally an entry in flipCode's Ask Midnight, a Question and Answer column with Paul Nettle that's no longer active.

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