The Tessellation Pipeline - Practical Rendering and Computation with Direct3D 11 - page 262

4

The Tessellation
Pipeline

4.1 Introduction

Tessellation is one of the headline new features for Direct3D 11. While version 11 brings
many improvements, only a few are wholly new compared with others that are incremental
revisions on previous releases.
Tessellation not only introduces two new programmable units and one fixed-function,
all of which require new knowledge and expertise from the developer; it also opens up new
opportunities for artists and content creators. It can revolutionize how real-time computer
graphics operates.
This chapter will take the concepts introduced earlier in Chapter 1 and Chapter 3,
starting by providing a detailed discussion of the motivation and concepts behind the tes-
sellation feature. The chapter concludes by covering numerous parameters and entry points
exposed to the developer.
Chapter 9 will cover examples of using this technology.

4.1.1 What Is Tessellation?

The origins of the word tessellate date back to Latin, in the context of mosaics. The word
tessella refers to the small fragments used to create a larger mosaic, while tessellation (or
tiling) means to cover a surface, with no gaps between fragments, and no overlaps.

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