B

back buffer

A nonvisible surface to which bitmaps and other images can be drawn while the primary surface displays the currently visible image.

back clipping plane

The far boundary of a viewing frustum beyond which objects are not rendered. See also front clipping plane.

bank select

A MIDI controller that allows instruments to be chosen from different groups or banks, each identified by a 2-byte code.

billboard

A primitive inserted into a 3-D scene that is oriented so that one face is toward the viewer. A texture, usually an animated sprite, is applied to the billboard to give the appearance of a 3-D object in the scene.

billboarding

A 2-D technique of simulating the appearance of a 3-D object in a scene. An application inserts a primitive, typically rectangular, into the scene, oriented so that one face is toward the viewer and applies a texture or a set of textures. The texture or set of textures gives the appearance of an animated 3-D object.

blend factor

The description of how each color component is blended in texture blending.

blend mode

The algorithm used to determine how a texture is blended with the colors of the surface to which the texture is applied.

blending stage

One step in a texture cascade. A blending stage includes one texture and a set of texture-blending operations that are used when blending multiple textures.

blit

A bit block transfer.

bounds checking

The process of checking that an on-screen image is displayed within the bounds of the screen.

bump mapping

A technique for simulating the appearance of rough surfaces in 3-D scenes. Variations in depth are stored in a texture and applied to a primitive, using standard texture-blending techniques.