A service provider that uses Windows Sockets to communicate over the Internet or local area network (LAN), using the TCP/IP protocol. It uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets for nonguaranteed messaging and TCP for guaranteed messaging. Using TCP/IP, a single computer can host multiple Microsoft® DirectPlay® sessions.
tearing
A visual artifact produced when the screen refresh rate is out of sync with an application's frame rate. The top portion of one frame is displayed at the same time as the bottom portion of another frame, with a discernible tear between the two partial images.
tessellating
Breaking an image into small square regions for processing or output.
texel
A single element in a texture. When a texture has been applied to an object, the texels rarely correspond to pixels on the screen. Applications can use texture filtering to control how the system interpolates between texels to create pixels in a scene.
texture
A rectangular array of pixels that is applied to a visual object in Microsoft® Direct3D®.
texture blending
The technique of combining the colors of a texture with the colors of the surface to which the texture is applied.
texture coordinates
The coordinates that determine which texel in each texture is assigned to each vertex in an object.
texture filtering
The process of mapping texel colors from one or more textures onto the pixels that comprise the image of a 3-D primitive.
texture mapping
The application of a texture to an object. Because a texture is a flat image and the object is often not, the texture must be mapped to the surface of the object, using texture coordinates and wrapping flags. See also texture coordinates and wrap.
thrashing
Removing textures used in the current frame to reclaim texture memory for subsequent frames.
throttling
Restricting the number of messages to avoid sending them faster than the underlying transport can deliver them.