B
- back buffer
- A nonvisible surface to which bitmaps and other images can be drawn while the displays the currently visible image.
- back clipping plane
- The far boundary of a beyond which objects are not rendered. See also .
- 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 .
- 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.