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A texel, or texture element (also texture pixel) is the fundamental unit of texture space, used in computer graphics
Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
. Textures are represented by arrays of texels, just as pictures are represented by arrays of pixels.

When texturing a 3D surface, a process known as texture mapping
Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated imagery or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D....
, the renderer maps texels to appropriate pixels in the output picture. On modern computers, this operation is accomplished on the graphics card.

When a texel is requested that is not on an integer
Integer

The integers are natural numbers including 0 and their negative and non-negative numberss . They are numbers that can be written without a fractional or decimal component, and fall within the set ....
 position, texture filtering
Texture filtering

In computer graphics, texture filtering is the method used to determine the texture color for a Texture mapping pixel, using the colors of nearby Texel s ....
 is applied.

Clamping & wrapping
When a texel is requested that is outside of the texture, a combination of two techniques are used.






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Encyclopedia


A texel, or texture element (also texture pixel) is the fundamental unit of texture space, used in computer graphics
Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
. Textures are represented by arrays of texels, just as pictures are represented by arrays of pixels.

When texturing a 3D surface, a process known as texture mapping
Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated imagery or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D....
, the renderer maps texels to appropriate pixels in the output picture. On modern computers, this operation is accomplished on the graphics card.

When a texel is requested that is not on an integer
Integer

The integers are natural numbers including 0 and their negative and non-negative numberss . They are numbers that can be written without a fractional or decimal component, and fall within the set ....
 position, texture filtering
Texture filtering

In computer graphics, texture filtering is the method used to determine the texture color for a Texture mapping pixel, using the colors of nearby Texel s ....
 is applied.

Clamping & wrapping


When a texel is requested that is outside of the texture, a combination of two techniques are used. Clamping limits the texel to the texture size, moving it to the nearest if it is more than the texture size. Wrapping makes the texel move back into the texture by increments (each to size of the texture). Wrapping causes a texture to be repeated; clamping causes it to be in one spot only.

See also

  • Voxel
    Voxel

    A voxel is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in 3D computer graphics space. This is analogous to a pixel, which represents 2D computer graphics image data....