Franklin C. Crow

The aliasing problem in computer-generated shaded images

Communications of the ACM, v.20 n.11, p.799-805, Nov. 1977

ABSTRACT
Certain defects, such as jagged edges and disappearing detail, have long been an annoyance in digitally generated shaded images. Although increasing the resolution or defocusing the display can attenuate them, an understanding of these defects leads to more effective methods. This paper explains the observed defects in terms of the aliasing phenomenon inherent in sampled signals and discusses prefiltering as a recognized cure. A method for evaluating filters is presented, the application of prefiltering to hidden-surface algorithms is discussed, and an implementation of a filtering tiler is shown accompanied by examples of its effectiveness.