Editing Mipmap (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Mipmap Aliasing Comparison.png|alt=Image showing how mipmaps reduce aliasing at large distances.|thumb|440x440px|Image showing how mipmaps reduce [[aliasing]] at large distances (Aliasing causes a [[Moiré pattern]] in the left image.)]]
Mipmaps are used for:
* [[Level of detail (computer graphics)|Level of detail]] (LOD)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://people.cs.clemson.edu/~dhouse/courses/405/notes/OpenGL-mipmaps.pdf|title=Multiple levels of Detail}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff476207(v=vs.85).aspx|title=D3D11_SAMPLER_DESC structure|publisher=Microsoft|work=microsoft.com}}</ref>
* Improving image quality. Rendering from large textures where only small, discontiguous subsets of [[texel (graphics)|texels]] are used can easily produce [[Moiré pattern]]s;
* Speeding up rendering times, either by reducing the number of texels sampled to render each pixel, or increasing the memory locality of the samples taken;
* Reducing stress on the [[GPU]] or [[CPU]].
* Water surface reflections<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.mecheye.net/2018/03/deconstructing-the-water-effect-in-super-mario-sunshine |title=Deconstructing the water effect in Super Mario Sunshine |date=3 March 2018 |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref>