ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Graphics pipeline

Okay kiddo, so imagine you want to paint a picture. Before you can draw the picture, you need to decide what you want to draw, what colors you want to use, and how you're going to mix and apply those colors.

Similarly, in the world of computers, there is a process called graphics pipeline, which is like a system that takes a bunch of instructions and turns them into a picture that you can see on your screen.

The graphics pipeline has different stages, just like the steps you need to take before you can start to paint. Let's take a look at each one:

1. Geometry stage: This is where you decide what shapes you want to draw. You might want to draw a square or a circle, for example. These shapes are made up of points that are connected by lines or curves.

2. Rasterization: Now we take those shapes and turn them into individual pixels, which are the tiny dots that make up an image on your screen. Imagine you have a coloring book page and you're filling in each individual square with a different color.

3. Texturing: This is where we decide what colors or textures to apply to each pixel. Think of it like choosing which color of paint you want to use for each square in your coloring book.

4. Shading: Now we add depth and dimension to the image by adjusting the brightness and darkness of the colors. This makes the image look more realistic and 3D.

5. Output merger: Finally, all the pixels are combined into the final image that you see on your screen.

Overall, the graphics pipeline is just a fancy name for the process of turning instructions into a picture that you can see on your computer screen. It takes a lot of steps, but it all happens so fast that you don't even notice it!
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