Computers: Fast graphics use parallel techniques: Designers of computer graphics systems exploit parallel processing to provide the speed needed for interactive performance

The main strength of computer graphics is in its ability to exploit the massive parallel processing capacity of human vision — the capacity to perceive almost instantly complex visual patterns. However, until recently, the graphics displays have generally been prepared serially by the computer hardware. Because of the large volume of information to be computed in three-dimensional graphics, this has meant long processing times, a problem not critical for scientific and entertainment applications, but serious for the interactive, real-time systems used in computer-assisted design and in real-time simulations, in these systems, the main trend now is toward the development of parallel processing hardware that can dramatically decrease processing times.