Relief mapping (computer graphics)

In computer graphics, relief mapping is a texture mapping technique first introduced in 2000 used to render the surface details of three-dimensional objects accurately and efficiently. It can produce accurate depictions of self-occlusion, self-shadowing, and parallax. It is a form of short-distance ray tracing done in a pixel shader. Relief mapping is highly comparable in both function and approach to another displacement texture mapping technique, Parallax [occlusion mapping], considering that they both rely on ray tracing, though the two are not to be confused with each other, as parallax occlusion mapping uses reverse heightmap tracing.