ABSTRACT
Perspective viewing produces more realistic images than orthographic viewing because it corresponds more closely to the way our eyes work. This chapter helps readers to understand how perspective viewing is defined and discusses the difference between computer viewing and how our eyes see the world around us. It examines the properties of perspective projections and presents a number of ray-traced perspective images. In the context of computer graphics, a projection transforms points in 3D space onto a flat 2D surface called the view plane. The points are transformed along straight lines called projectors, and in a perspective projection, these all converge to a point called the center of projection. Perspective distortion in computer viewing is caused by the fact that the view plane is flat. Most general textbooks on computer graphics discuss perspective projections and 3D viewing.
