Depth Arrays: The Mathematical Filtering of the Z-Buffer

When multiple 3D objects overlap on a screen, how does the computer know which object is in front and which is hidden in the back? Early computers tried to solve this by drawing objects from back to front (the Painter's Algorithm), but this failed disastrously when polygons intersected each other. The ultimate, brute-force solution to 3D rendering was the invention of the Z-Buffer. The Z-Buffer ...