
2.3. Shadow Depth Maps 35
since the situation is exactly the same. Partial solutions to this problem, without a
need to increase the shadow depth map resolution, are discussed below, including
surface ID, bias, and alternative Z-depth value.
Object or Surface ID
Hourcade and Nicolas [250] address this problem by using a surface ID. Each sur-
face is assigned a unique ID, and each shadow map pixel stores the surface ID that
represents the closest surface at that pixel. During rendering, surface IDs are com-
pared instead of Z-depths—if the shadow map pixel has a dierent surface ID than
the current surface, then it is in shadow; otherwise, it is not. ...