In actual fact this does increase geometry.
It can only be implimented in realtime if you have a card capable of it. Matrox Parhelia is capable of it.
What happens with zbrush and max etc, is that at RENDER TIME, they generate a new mesh on the fly, whic is rendered instead.
The only reason this is used in max and zbrush is because it keeps the viewport speed going at a fair pace.
Take a look at parhelia though, as it DOES do displacement mapping in hardware and is compatible with zbrush displacement maps. These are nothing new, having been around for many years now, but what is new, is the hardware rendering of it with matrox etc.
It can only be implimented in realtime if you have a card capable of it. Matrox Parhelia is capable of it.
What happens with zbrush and max etc, is that at RENDER TIME, they generate a new mesh on the fly, whic is rendered instead.
The only reason this is used in max and zbrush is because it keeps the viewport speed going at a fair pace.
Take a look at parhelia though, as it DOES do displacement mapping in hardware and is compatible with zbrush displacement maps. These are nothing new, having been around for many years now, but what is new, is the hardware rendering of it with matrox etc.