Culling
This is where vertices, primitives, or surfaces are removed from the rendering process on the basis that they are not visible from the camera's point of view. Culling can be performed by the graphics adapter (after vertex processing and before rasterisation) or it can be done by the software creating the graphics.
Occlusion (Graphics)
This is where a visible object blocks (occludes) one or more other objects from the view of the camera; the occluded objects should not be rendered (unless the front one blocking the others is slightly transparent) as they are not visible. To avoid wasting valuable resources rendering occluded primitives, some form of occlusion culling needs to be employed. Most 3D games do this before sending anything to the graphics adapter, which then handles the rest.
http://www.futuremark.com/community/hardwarevocabulary/
'Nuff said! :)
This is where vertices, primitives, or surfaces are removed from the rendering process on the basis that they are not visible from the camera's point of view. Culling can be performed by the graphics adapter (after vertex processing and before rasterisation) or it can be done by the software creating the graphics.
Occlusion (Graphics)
This is where a visible object blocks (occludes) one or more other objects from the view of the camera; the occluded objects should not be rendered (unless the front one blocking the others is slightly transparent) as they are not visible. To avoid wasting valuable resources rendering occluded primitives, some form of occlusion culling needs to be employed. Most 3D games do this before sending anything to the graphics adapter, which then handles the rest.
http://www.futuremark.com/community/hardwarevocabulary/
'Nuff said! :)