This book provides a fundamental understanding of global illumination algorithms. It discusses a broad class of algorithms for realistic image synthesis and introduces a theoretical basis for the algorithms presented. Topics include: physics of light transport, Monte Carlo methods, general strategies for solving the rendering equation, stochastic path-tracing algorithms such as ray tracing and light tracing, stochastic radiosity including photon density estimation and hierarchical Monte Carlo radiosity, hybrid algorithms, metropolis light transport, irradiance caching, photon mapping and instant radiosity, beyond the rendering equation, image display and human perception.

本书提供了对全局照明算法的基本理解。它讨论了一类广泛的真实感图像合成算法，并介绍了算法的理论基础。主题包括：光传输物理、蒙特卡罗方法、求解渲染方程的一般策略、随机路径跟踪算法（如光线跟踪和光跟踪）、随机光能传递（包括光子密度估计和分层蒙特卡罗光能传递）、混合算法、大都会光传输、，辐照度缓存、光子映射和即时光能传递，超越渲染方程、图像显示和人类感知。