---
title: "Level of detail (LOD) · Library · Simulation Hypothesis"
url: https://simulation-hypothesis.com/library/level-of-detail
description: "Level of detail is a graphics technique where an object is drawn in more or less detail depending on how much the viewer needs it, usually how far it is from the camera."
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
credit: "Ross Allan Dahl, Simulation Hypothesis (simulation-hypothesis.com)"
---

## Physics & computation

# Level of detail (LOD)

Definition

Level of detail is a graphics technique where an object is drawn in more or less detail depending on how much the viewer needs it, usually how far it is from the camera.

On this site

The Observation dial. At lower settings, only observed matter gets the full floor.

Role in the model

Video games have long saved effort by drawing what the player is looking at and roughly sketching the rest. The Observation dial applies the same idea to a universe. It’s the biggest single saving available to whoever runs the simulation.

Related

[Matter fidelity](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/library/matter-fidelity)[Observer effect](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/library/observer-effect)[Solipsism](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/library/solipsism)

## The people behind the terms

14 short pages, one per thinker, each with its matching dial. See also the [reading list](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/reading).

[Plato’s cave](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/plato)[Zhuangzi’s butterfly](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/zhuangzi)[Vasubandhu’s dream](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/vasubandhu)[Shankara’s māyā](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/shankara)[al-Ghazali’s doubt](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/ghazali)[Ibn Arabi’s imagination](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/ibn-arabi)[Calderón’s life is a dream](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/calderon)[Descartes’ demon](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/descartes)[Berkeley’s perceiver](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/berkeley)[Borges’ circular ruins](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/borges)[Nozick’s experience machine](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/nozick)[Putnam’s brain in a vat](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/putnam)[Bostrom’s trilemma](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/bostrom)[Chalmers: virtual worlds are real](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers/chalmers)