Texture atlases are large images that contain multiple smaller textures, allowing for more efficient rendering and management of textures in graphics applications. By consolidating many textures into a single image, texture atlases reduce the number of texture binds required during rendering, which can significantly enhance performance, especially in real-time applications like gaming and virtual reality. This technique is closely tied to GPU architecture and shader programming, where optimizing memory access patterns is crucial for achieving high frame rates and visual fidelity.
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