OpenGL Programming Guide

Chapter 7Blending, Antialiasing, and Fog

Fog

Computer images sometimes seem unrealistically sharp and well-defined. Antialiasing makes an object appear more realistic by smoothing its edges. Additionally, you can make an entire image appear more natural by adding fog, which makes objects fade into the distance. Fog is a general term that describes similar forms of atmospheric effects; it can be used to simulate haze, mist, smoke, or pollution. Fog is essential in visual-simulation applications, where limited visibility needs to be approximated. It's often incorporated into flight-simulator displays.

When fog is enabled, objects that are farther from the viewpoint begin to fade into the fog color. You can control the density of the fog, which determines the rate at which objects fade as the distance increases, as well as the fog's color. Fog is available in both RGBA and color-index modes, although the calculations are slightly different in the two modes. Since fog is applied after matrix transformations, lighting, and texturing are performed, it affects transformed, lit, and textured objects. Note that with large simulation programs, fog can improve performance, since you can choose not to draw objects that are too fogged to be visible.

Using Fog
Fog Equations

OpenGL Programming Guide