The typical method used to represent 3D graphics for applications such as video games is that of a textured meshed. Essentially the object is made up of a mesh of flat triangles and a 2D texture graphic that is applied over the mesh to give it its colour and depth. However, this is not the only way to represent 3D graphics. Another method for representing 3D graphics is that of a point cloud which is a set of coloured points in 3D space. While a point cloud is usually larger than a textured mesh in terms of amount of data, it provides a level of realism not found in a mesh. Furthermore, some 3D scanning equipment such as 3D scanners, LiDAR equipment, medical scanners, and MicroSoft's Kinect all deliver their data as point clouds.
