In real-world numbers, how many polygons can the PlayStation 2 handle on screen?
Since a 3D object is constructed of pieces (known as polygons), the number of polygons per second a system can process indicates how detailed the 3D graphics can be, and how smoothly they can animate. Officially, the maximum number the system can process is 75 million polygons per second. But this number doesn’t take into account texture maps (images wrapped onto the polygon set), filtering (making the textures look clean, natural, and unpixelated), and lighting (giving the object a more 3D look with realistic shadows and light effects). With all this into place, the PlayStation 2 can process 20 million polygons per second. Again, this number will be affected by in-game physics, character artificial intelligence, audio, and other processor-intensive effects. We’ll take a conservative estimate and saying initial games will push around eight to ten million polygons per second – and believe us when we say that this number is still no slouch.
