SPOM - Silhouette Parallax Occlusion Mapping

Silhouette Parallax Occlusion Mapping (SPOM) is an advanced rendering technique used to improve the edge appearance of standard Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM), enabling surface details to have more realistic depth and accurate silhouette edges.

Normally, Parallax Occlusion Mapping creates a sense of depth on a flat surface, making it appear as if real geometry exists on the model. However, when viewed from an angle (side view), the edges of the surface still appear flat. The silhouette enhancement addresses these issues:

• Edge Depth: Ensures that edges appear to have real geometric depth even when viewed from the side.
• Enhanced Visual Quality: Accurately represents the object's outer contours (silhouette) using techniques such as Prism POM or custom ray-tracing approaches.
• Performance Efficiency: Delivers highly detailed surface appearance without relying on tessellation or truly high-polygon models, making more efficient use of GPU resources.

Features

• Ability to clip edges and form silhouettes
• Toggle between SPOM and POM
• Distance-based performance adjustment
• High accuracy with Depth Offset (HDRP only)
• Lighting support
• Tiling option
• Real-time surface displacement
• Compatible with URP & HDRP
• Shader Graph integration