Computer graphics windowing: In raster graphics, “scissoring” (clipping to a rectangular window) enables which type of display behavior?

Introduction / Context:
Scissoring, often called rectangular clipping, is a fundamental graphics operation. It restricts rendering to a specified window (region) so that primitives outside the window are not drawn. This is used in GUI toolkits, game engines, and visualization pipelines to optimize and control drawing.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The display area supports a defined clipping rectangle.
• Graphics primitives can extend beyond the visible region.
• We want to know what scissoring enables with respect to what is shown.

Concept / Approach:
With scissoring, the pipeline discards fragments (or clamps primitives) lying outside a defined window, ensuring that only content intersecting the window is rendered. This results in partial display of the overall dataset when only a subset falls within the scissor rectangle.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
In APIs (OpenGL, Direct3D, Vulkan), enabling the scissor test limits fragment processing to the specified rectangle, confirming partial display behavior.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
“Entire data” or “full data on full screen” contradicts the clipping function. “No data” would require an empty window, not normal scissoring.

Common Pitfalls:
Confusing scissoring with viewport scaling; the viewport maps coordinates, while scissoring filters pixels to a region.

Final Answer:
a part of data to be displayed