Visibility computation is crucial for computer graphics
from its very beginning. The first visibility algorithms
in computer graphics aimed to determine visible
surfaces in a synthesized image of a 3D scene. Nowadays
there are many different visibility algorithms for
various visibility problems. We propose a new taxonomy
of visibility problems that is based on a classifi-
cation according to the problem domain. We provide
a broad overview of visibility problems and algorithms
in computer graphics grouped by the proposed taxonomy.
The paper surveys visible surface algorithms,
visibility culling algorithms, visibility algorithms for
shadow computation, global illumination, point-based
and image-based rendering, and global visibility computations.
Finally, we discuss common concepts of visibility
algorithm design and several criteria for the classification
of visibility algorithms.