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The resolution of terrain mesh usually refers to "horizontal resolution," that is, the distance horizontally between elevation points. This is refered to in meters or in Level of Detail (LOD). For instance, 306m terrain would refer to terrain mesh that has 306 meters between elevation points. This distance is also referred to as LOD7. Obviously, the more meters between elevation points the lower the resolution of the terrain mesh. Conversely, the less meters between elevation points the higher the resolution. And the higher the LOD# the higher the resolution.
As well, the lower the resolution the farther the display radius extends from your position. This is hard-coded into the FS terrain engine for performance reasons. For instance, 1024-meter terrain (very-low resolution) will have a much larger display radius than, say, 38-meter terrain. This is why the more distant terrain seems to have a lower resolution than the terrain displaying around your aircraft.
In versions prior to FSX, if you install only 38-meter terrain over the very-low resolution default terrain you may experience a "blue sliver" effect at the boundary between the 38-meter terrain (with a shorter display radius) and the default terrain. This is caused by the abrupt transition between 38m resolution to 1024m resolution. To assuage this effect it is helpful to also install medium resolution terrain that will fill in the radii between the high-res and low-res terrain, as might be seen in a series of concentric circles emanating out from your aircraft's position. This allows the transition to be more gradual out to the horizon and will greatly improve teh more distant terrain.
FSGenesis has created nearly all resolutions available to the pre-FSX terrain engine and installing all resolutions is recommended for best results.
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