PlotPoints does NOT work
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:57 pm
by mxue
It seems that setting different values in PlotPoints makes no difference. For example,
Plot3D[Sin[x]*Sin[y], {x, -6,6}, {y, -6,6}, PlotPoints->15]
looks the same as
Plot3D[Sin[x]*Sin[y], {x, -6,6}, {y, -6,6}, PlotPoints->60]
Thanks in advanced for any help from fellow Mathematica users
-M
Re: PlotPoints does NOT work
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 9:41 am
by Gerd
PlotPoints does work, you just do not see it in your example beacuse 15 and 60 are both high numbers. Draw it with 2 or 3 or 4 and you will see the difference.
Re: PlotPoints does NOT work
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:02 pm
by szhorvat
It does work, but PlotPoints doesn't exactly do what you think. It sets the initial number of points. Mathematica may automatically add additional points adaptively for a better quality plot.
MaxRecursion controls the number of refinement steps when adding points.
To see all the plot points, use the Mesh -> All option. You will notice that with PlotPoints -> 15 the mesh is not regular. Mathematica used a fine mesh around the maxima where the curvature is high, but it didn't do any refinement elsewhere. PlotPoint -> 60 causes the mesh to be fine everywhere.