Sample Texture 2D node

The Sample Texture 2D node samples a Texture 2D asset and returns a Vector 4 color value. You can specify the UV coordinates for a texture sample and use a Sampler State node to define a specific Sampler State.

A Sample Texture 2D node can also sample a normal map. For more information, refer to the Controls section, or Normal map (Bump mapping) in the Unity User manual.

Note

If you experience texture sampling errors for this node in a graph with Custom Function Nodes or Sub Graphs, upgrade to Shader Graph version 10.3 or later.

Create Node menu category

The Sample Texture 2D node is under the Input > Texture category in the Create Node menu.

Compatibility

The Sample Texture 2D node is supported on the following render pipelines:

Built-In Render Pipeline	Universal Render Pipeline (URP)	High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP)
Yes	Yes	Yes

With its default settings, this node can only connect to a Block node in the Fragment Context of a Shader Graph. To sample a Texture for the Vertex Context of a Shader Graph, set the Mip Sampling Mode to LOD.

Inputs

The Sample Texture 2D node has the following input ports:

Name	Type	Binding	Description
Texture	Texture 2D	None	The Texture 2D asset to sample.
UV	Vector 2	UV	The UV coordinates to use to sample the texture.
Sampler	Sampler State	Default Sampler State	The Sampler State and settings to use to sample the texture.
LOD	Float	LOD	The specific mip to use when sampling the Texture. Note: The LOD Input port only displays if Mip Sampling Mode is LOD. For more information, refer to Additional node settings.
Bias	Float	Bias	When you enable Use Global Mip Bias, Unity adds this Bias amount to the Global Mip Bias for a texture's mip calculation. When you disable Global Mip Bias, Unity uses this Bias amount instead of the Global Mip Bias. Note: The Bias Input port only displays if Mip Sampling Mode is Bias. For more information, refer to Additional node settings.
DDX	Float	DDY	The specific DDX value to use to calculate the texture's mip when sampling. For more information on DDX values for mipmaps, refer to Mipmaps introduction in the Unity User Manual. Note: The DDX Input port only displays if Mip Sampling Mode is Gradient. For more information, refer to Additional node settings.
DDY	Float	DDY	The specific DDY value to use to calculate the texture's mip when sampling. For more information on DDY values for mipmaps, refer to Mipmaps introduction> in the Unity User Manual. Note: The DDY Input port only displays if Mip Sampling Mode is Gradient. For more information, refer to Additional node settings.

Controls

The Sample Texture 2D node has the following controls:

Name	Description
Type	Select whether the texture is a Texture asset or a normal map. The options are: Default: Outputs the raw texture data according to the imported texture format or the format specified when the texture/render texture was created. For more information, refer to GraphicsFormat. Normal: Interprets the texture as a normal map and outputs RGB in the range [−1, 1].
Space	Select the space used when Type is Normal. Behavior varies based on whether the blue channel is used. The options are: Tangent: Assumes an imported Normal Map format where only X and Y are stored. The blue channel is ignored. Use Tangent space for deforming meshes (for example, animated characters). Normals are relative to the mesh’s vertex normals. Shader Graph adjusts but does not override them. Object: Uses the blue channel and expects the texture to be UNorm in Linear color space. Use Object space for static meshes. Normals override mesh normals and maintain consistent lighting across LODs.

Additional node settings

The Sample Texture 2D node has some additional settings that you can access from the Graph Inspector:

Option	Description
Use Global Mip Bias	Enable Use Global Mip Bias to use the render pipeline's Global Mip Bias. This bias adjusts the percentage of texture information taken from a specific mip when sampling. For more information on mip bias, refer to Mipmaps introduction in the Unity User Manual. The options are: Enabled: Shader Graph uses the render pipeline's Global Mip Bias to adjust the texture information taken when sampling. Disabled: Shader Graph doesn't use the render pipeline's Global Mip Bias to adjust texture information when sampling.
Mip Sampling Mode	Choose the sampling mode to use to calculate the mip level of the texture. The options are: Standard: The render pipeline calculates and automatically selects the mip for the texture. LOD: The render pipeline lets you set an explicit mip for the texture on the node. The texture will always use this mip, regardless of the DDX or DDY calculations between pixels. Set the Mip Sampling Mode to LOD to connect the node to a Block node in the Vertex Context. For more information on Block nodes and Contexts, refer to Master Stack. Gradient: The render pipeline lets you set the DDX and DDY values to use for its mip calculation, instead of using the values calculated from the texture's UV coordinates. For more information on DDX and DDY values, refer to Mipmaps introduction in the User Manual. Bias: The render pipeline lets you set a bias to adjust the calculated mip for a texture up or down. Negative values bias the mip to a higher resolution. Positive values bias the mip to a lower resolution. The render pipeline can add this value to the value of the Global Mip Bias, or use this value instead of its Global Mip Bias. For more information on mip bias, refer to Mipmaps introduction in the User Manual.

Outputs

The Sample Texture 2D node has the following output ports:

Name	Type	Description
RGBA	Vector 4	The full RGBA Vector 4 color value of the texture sample.
R	Float	The Red channel or X component of the texture sample.
G	Float	The Green channel or Y component of the texture sample.
B	Float	The Blue channel or Z component of the texture sample.
A	Float	The Alpha channel or W component of the texture sample.

Example graph usage

In the following example, the Sample Texture 2D node uses a Subgraph node that generates UV coordinates in latitude and longitude format. These latitude and longitude UV coordinates help render the latlong_test 2D Texture asset, which was created and formatted with a latitude and longitude projection. The generated latitude and longitude UVs accurately map the 2D Texture asset onto a spherical geometry.

If the Sample Texture 2D node uses the Standard Mip Sampling Mode, the Texture displays with a seam along the side of the sphere where the left and right sides of the texture meet. The latitude and longitude UV coordinates for sampling the texture jump from 0 to 1 at the seam on the model, which causes a problem with the mip level calculation in the sample. The error in the mip level calculation causes the seam. The texture requires a different mip sampling mode to remove the seam.

When you set the Mip Sampling Mode to Gradient, the Sample Texture 2D node can use the standard set of UVs for the model in the mip level calculation, instead of the latitude and longitude UVs needed for sampling the texture. The new UV coordinates passed into the DDX and DDY input ports result in a continuous mip level, and remove the seam.

Generated code example

The following code represents this node in Unity's shader code, based on the selected Type on the Sample Texture 2D node:

Default

float4 _SampleTexture2D_RGBA = SAMPLE_TEXTURE2D(Texture, Sampler, UV);
float _SampleTexture2D_R = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.r;
float _SampleTexture2D_G = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.g;
float _SampleTexture2D_B = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.b;
float _SampleTexture2D_A = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.a;

Normal

float4 _SampleTexture2D_RGBA = SAMPLE_TEXTURE2D(Texture, Sampler, UV);
_SampleTexture2D_RGBA.rgb = UnpackNormalMapRGorAG(_SampleTexture2D_RGBA);
float _SampleTexture2D_R = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.r;
float _SampleTexture2D_G = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.g;
float _SampleTexture2D_B = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.b;
float _SampleTexture2D_A = _SampleTexture2D_RGBA.a;

Related nodes

The following nodes are related or similar to the Sample Texture 2D node:

• Sample Texture 2D Array node
• Sample Texture 3D node
• Sampler State node