matplotlib · QuLogic · Aug 4, 2017 · Jun 16, 2017 · Jun 30, 2017 · Aug 3, 2017
diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/path_simplification_updates.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/path_simplification_updates.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+Path simplification updates
+---------------------------
+
+Line simplification controlled by the ``path.simplify`` and
+``path.simplify_threshold`` parameters has been improved. You should
+notice better rendering performance when plotting large amounts of
+data (as long as the above parameters are set accordingly). Only the
+line segment portion of paths will be simplified -- if you are also
+drawing markers and experiencing problems with rendering speed, you
+should consider using the ``markevery`` option to ``plot``.
+See the :ref:`performance` section in the usage tutorial for more
+information.
+
+The simplification works by iteratively merging line segments
+into a single vector until the next line segment's perpendicular
+distance to the vector (measured in display-coordinate space)
+is greater than the ``path.simplify_threshold`` parameter. Thus, higher
+values of ``path.simplify_threshold`` result in quicker rendering times.
+If you are plotting just to explore data and not for publication quality,
+pixel perfect plots, then a value of ``1.0`` can be safely used. If you
+want to make sure your plot reflects your data *exactly*, then you should
+set ``path.simplify`` to false and/or ``path.simplify_threshold`` to ``0``.
+Matplotlib currently defaults to a conservative value of ``1/9``, smaller
+values are unlikely to cause any visible differences in your plots.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/path.py b/lib/matplotlib/path.py
@@ -206,12 +206,13 @@ def _fast_from_codes_and_verts(cls, verts, codes, internals=None):
         return pth
 
     def _update_values(self):
+        self._simplify_threshold = rcParams['path.simplify_threshold']
         self._should_simplify = (
+            self._simplify_threshold > 0 and
             rcParams['path.simplify'] and
-            (len(self._vertices) >= 128 and
-             (self._codes is None or np.all(self._codes <= Path.LINETO)))
+            len(self._vertices) >= 128 and
+            (self._codes is None or np.all(self._codes <= Path.LINETO))
         )
-        self._simplify_threshold = rcParams['path.simplify_threshold']
         self._has_nonfinite = not np.isfinite(self._vertices).all()
 
     @property

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/angle_spectrum_freqs.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/angle_spectrum_freqs.png
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/angle_spectrum_noise.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/angle_spectrum_noise.png