Patent · US Expired

Pseudo-random point sampling techniques in computer graphics

US4897806A · kind A · utility

74Cited by
7References
54Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 19, 1985
Grant dateJan 30, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 19, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S345/952
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer database contains visual and other information of an object scene from which a television monitor or film display is created by electronically sampling points of the object scene information in the computer memory. Undesirable effects of aliasing are significantly reduced and substantially eliminated by pseudo-randomly distributing, in a particular manner, the occurrence of the point samples in space and time. Realistic depth of field is obtained in the images, corresponding to what is observed through a camera lens, by altering the sample point locations to simulate passing them through an optical aperture in a pseudo-random distribution thereacross. Further, effects of illumination, shadows, object reflection and object refraction are made more realistic by causing each sample point to pseudo-randomly select one of a predetermined number of possible ray directions.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.