Method and apparatus for resolving pixel data in a graphics rendering system
US5949428A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 27, 1996 |
| Grant date | Sep 7, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 27, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/60
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a graphics rendering system, an apparatus for resolving depth sorted lists of pixel fragments includes color and alpha accumulators for computing color and alpha values from the pixel fragments in a fragment list. Pixel fragments include color, alpha, coverage data. The coverage data describes how a geometric primitive covers sub-pixel regions of a pixel using a coverage mask. Pixel circuitry according to a clock-optimized approach includes separate color and alpha accumulators for computing color and alpha values for sub-pixel regions of a pixel. The accumulated color values are then summed and scaled to compute final color values for a pixel. To reduce hardware requirements, pixel circuitry in a hardware-optimized approach recognizes that some pixel regions have common accumulated alpha values as each fragment layer is processed. As such, color contributions for fragment layers can be computed using a single color accumulation operation for a pixel region having common alpha values.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.