Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for improving depth information communication bandwidth in a computer graphics system

US7061487B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
4References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 3, 2003
Grant dateJun 13, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 18, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2210/08
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improving bandwidth for depth information communication in a computer graphics system. In operation, a decoder checks a type table associated with a collection of pixels in a memory unit in response to a request for depth information with respect to the collection of pixels. If the type table indicates that the depth information with respect to the collection of pixels has been encoded previously, the decoder computes depth values corresponding to the collection of pixels for each visible polygon in accordance with respective sets of plane parameters in a parameter record associated with a plane pattern, and reconstructs the depth information from the depth values for each visible polygon in accordance with the plane pattern. When the collection of pixels is modified by a new polygon, an encoder updates the plane pattern, the parameter record, and the type table in the memory unit.

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