Computer graphics system of general surface rendering by exhaustive sampling
First Claim
1. A computer graphics system for processing data representative of objects as to provide an image to a viewer, comprising:
- means providing a coordinate array register;
means for providing said data as coordinate signals representative to points to exhaust the display surface and with greater resolution than said coordinate array register, said points being defined on said objects in viewing screen coordinates; and
means for testing said coordinate signals for registration in said coordinate array register whereby to selectively register signals for viewing screen coordinates nearest to said viewing screen as to eliminate hidden components to the image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A z-buffer technique of exhaustive sampling is disclosed for rendering general surfaces in a computer graphics system. The system avoids the need for surface normal calculations or the computation of surface intersections with either ray or plane. It employs a dense surface scan of the object, which produces sample points on the surface. The samples thus obtained are passed through viewing transformations and then sorted into a z-buffer. The z-buffer retains the nearest sample to the viewer for each pixel, recording its x, y and z co-ordinates in object space. The surface normal at each pixel is estimated by comparison of neighboring entries and the corresponding intensity value is computed according to a standard illumination model.
As disclosed, the system is applicable to a wide variety of surface types, e.g. parametric, implicit and procedurally defined surfaces; and to a wide variety of display styles such as shadowing, texturing and hidden-line.
138 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A computer graphics system for processing data representative of objects as to provide an image to a viewer, comprising:
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means providing a coordinate array register; means for providing said data as coordinate signals representative to points to exhaust the display surface and with greater resolution than said coordinate array register, said points being defined on said objects in viewing screen coordinates; and means for testing said coordinate signals for registration in said coordinate array register whereby to selectively register signals for viewing screen coordinates nearest to said viewing screen as to eliminate hidden components to the image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer graphics process for selectively screening display data representative of objects, comprising the steps of:
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defining sets of points representative of said objects; mapping said points into viewing screen coordinates; and testing said points with reference to a predetermined plane whereby to select image points within specific pixel coordinates for display to accomplish a predetermined display viewpoint. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification