Drawing data producing apparatus and drawing data producing method

• US 5,619,629 A
• Filed: 10/11/1994
• Issued: 04/08/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yutaka, Teiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US08/320,272
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 395/120, 395/121, 395/122, 395/133, 345/113, 345/114, 345/118, 345/119, 345/120
• US Class Current: 345/421
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/405 using Z-buffer

Abstract

A drawing data producing apparatus having a plurality of sequence tables into which sequence data indicating processing sequences of a plurality of blocks obtained by dividing a picture are written every objects constituting the picture with information in a Z-direction in three dimensional coordinates of representative pixels of the respective blocks being as addresses; and a sorting control section for carrying out, in a stepwise manner, Z-sorting of a plurality of sequence tables therebetween, to produce drawing data by stepwise Z-sorting of a plurality of sequence tables therebetween. Thus, even in the case where objects physically divided are present at depths close to each other, this drawing data producing apparatus excludes interference of polygon unit, thus making it possible to produce drawing data of excellent picture quality.

Claims

1. A drawing data producing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of sequence tables into which sequence data indicating processing sequences of a plurality of blocks obtained by dividing a picture are written for each object of the picture having addresses corresponding to information in a Z-direction of three dimensional coordinates of representative pixels of the respective blocks; and

sorting control means for carrying out, in a stepwise manner, sorting in a depth direction (Z-sorting) of a plurality of sequence tables therebetween, so as to produce drawing data by stepwise Z-sorting of the plurality of sequence tables therebetween.

2. A drawing data producing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sorting control means is comprised of a DMA controller.

3. A drawing data producing method comprising the steps of:

allocating sequence data indicating processing sequences of a plurality of blocks obtained by dividing a picture to a plurality of tables having as addresses information in a Z-direction of three-dimensional coordinates of representative pixels of the respective blocks for each object of the picture to write them therein to; and

carrying out, in stepwise manner, Z-sorting of sequence tables therebetween so as to produce drawing data.

4. A drawing data producing method as set forth in claim 3, wherein sequence tables respectively have representative values, thus to carry out, in a stepwise manner, Z-sorting of the sequence tables therebetween on the basis of the representative values of the respective sequence tables.

5. A drawing data producing method as set forth in claim 3, wherein Z-sorting of respective sequence tables is recursive.

6. A drawing data producing method as set forth in claim 3, further comprising the step of causing the addresses of respective sequence tables to have an offset so as to compress the sequence tables.

7. A drawing data producing method as set forth in claim 6, further comprising the step of causing bit lengths of respective sequence tables to be variable so as to compress the sequence tables.