Pixel shading system
First Claim
1. A method for improved pixel shading using multi-sampling to thereby obtain more accurate pixel rendering, said method comprising the steps of:
- (1) providing a multi-sampling data structure capable of storing attributes for each transparent and opaque polygon in a pixel;
(2) processing the transparent polygons in sorted order and the opaque polygons to thereby accumulate a net effect of transmittance of all the transparent polygons in the pixel if present; and
(3) processing each opaque polygon after any transparent polygons that overlap the opaque polygon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for improved pixel shading. The method of the present invention is based upon the notion of allowing multiple polygons to contribute to the net transmittance effect of a single pixel. This is accomplished by providing a new multi-sample data structure which can store visual attributes for each polygon, sorting all the transparent polygons in a front-to-back arrangement, processing the transparent polygon records and then the opaque polygon records by accumulating the net effect of the transmittance of all polygons being sampled in a pixel, and applying the color attributes to the net effect of transmittance, thereby decoupling color from the calculations for determining transmittance.
18 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for improved pixel shading using multi-sampling to thereby obtain more accurate pixel rendering, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a multi-sampling data structure capable of storing attributes for each transparent and opaque polygon in a pixel; (2) processing the transparent polygons in sorted order and the opaque polygons to thereby accumulate a net effect of transmittance of all the transparent polygons in the pixel if present; and (3) processing each opaque polygon after any transparent polygons that overlap the opaque polygon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for improved pixel shading using multi-sampling to thereby obtain more accurate pixel rendering said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a multi-sampling data structure capable of storing attributes for each transparent and opaque polygon in a pixel; (2) processing the transparent and the opaque polygons to thereby accumulate a net effect of transmittance of all the transparent polygons in the pixel if present, and of all the opaque polygons in the pixel; and (3) obtaining correctly rendered results for all combinations of transmissive polygons except where at least two transmissive polygons interpenetrate.
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15. A method for improved pixel shading using multi-sampling to thereby obtain more accurate pixel rendering of transparent and opaque polygons, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a new multi-sampling data structure capable of storing attributes for each polygon in a pixel; (2) sorting all the transparent polygons in the pixel in a front-to-back order; and (3) processing the polygons to thereby accumulate a net effect of transmittance of all the transparent polygons in the pixel if present, and of the opaque polygons in the pixel.
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16. A method for processing pixel samples to thereby determine a transmittance effect by a polygon on a pixel, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) receiving a polygon transmittance value if the polygon claims a sample; (2) storing the polygon transmittance value in a residual transmittance register when it is a first polygon being processed; and (3) accumulating a residual transmittance value in the residual transmittance register by multiplying each subsequent polygon transmittance value received as input, by a current residual transmittance value to attenuate each of the subsequent polygon transmittance values which is then transmitted as the output signal. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A pixel shading system which includes utilizing a net effect of transmittance from one or more polygons to thereby render improved pixel shading, wherein the system calculates transmittance from a plurality of samples for each pixel, said system comprising:
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a means for processing a plurality of samples from each pixel by receiving as input a polygon transmittance signal and a plurality of polygon sample mask bits, and for generating as an output signal a plurality of sample residual transmittance signals; a means for receiving and summing the plurality of sample residual transmittance signals and for generating an output signal representing a pixel residual transmittance for each pixel; a means for obtaining a pixel shade by multiplying the pixel residual transmittance of each pixel by a plurality of polygon color attributes; a means for accumulating a plurality of pixels shades for each of the polygons which are present in the pixel; and wherein the means for processing a plurality of samples from each pixel further comprises a plurality of pixel sample processors, wherein each processor receives a unique polygon sample mask bit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for improved pixel shading using sub-sampling to thereby obtain more accurate pixel rendering, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a multi-sampling data structure capable of storing attributes for each transparent and opaque polygon which affect a pixel and the pixel'"'"'s associated sub-samples; (2) processing the transparent polygons in sorted order and the opaque polygons to thereby accumulate a net effect of transmittance of all the transparent polygons in the pixel, wherein each sub-sample is influenced by more than one polygon associated with that sub-sample.
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Specification