Virtual surface gutters

• US 9,230,517 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2012
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Fink, Reiner, Blanco, Leonardo E., Ergan, Cenk, Priestley, Joshua Warren, Moncayo, Silvana Patricia
• Primary Examiner(s): Koziol, Stephen R
• Assistant Examiner(s): KRAVITZ, BRIAN S
• Application Number:
  US13/485,825
• Publication Number:
  US 20130321454A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,314 Days
• Field of Search: 345/593, 345/589
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/346 for systems having a bit-mapped display memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory

Abstract

Virtual surface techniques are described. These techniques support the use of initialization and batching of updates, use of updates and lookaside lists, use of gutters, blending and BLT operations, use of surface optimization techniques such as push down as well as enumeration and clumping, mesh usage, and use of occlusion management techniques.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a computing device, causes the computing device to implement a composition system to perform one or more operations comprising calculating, by the computing device, a value of a first pixel in a virtual composition surface using a clamping operation in which a value of a second pixel at an edge of the virtual composition surface is used, by the computing device, as representative of one or more neighboring pixels that fall outside of the virtual composition surface, the virtual composition surface comprising a collection of one or more logical composition surfaces representative of individual surfaces as seen by an application that are not displayed by the computing device and the one or more neighboring pixels that fall outside of the virtual composition surface are contained in another virtual composition surface comprising another collection of one or more logical composition surfaces and the clamping operation is performed by the computing device without copying the second pixel to the one or more neighboring pixels.

2. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the first pixel in the virtual composition surface is at the edge of the virtual composition surface.

3. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein in instances in which the virtual composition surface is an update that is included in a larger allocated virtual composition surface comprising a larger collection of one or more logical composition surfaces, the clamping operation, performed by the computing device, includes copying one or more pixels at the edge of the update to the one or more neighboring pixels.

4. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the one or more neighboring pixels define part of a virtual composition surface gutter that is to be used, by the computing device, to calculate the value for the first pixel.

5. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 4, wherein pixels of the virtual composition surface gutter used, by the computing device, to calculate the value of the first pixel are not updated.

6. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein the calculating utilizes bilinear sampling.

7. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 1, wherein prior to the calculating, initializing, by the computing device, the virtual composition surface.

8. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 7, wherein the virtual composition surface is initialized without allocating bits for the collection of one or more logical composition surfaces.

9. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 8, wherein at least a part of the collection of one or more logical composition surfaces is allocated bits subsequent to being initialized via one or more application programming interfaces of the composition system of the computing device respondent to a request from an application to update the virtual composition surface.

10. A method implemented by a computing device, the method comprising:

initializing, by a composition system of a computing device, a virtual composition surface in which to render one or more visuals comprising a collection of one or more logical composition surfaces representative of individual surfaces as seen by an application that are not displayed by the computing device;

receiving, by the computing device, a request to allocate bits to at least part of the collection of one or more logical composition surfaces of the virtual composition surface;

calculating, by the computing device, a value of a first pixel in the virtual composition surface using a clamping operation, the clamping operation utilizing a value of a second pixel at an edge of the virtual composition surface as representative of one or more neighboring pixels that fall outside of the virtual composition surface and are contained in another virtual composition surface comprising another collection of one or more logical composition surfaces and the clamping operation is performed by the computing device without copying the second pixel to the one or more neighboring pixels; and

rendering, by the computing device, the virtual composition surface using the calculated value of the first pixel.

11. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the calculating further comprises bilinear sampling.

12. A method as described in claim 10, wherein after the rendering the virtual composition surface, displaying, by the computing device, the rendered virtual composition surface using a flipping operation.

13. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the first pixel is located proximal to the edge of the virtual composition surface.

14. A method as described in claim 10, wherein when the virtual surface is an update included in another larger allocated virtual composition surface comprising another larger collection of one or more logical composition surfaces, the clamping operation includes copying one or more pixels at the edge of the update to the one or more neighboring pixels.

15. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the neighboring pixels define part of a virtual composition surface gutter that is to be used to calculate the value for the first pixel, and wherein the pixels defining the virtual composition surface gutter are not updated.

16. A system comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the one or more computer processors, perform operations comprising;

receiving a request from an application for a composition system to allocate bits to one or more of a plurality of logical composition surfaces representative of individual surfaces as seen by an application of a previously initialized virtual composition surface in which to render one or more visuals, the composition system not displaying the virtual composition surface;

assigning a value of a second pixel at an edge of the virtual composition surface as representative of a virtual composition surface gutter, the virtual composition surface gutter defined by one or more neighboring pixels that fall outside of the virtual composition surface and are contained in another virtual composition surface comprising another collection of one or more logical composition surfaces and the clamping operation is performed by the computing device without copying the second pixel to the one or more neighboring pixels;

calculating a value of a first pixel in the virtual composition surface using a clamping operation utilizing the value of the second pixel;

rendering the virtual composition surface using the calculated first pixel; and

displaying the rendered virtual composition surface using a flipping operation.

17. A system as described in claim 16, wherein when the virtual composition surface is an update included in a larger allocated virtual composition surface comprising a larger allocated collection of one or more logical composition surfaces, the clamping operations includes copying one or more pixels at the edge of the virtual composition surface to the one or more neighboring pixels.