Rendering and compositing multiple applications in an interactive media environment
First Claim
1. A method for compositing a display, the method comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a Z order for each of a plurality of applications in a stack, each having zero or more script components and zero or more markup files, running in an interactive media environment where the Z order describes a relative order for visual elements on the display, wherein a Z order of visual elements within each of the plurality of applications is distinct from a Z order of the corresponding application within the plurality of applications;
rendering visual elements generated by the applications into respective graphics buffers associated with the applications where the rendering is performed by application starting with visual elements generated by an application having focus by virtue of its receipt of user events, wherein the application having focus may be in any position in the stack, and continuing with visual elements generated by each of the remaining applications in the plurality of applications from highest to lowest Z order of the application wherein during, the rendering of visual elements, new application frames from the applications in some instances are not always rendered for each display frame in response to a workitem timeout and in response to a priority relating to Z order being placed elsewhere in a playback system within the interactive media environment; and
compositing the display from the visual elements in the graphics buffers where the compositing is performed by application, for each of the plurality of applications, from lowest to highest Z order.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an interactive media environment, a model is provided where applications, each comprising zero or more script components and zero or more markup components, are themselves handled as visual elements having a Z order. A resource-efficient rendering order is provided where the application that has focus in an interactive media environment (by virtue of its receipt of user events) is rendered first. The remaining applications are rendered in top down order, i.e., in reverse Z order. Rendering is performed by drawing into one or more graphics buffers associated with respective applications. Frames for applications are composited from the graphics buffers bottoms up, in Z order, to provide the display with the correct appearance.
123 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for compositing a display, the method comprising the steps of:
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maintaining a Z order for each of a plurality of applications in a stack, each having zero or more script components and zero or more markup files, running in an interactive media environment where the Z order describes a relative order for visual elements on the display, wherein a Z order of visual elements within each of the plurality of applications is distinct from a Z order of the corresponding application within the plurality of applications; rendering visual elements generated by the applications into respective graphics buffers associated with the applications where the rendering is performed by application starting with visual elements generated by an application having focus by virtue of its receipt of user events, wherein the application having focus may be in any position in the stack, and continuing with visual elements generated by each of the remaining applications in the plurality of applications from highest to lowest Z order of the application wherein during, the rendering of visual elements, new application frames from the applications in some instances are not always rendered for each display frame in response to a workitem timeout and in response to a priority relating to Z order being placed elsewhere in a playback system within the interactive media environment; and compositing the display from the visual elements in the graphics buffers where the compositing is performed by application, for each of the plurality of applications, from lowest to highest Z order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A playback system for connection with a display, the playback system comprising:
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a navigation manager for maintaining a Z order for a plurality of applications in a stack, each application having zero or more script components and zero or more markup files, running in an interactive media environment where the Z order describes the relative order for visual elements on the display, wherein a Z order of visual elements within each of the plurality of applications is distinct from a Z order of the corresponding application within the plurality of applications; one or more graphics buffers for buffering visual elements generated by the applications; a presentation engine, operatively coupled to the navigation manager, for rendering visual elements by application into the graphics butters in reverse Z order, wherein the rendering is performed by application starting with an application having focus by virtue of its receipt of user events, wherein the application having focus may be in any position in the stack, and continuing with remaining applications in the plurality of application, and wherein during the rendering of visual elements, new application frames from the applications in some instances are not always rendered for each display frame in response to a workitem timeout and in response to a priority relating to Z order being placed elsewhere in the playback system; and a graphics rendering engine for compositing frame images for the display from the one or more graphics buffers where the compositing is performed by application, for each of the plurality of applications, in Z order. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-readable storage medium not consisting of a propagated signal encoded with computer-executable instructions, which when executed by one or more processors in an electronic device, perform a method for setting drawing order for a plurality of N applications in a stack, each application having zero or more script components and zero or more markup files and each of the applications in the plurality being renderable as a visual element on a display in an interactive media environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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enabling an application to invoke one or more methods for manipulating a Z order of the application on the display where the Z order describes the relative order for the N applications on the display, and values of Z order are selected from a set bounded by 0 and N−
1, and wherein a Z order of visual elements within each of the plurality of applications is distinct from a Z order of the corresponding application within the plurality of applications;rendering visual elements generated by the applications into respective graphics butters associated with the applications where the rendering is performed by application in reverse Z order starting at N−
1 and ending at 0, wherein the application N−
1 is the application having focus, by virtue of its receipt of user events, wherein the application haying focus may be in any position in the stack, and wherein during the rendering of visual elements, new application frames from the applications in some instances are not always rendered for each display frame in response to a workitem timeout and in response to a priority relating to Z order being placed elsewhere in a playback system within the interactive media environment; andcompositing the display from the visual elements in the graphics buffers, where the compositing is performed by application, for each of the plurality of applications, in Z order. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification