US 6,618,047 B1
Visibility calculations for 3d computer graphicsGeneral
US 6,618,047 B1
Visibility calculations for 3d computer graphics
Tech Center:
2600 Communications
Examiner:
Jeffery Brier
Art Unit:
2672 Facsimile; Printer; Color; halftone; Scanner; Computer Graphic Processing; 3-D Animation; Display Color; Attributes; Object Processing; Hardware and Memory
Agent:
Inventors:
Hong Lip Lim
Assignee:
Priority:
06/28/91
Filed:
01/20/00
Granted:
09/09/03
Expiration:
10/05/15
Abstract
Disclosed is a method of reducing the complexity of hidden surface removal in 3D graphics systems. A fuzzy projection (FF) of a surface (SU) as seen from a number of viewpoints (VP) in a bounding box (BB) is stored in a buffer (FA) having elements (FE). A combination of all the patches (PT) of the surface (SU) viewed form a fuzzy region (FR) where surfaces can be either visible, hidden, or unable to be determined with certainty as to whether or not visible/hidden. A non-fuzzy region (NF) describes those patches (PT) that are always visible.