Method and apparatus for generating shadow effect using shadow space

Abstract

The computer graphics system is configured to generate a shadow effect with a stencil shadow volume method using a combination of compressed and uncompressed stencil buffers in coordination with compressed and uncompressed depth data buffers. An uncompressed stencil buffer is capable of storing stencil shadow volume data for each pixel and a compressed stencil buffer is capable of storing stencil shadow volume data for a group of pixels.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a computer graphics system, in particular to a method and device for generating shadow effects using a shadow volume method. Background technique [0002] As generally known, 3D computer graphics is concerned with the generation or rendering of a 2D image of a 3D object for display or presentation on a display device or monitor such as a cathode ray tube or liquid crystal display. Objects can be simple geometry primitives such as points, line segments, triangles, or polygons. More complex objects can be rendered on a display device by representing a series of connected planar polygons, such as a series of connected planar triangles. All geometric units can ultimately be described as a vertex or a set of vertices, such as coordinates (x, y, z) to define a point, such as the endpoint of a line segment or a corner of a polygon. [0003] The vertices of these shapes are processed in a series of operations or processing st...

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Problems solved by technology

To use an 8-bit pattern value in the accept state, the entire 32-bit Z / pattern value must be read out, making memory bandwidth use very inefficient

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