37 results about "Transparency (graphic)" patented technology

Disclosed is an imaging engine system (699) generally intended for the reproduction of graphical object images using apparatus having limited computing resources, such as so-called “thin clients”. Numerous developments of traditional image processing and rendering enable high quality image generation. One such development takes advantage of temporal coherence between one frame in an animation sequence and the succeeding frame. In particular, there will often be some edges (233, 235) of graphical objects that remain “static” across several contiguous frames. One example of this includes those edges used to draw image background detail. Another development performs antialiasing during scan line rendering of a graphic object image where sub-pixel resolution coverage bit-masks (A-buffers 29-34) are generated for a limited number of scan lines at a time. Preferably the A-buffers are generated for only one pixel at a time. Another development relates to rendering a scan line of a graphic object image in a scan line renderer for a span of pixels lying between two x-order consecutive edges intersecting the scan line. For the span of pixels, this development maintains a subset of depths present in the rendering, the subset being those depths that are present on the span and being maintained in depth order (590) and subject to removal of depths where the corresponding depth is no longer active. In another development a compositing stack (6101-6107) of image layers to be rendered in a raster scan fashion is simplified. Rendering is operable over a run of two or more pixels within which a relationship between graphical objects contributing to the layers does not change. The layers are first divided into groups (6110, 6112, 6114), with each group being separated by a layer having variable transparency (6111, 6113). For a top one of the groups, layers having constant color in the run are reduced to a single equivalent color (6115, 6116, 6117) having an associated accumulated contribution. Many other developments are disclosed.

A single-pass, order-independent method in support of rendering transparency effects into a computer generated image is provided. A geometric primitive of a scene is rasterized so as to convert the geometric primitive into a set of pixels. For at least each pixel or subpixel, a stipple pattern is selected from a set of unique stipple patterns. The set of unique stipple patterns is characterized by a select opacity value with the stipple pattern delimiting a unique set of pixels in the computer generated image which contributes to a visible surface determination.

The present invention relates to a method of operating a graphics processing system, a graphics processing unit, a medium. A cube texture (30) representing the bounding volume of the scene volume to be rendered (20) and representing the transparency of the surface of the bounding volume is defined in the graphics processing system. The color representing the first sample point (25) as seen from the viewpoint position (24) of the scene is then determined when rendering the scene for output by: Each of a plurality of second sampling points (27) of the vector (26), determine the transparency parameter indicating the amount of light falling on the second sampling point (27), and then use each of the plurality of second sampling points (27) The determined transparency parameter value is used to determine the color. Each transparency parameter is determined by determining a vector (29) to sample a graphics texture (30) representing the transparency of a bounding volume (20) surface in the scene, and then using the determined vector (29) to sample the graphics texture (30) to A transparency parameter value of the light source (22) at the second sampling point (27) is determined.