Display Controller Time Warp Rendering for VR Headsets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data processing systems for virtual reality head-mounted displays face inefficiencies in 'time warp' rendering, requiring the graphics processing unit to perform two rendering tasks and divert resources, leading to increased memory bandwidth and power consumption, and delayed alignment with the user's head position.
Innovation Solution
A display controller with a transformation stage that performs 'time warp' rendering, transforming input surfaces based on received view orientation data to provide a transformed version for display, thereby offloading this process from the graphics processing unit and allowing real-time adjustments to the displayed frames.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the graphics processing unit performs both initial rendering and time warp rendering, then the system can provide updated frames based on head orientation, but the processing resources and memory bandwidth are increased and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the time warp rendering function from the graphics processing unit and relocates it to the display controller. This separation allows the GPU to focus on initial rendering while the display controller handles the transformation based on head orientation data, reducing the computational burden on the GPU and lowering overall system power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The rendering pipeline is segmented into distinct functional blocks: initial rendering by the GPU and time warp rendering by the display controller. This segmentation divides the processing workload, allowing each component to optimize its specific function and reducing the total resource consumption compared to a monolithic approach.
2Reliability
If the graphics processing unit performs both initial rendering and time warp rendering, then the system can provide updated frames based on head orientation, but the memory bandwidth and processing resources are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The time warp rendering function is extracted from the GPU and assigned to the display controller. This extraction reduces the processing resource requirements on the GPU and simplifies the overall system architecture by distributing computational tasks to the appropriate hardware component.
Solution Approach 2:
The display controller acts as an intermediary between the GPU and the display output. It receives rendered frames from the GPU, applies time warp transformations based on head orientation data, and outputs the adjusted frames. This intermediary role reduces the complexity on the GPU by handling the transformation logic separately.
3Device complexity
If head orientation data is sensed at the beginning of rendering, then the rendering process is simplified, but the displayed frames become misaligned with the user's current head position due to latency
Solution Approach 1:
Head orientation data is captured in advance before the rendering process begins. This preliminary capture of head pose information allows the system to prepare transformation parameters ahead of time, enabling accurate real-time alignment without adding complexity to the rendering pipeline itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors head orientation and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust the displayed frames through time warp rendering. This feedback mechanism ensures that the displayed content remains aligned with the user's current head position, correcting for any latency in the rendering process.
Data Source
AI summary
A display controller 93 in a data processing system includes a timewarp module (transformation circuitry) 100 that is operable to perform timewarp processing of a rendered frame 92 generated by a graphics processor (GPU) 91 for provision to a display panel 94. The timewarp module (transformation circuitry) 100 operates to transform an input surface 92 read by the display controller 93 based on received view orientation data to provide an appropriately “timewarped” transformed version of the input surface as an output transformed surface for display on the display 94.