Tile-Based GPU Empty Tile Detection and Stage Omission

The patent applies partial action by performing complete processing stages only on non-empty tiles that contain actual graphics data, while skipping or reducing processing stages on empty tiles. The system determines which tiles are empty using techniques such as early Z-testing, primitive culling, or depth buffer analysis, and then applies processing selectively rather than uniformly across all tiles, thereby reducing power consumption without compromising the rendering of visible content.

The patent implements local quality by applying different processing treatments to different regions of the frame buffer based on their content characteristics. Non-empty tiles receive full processing stages including rasterization, fragment shading, and output merging, while empty tiles receive reduced or no processing. This spatially varying processing quality optimizes power usage by concentrating computational resources only where needed.

The system performs processing stages partially by conditionally executing them based on tile content. Using early exit mechanisms such as determining tile emptiness through primitive bounding box checks or depth buffer sampling before full rasterization, the system skips processing stages for empty tiles while maintaining complete processing for non-empty tiles, thus reducing processing time without affecting display quality.

The patent applies preliminary action by performing early determination of tile emptiness before committing to full processing stages. Techniques include early Z-testing, primitive culling based on view frustum or back-face culling, and depth buffer analysis to identify empty tiles in advance. This preliminary classification allows the system to avoid unnecessary processing time on empty tiles while ensuring proper processing of tiles that will contribute to the final display.