Texture Super Sampling for Low-Rate Shading Blocks

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Solution Overview

Problem

The processing load associated with calculating pixel shaders for each individual pixel in high-resolution images is large and resource-intensive, particularly with increasing resolutions, and reducing shader resolution can adversely affect texture resolution.

Innovation Solution

Implementing variable rate shading (VRS) to selectively reduce the shading rate in regions requiring less visual detail, while maintaining higher texture fidelity by sampling texture data at a higher rate for low-resolution shading blocks and applying the average texture samples to pixels within those blocks.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If shading resolution is reduced to decrease processing load, then processing efficiency is improved, but texture resolution deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprocessing efficiencyVSAvoidtexture resolution

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The image is divided into multiple shading blocks, where each block can have different shading rates applied. This segmentation allows selective reduction of shading resolution in certain regions while maintaining higher resolution in others, thus balancing processing efficiency with texture quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different regions of the image are assigned different shading rates based on their visual importance. Critical regions maintain higher shading resolution to preserve texture fidelity, while less important regions use lower shading rates to reduce processing load, achieving local optimization of both quality and performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Loss of energy

If shading rate is reduced for performance improvement, then processing load decreases, but visual quality deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprocessing loadVSAvoidvisual quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The shading rate is made dynamic and adaptive rather than uniform across the entire image. The system dynamically adjusts shading rates for different shading blocks based on real-time assessment of visual importance, allowing flexible optimization of processing load while maintaining visual quality where needed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses metrics to assess visual importance of different regions and provides feedback to adjust shading rates accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures that visual quality is maintained in important regions while allowing processing load reduction in less critical areas.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11804008B2Systems and methods of texture super sampling for low-rate shading

Publication Date: 2023.10.31 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A method of rendering image frames on a computing system includes rendering an initial frame having a plurality of pixels and determining a low-resolution shading rate for at least one object in the frame or at least a portion of the frame based on at least one metric of the initial frame. The method further includes identifying a shading block having a plurality of pixels based on the low-resolution shading rate and sampling a texture data of the surface associated with the shading block wherein a texture sampling rate is at least two. The average of the texture samples is then applied to the pixels associated with the shading block. The method further includes shading the pixels in the shading block and displaying an output frame on a display device.