Binning pass with hierarchical depth data determination

A method comprising:

• for each primitive of a plurality of primitives of an image to be rendered, generating a bounding box for the primitive;
• for each tile of a plurality of tiles of the image within the bounding box:
• in response to determining a predetermined threshold percentage of the tile being covered by the primitive, passing depth data of the primitive in the tile to a depth buffer used to render the primitive;
• and
• in response to the predetermined threshold percentage of the tile not being covered by the primitive, rejecting the depth data of the primitive in the tile such that the depth data is not passed to the depth buffer.

An accelerated processing unit, comprising:

• a plurality of processor cores including circuitry configured to:
• for each primitive of a plurality of primitives of an image to be rendered:
• in response to a predetermined threshold percentage of a tile of the image being covered by the primitive, pass depth data of the primitive in the tile to a depth buffer;
• and
• in response to the predetermined threshold percentage of the tile not being covered by the primitive, reject the depth data of the primitive in the tile such that the depth data of the primitives in the tile is not passed to the depth buffer;
• and
• render the primitive based on the depth data in the depth buffer.