Method and apparatus for displaying overlapped graphical objects using depth parameters

An apparatus for displaying graphics/image objects in a computer system with a display device, comprising:

• means, performed by the computer, for retrieving a plurality of objects to be displayed on the computer system;
• means, performed by the computer, for assigning a plurality of depth parameters to a plurality of parts of two overlapping objects to be displayed by an assignment procedure;
• and
• means, performed by the computer, for displaying the objects on the display device of the computer system in view of the assigned depth parameters, an overlapping region of the overlapping objects on the display device displayed by selecting one of the overlapping objects as a visible object based on the depth parameters assigned to the parts of the overlapping objects corresponding to the overlapping region.

A computer readable medium storing a computer program executable by a computer system with a display device to perform graphics processing method steps, the method comprising the steps of:

• retrieving a plurality of objects to be displayed on the computer system;
• assigning a plurality of depth parameters to a plurality of parts of two overlapping objects to be displayed by an assignment procedure;
• and
• displaying the overlapping objects on the display device of the computer system in view of the assigned depth parameters, an overlapping region of the overlapping objects on the display device displayed by selecting one of the overlapping objects as a visible object based on the depth parameters assigned to the parts of the overlapping objects corresponding to the overlapping region.