System, Method, and apparatus for early culling
AssigneeATI Technologies, Inc.
InventorStephen L. Morein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of graphics processing includes determining a non-depth conditional status and an occlusion status of a fragment. Such a method may be used in culling occluded fragments before expending resources such as processing cycles and memory bus usage. In one example, a scratchpad stores depth values of robust fragments and is used for occlusion testing. Graphics architectures, and methods that include use of representative Z values, are also disclosed.
Claims44
A method of graphics processing, said method comprising:
- determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment corresponding to a pixel;
- determining that a scratchpad contains an entry mapped to the pixel;
- and
- comparing a first value of the fragment to a value of the entry,
- wherein determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment includes determining whether incorporation of a second value of the fragment into the pixel is conditional on a non-depth criterion.
A method of graphics processing, said method comprising:
- determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment corresponding to a pixel;
- determining whether a scratchpad contains an entry mapped to the pixel;
- and
- if the scratchpad contains an entry mapped to the pixel, comparing a first value of the fragment to a value of the entry, and otherwise altering a portion of the scratchpad,
- wherein determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment includes determining whether incorporation of a second value of the fragment into the pixel is conditional on a non-depth criterion.
A method of graphics processing, said method comprising:
- determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment corresponding to a pixel;
- and
- determining an occlusion status of the fragment,
- wherein determining a non-depth conditional status of a fragment includes determining whether incorporation of a color value of the fragment into the pixel is conditional on a non-depth criterion.
A graphics architecture comprising:
- an early culler configured and arranged to receive a fragment corresponding to a pixel;
- and
- a scratchpad configured and arranged to store a value of an entry mapped to the pixel,
- wherein the early culler is further configured and arranged to compare a first value of the fragment to the value of the entry, and
- wherein the early culler is further configured and arranged to determine whether incorporation of a second value of the fragment into the pixel is conditional on a non-depth criterion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.