System and method for filtering graphics data on scanout to a monitor

A circuit for filtering oversampled data, the circuit comprising:

• a memory interface configured to read data values from a frame buffer containing the oversampled data;
• a latency buffer configured to receive the data values from the memory interface and to provide a set of data values corresponding to a group of sample points;
• a line store configured to receive sets of data values from the latency buffer and to store at least a subset of the data values;
• and
• a filter configured to receive a first set of data values corresponding to a current group of samples from the latency buffer and a second set of data values corresponding to a previous group of samples from the line store, to compute a pixel value using data values from the current set of data values and the previous set of data values, and to transmit the pixel value for displaying by a display device, wherein the filter computes the pixel value during a scanout operation.

A circuit for decompressing and filtering oversampled data, the circuit comprising:

• a latency buffer configured to accept oversampled data from a frame buffer;
• a memory configured to store a plurality of compression bits indicating which sections of the oversampled data in the frame buffer are compressed;
• a decompression unit configured to receive the oversampled data from the latency buffer and the compression bits from the memory and further configured to decompress the oversampled data when one of the compression bits indicates that the oversampled data is compressed;
• and
• a filter configured to compute a pixel value from a plurality of sample values provided by the decompression unit, the sample values including at least a portion of the decompressed data, and to transmit the pixel value for displaying by a display device, wherein the filter computes the pixel value during a scanout operation.

A circuit for filtering oversampled data stored in a frame buffer, the circuit comprising:

• a memory configured to store a plurality of compression bits indicating which sections of the data in the frame buffer are compressed;
• a decompression unit configured to receive data from the frame buffer and the compression bits from the memory and further configured to decompress the received data when the compression bits indicate that the received data is compressed;
• a line store configured to store at least a subset of the decompressed data;
• and
• a filter configured to receive at least one current data value from the decompression unit and at least one previous data value from the line store, to compute a pixel value from the at least one current data value and the at least one previous data value, and to transmit the pixel value for displaying by the display device, wherein the filter computes the pixel value during a scanout operation.

A circuit for filtering oversampled data stored in a frame buffer, comprising:

• a memory configured to store a plurality of compression bits indicating which sections of the data in the frame buffer are compressed;
• a cache configured to store data received from the frame buffer;
• a decompression unit configured to receive cache data from the cache and the compression bits from the memory and further configured to decompress the received cache data when the compression flag indicates that the data is compressed;
• and
• a filter configured to compute a pixel value from sample data, the sample data including at least a portion of the decompressed data, and to transmit the pixel value for displaying by a display device, wherein the filter computes the pixel value during a scanout operation.

A system for generating graphical image data to be displayed, comprising:

• a graphics processor configured to generate oversampled data representing an image and to store the oversampled data in a frame buffer;
• a memory interface configured to fetch data values from the frame buffer;
• and
• a display pipe configured to perform a scanout operation, the display pipe comprising:
• a latency buffer configured to receive data values from the memory interface and to provide groups of data values corresponding to a set of sample points;
• and
• a filter configured to receive the groups of data values from the latency buffer, to compute a pixel value from the data values and to transmit the pixel value for displaying by a display device, wherein the filter computes the pixel value during a scanout operation.

A method for filtering oversampled data during a scanout operation, comprising:

• reading the oversampled data from a frame buffer;
• computing a weighted average of a plurality of values selected from the oversampled data, thereby obtaining a pixel value;
• and
• transmitting the pixel value for displaying by a display device.