Partial Display Updates in a Windowing System Using a Programmable Graphics Processing Unit
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsRalph Brunner, John Harper
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Abstract
Techniques to generate partial display updates in a buffered window system in which arbitrary visual effects are permitted to any one or more windows (e.g., application-specific window buffers) are described. Once a display output region is identified for updating, the buffered window system is interrogated to determine which regions within each window, if any, may effect the identified output region. Such determination considers the consequences any filters associated with a window impose on the region needed to make the output update.
Claims16
A method to generate a display-wide visual effect using one or more processing units, comprising:
- copying content from an image buffer into a second buffer;
- filtering, using a graphics processing unit capable of executing a plurality of fragment programs in parallel, the second buffer's contents back into the image buffer to generate a specified visual effect, wherein the image buffer is associated with a system frame buffer;
- and
- compositing, using the graphics processing unit, an application-specific window buffer into the image buffer, wherein the act of compositing is performed by the graphics processing unit after the act of filtering.
A method to generate a display-wide visual effect, comprising:
- filtering first content from an application specific window buffer and second content from an image buffer into a second buffer to create third content using a graphics processing unit to generate a specified visual effect wherein the graphics processing unit is capable of executing a plurality of fragment programs in parallel;
- and
- transferring, using the graphics processing unit, the third content of the second buffer into the image buffer, said image buffer associated with a system frame buffer.
A method to generate a display-wide visual effect, comprising:
- compositing first content from an application specific window buffer into an image buffer to create second content, said image buffer associated with a system frame buffer;
- copying the second content from the image buffer into a second buffer to create third content;
- and
- filtering the third content in the second buffer into the image buffer using a graphics processing unit to generate a specified visual effect wherein the graphics processing unit is capable of executing a plurality of fragment programs in parallel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.