Virtual reality apparatus and method including prioritized pixel shader operations, alternate eye rendering, and/or augmented timewarp

Abstract

An apparatus and method are described for performing an early depth test on graphics data. For example, one embodiment of a graphics processing apparatus comprises: early depth test circuitry to perform an early depth test on blocks of pixels to determine whether all pixels in the block of pixels can be resolved by the early depth test; a plurality of execution circuits to execute pixel shading operations on the blocks of pixels; and a scheduler circuit to schedule the blocks of pixels for the pixel shading operations, the scheduler circuit to prioritize the blocks of pixels in accordance with the determination as to whether all pixels in the block of pixels can be resolved by the early depth test.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.