Apparatus and method for simulating specular reflection in a computer graphics/imaging system
AssigneeReal 3D, Inc.
InventorWalter Robert Steiner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The final viewable color of each pixel to be displayed responsive to specular reflected illumination intensity from a polygon is determined by generating a data signal, setting a specular component of the present pixel illumination intensity for the associated color, as the product of the intensity of a light source illuminating the polygon, a specular coefficient for that polygon, and a shading term proportional to the exponentiation of the rendered Gouraud Shading Intensity (GSI) for each of a plurality of selected primary colors of a sequence of pixels to be displayed as defining that polygon, by S, a shininess exponent (S) specified for that polygon.
Claims20
A specular-reflected illumination color intensity data processing unit for a display processor in a real-time computer image generator, comprising:
- means for receiving separate input data signals characterizing (a) a specular coefficient (SC) for a polygon presently being rendered, (b) a shininess exponent (S) specified for said polygon, and (c) an intensity (I.sub.s) of a light source illuminating that polygon;
- means for receiving a Gouraud Shading Intensity (GSI) data signal for each of a plurality of pixels to be displayed as defining said polygon;
- and
- means for generating a data signal (SL) setting a specular-reflected component of the present pixel illumination intensity as the product of said light source intensity I.sub.s data signal and said specular coefficient (SC) data signal and a data signal for a shading term proportional to the exponentiation of GSI by S.
A method for determining the final viewable color of each pixel to be displayed by a display means responsive to specular-reflected illumination intensity from a polygon to be displayed by a real-time computer image generator, comprises the steps of:
- (1) receiving separate input data signals characterizing (a) a specular coefficient (SC) for a polygon presently being rendered, (b) a shininess exponent (S) specified for that polygon, and (c) an intensity (I.sub.s) of a light source illuminating that polygon;
- (2) inputting data for a rendered Gouraud Shading Intensity (GSI) value for each of a plurality of selected primary colors of a sequence of pixels to be displayed as defining that polygon,
- (3) generating a data signal (SL) setting a specular-reflection component of the present pixel illumination intensity for the associated color, as the product of:
- (x) the light source intensity I.sub.s data signal, (y) the specular coefficient (SC) data signal, and (z) a data signal for a shading term proportional to the exponentiation of GSI by S;
- and
- (4) displaying that pixel responsive to the specular-reflection color intensity data generated in step (3).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.