Method, system, and computer program for visually approximating scattered data

A system for visually approximating a scatter plot of data points, comprising:

• means for binning the data points into bins;
• means for determining a bin position for each bin;
• means for determining a count of data points in each bin;
• and
• means for rendering splats at bin positions of corresponding bins, each splat having an opacity that is a function of said count of data points in a corresponding bin, whereby, a splat plot can be displayed that visually approximates the scatter plot of data points.

A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a graphics processor in a computer system to visually approximate a scatter plot of data points, said computer program logic comprising:

• means for enabling the graphics processor to bin the data points into bins;
• means for enabling the graphics processor to determine a bin position for each bin;
• means for enabling the graphics processor to determine a count of data points in each bin;
• and
• means for enabling the graphics processor to render splats at bin locations of corresponding bins, each splat having an opacity that is a function of said count of data points in a corresponding bin, whereby, a splat plot can be displayed that visually approximates the scatter plot of data points.

A method for visually approximating a scatter plot of data points, comprising the steps of:

• binning the data points into bins;
• determining a bin position for each bin;
• and
• volume rendering at bin positions of corresponding bins.