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AssigneeNintendo Co., Ltd.
InventorsFarhad Fouladi, Mark M. Leather, Robert Moore, Howard Cheng, Timothy J. Van Hook
Estimating the term…
A graphics system including a custom graphics and audio processor produces exciting 2D and 3D graphics and surround sound. The system includes a graphics and audio processor including a 3D graphics pipeline and an audio digital signal processor. The graphics processor includes an embedded frame buffer for storing frame data prior to sending the frame data to an external location, such as main memory. A copy pipeline is provided which converts the data from one format to another format prior to writing the data to the external location. The conversion may be from one RGB color format to another RGB color format, from one YUV format to another YUV format, from an RGB color format to a YUV color format, or from a YUV color format to an RGB color format. The formatted data is either transferred to a display buffer, for use by the video interface, or to a texture buffer, for use as a texture by the graphics pipeline in a subsequent rendering process.
A method of reducing an amount of storage space required for storing image data in main memory in a graphics processing system while increasing main memory bandwidth when displaying image data from a frame buffer located in said main memory, said graphics processing system including a graphics processing chip having an embedded first frame buffer memory and a separate non-embedded second frame buffer in a main memory provided separate from said graphics processing chip, comprising:
A graphics system including a main processor, an associated graphics system main memory and a separate graphics coprocessor chip having graphics processing pipeline circuitry and an on-chip embedded frame buffer memory, said graphics system main memory being separate memory that is not embedded on a same graphics coprocessor chip as graphics processing pipeline circuitry, comprising:
In a graphics system including a main processor and a pipelined architecture graphics coprocessor having an embedded frame buffer memory, the embedded frame buffer memory instantiated on a same semiconductor chip substrate as at least a portion of a graphics processing pipeline, and an external texture buffer residing within a main memory of said graphics system, said main memory being configured on one or more semiconductor chips separate from a semiconductor chip containing said graphics processing pipeline, a pixel data copy-out process for copying pixel data from said embedded frame buffer memory to said external texture buffer wherein said copy-out process performs predetermined pixel data conversion and/or filtering operations during transferring of pixel data from said embedded frame buffer to said external texture buffer, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.