Apparatus, method and a computer program product for providing a unified graphics pipeline for stereoscopic rendering

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:
• receive vertices corresponding to one or more primitives;
• access viewpoint-dependent information corresponding to a plurality of viewpoints of a display based on the received vertices;
• calculate viewpoint-independent data for the plurality of viewpoints based on the received vertices to obtain viewpoint-independent calculation results, wherein the viewpoint-independent data is calculated a fewer number of times than the number of viewpoints;
• convert the received vertices into at least one primitive;
• replicate the at least one primitive a number of times according to the number of viewpoints to obtain a plurality of replicated primitives;
• include first identifier information, in association with each of the plurality of replicated primitives, the information specifies one of the plurality of viewpoints to which each of the plurality of replicated primitives corresponds;
• convert each of the plurality of replicated primitives to a plurality of pixels;
• and
• add second identifier information to each of the plurality of pixels, the second identifier information specifying a respective primitive and identifying a respective pixel buffer among a plurality of pixel buffers to which each of the plurality of pixels corresponds.

A method comprising:

• defining a projection matrix corresponding to a number of viewpoints of a display;
• replicating, via a processor, at least one primitive, based on received vertices, a number of times corresponding to the number of viewpoints to obtain a plurality of replicated primitives;
• assigning each of the plurality of replicated primitives a first identifier which specifies one of a plurality of viewpoints to which each of the replicated primitives corresponds;
• calculating viewpoint-dependent data based on vertices corresponding to each of the replicated primitives to obtain a plurality of viewpoint dependent calculation results, the first identifier specifying a respective viewpoint that is used in calculating the viewpoint-dependent data;
• converting each of the plurality of replicated primitives into a plurality of pixels, each of the plurality of pixels containing a second identifier which specifies one of the plurality of viewpoints to which each of the pixels corresponds;
• performing pixel processing on each of the plurality of pixels which comprises viewpoint-dependent calculations based on the second identifier;
• and
• outputting each of the plurality of pixels to a pixel buffer.

A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

• a first executable portion configured to cause receipt of vertices corresponding to one or more primitives;
• a second executable portion configured to access viewpoint-dependent information corresponding to a plurality of viewpoints of a display based on the received vertices;
• a third executable portion configured to calculate viewpoint-independent data for the plurality of viewpoints based on the received vertices to obtain viewpoint-independent calculation results, wherein viewpoint-independent data is calculated a fewer number of times than the number of viewpoints;
• a fourth executable portion configured to convert the received vertices into at least one primitive;
• a fifth executable portion configured to replicate the at least one primitive a number of times according to the number of viewpoints to obtain a plurality of replicated primitives;
• a sixth executable portion configured to include first identifier information, in association with each of the plurality of replicated primitives, the information specifies one of the plurality of viewpoints to which each of the plurality of replicated primitives corresponds;
• a seventh executable portion configured to convert each of the plurality of replicated primitives to a plurality of pixels;
• and
• an eighth executable portion configured to add second identifier information to each of the plurality of pixels, the second identifier information specifying a respective primitive and identifying a respective pixel buffer among a plurality of pixel buffers to which each of the plurality of pixels corresponds.

A method comprising:

• receiving vertices corresponding to at least one primitive;
• calling a call function corresponding to a graphics rendering framework, the call function relating to monoscopic graphics rendering;
• receiving the call function and determining whether the call function relates to transfer of an individual primitive among a plurality of primitives or an array of primitives;
• receiving each of the plurality of primitives and when the call function relates to transfer of an individual primitive among the plurality of primitives, tracking a vertex attribute of the individual primitive;
• replicating, via a processor, a received primitive, among the plurality of primitives, a number of times corresponding to a number of viewpoints of a display, wherein replicating comprises subtracting a predefined value from the plurality of viewpoints to obtain a first plurality of replicated primitives, the first plurality of replicated primitives being used to generate a first plurality of stereoscopic images;
• receiving the array of primitives when the call function relates to transfer of the array of primitives;
• and
• replicating the array of primitives a number of times by subtracting a predefined value from a plurality of received call functions which correspond to a number of viewpoints to obtain a second plurality of replicated primitives, the second plurality of replicated primitives being used to generate a second plurality of stereoscopic images.

A system comprising:

• with each of the plurality of replicated primitives, the information specifies one of the plurality of viewpoints to which each of the plurality of replicated primitives corresponds;
• means for converting each of the plurality of replicated primitives to a plurality of means for receiving vertices corresponding to one or more primitives;
• means for accessing viewpoint-dependent information corresponding to a plurality of viewpoints of a display based on the received vertices;
• means for calculating viewpoint-independent data for the plurality of viewpoints based on the received vertices to obtain viewpoint-independent calculation results, wherein viewpoint-independent data is calculated a fewer number of times than the number of viewpoints;
• means for converting the received vertices into at least one primitive;
• means for replicating the at least one primitive a number of times according to the number of viewpoints to obtain a plurality of primitives;
• means for including first identifier information, in association pixels;
• and
• means for adding second identifier information to each of the plurality of pixels, the second identifier information specifying a respective primitive and identifying a respective pixel buffer among a plurality of pixel buffers to which each of the plurality of pixels corresponds.