The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 22, 1987
Filed:
Jan. 28, 1987
William M Bunker, Ormond Beach, FL (US);
Donald M Merz, Ormond Beach, FL (US);
General Electric Company, Philadelphia, PA (US);
Abstract
A method for computer image generation producing simulated visual scenes for applications such as flight training, employing a comprehensive distortion correction to generate the image takes place in three sequential stages: Controller, Geometry Processor, and Display Processor. The Display Processor generates video to produce the desired scene on the raster of the display device. If the scene is projected through a wide-angle lens and/or is projected onto a curved screen, the combination of optical and geometric distortion presents a highly distorted scene to the viewer. The comprehensive distortion correction method produces a precisely predistorted scene on the projector raster so it appears valid to the viewer. Mapping between projector space and viewer space is highly nonlinear. However, a small region of the display (span) is selected sufficiently small so that the projector/viewer transformation may be considered linear. The Geometry Processor defines face edges in viewer space and maps edge vertices into projector space. In the Display Processor detection of spans intersected by a given face is done in viewer space using the mapped span corners and edge coefficients defined by the Geometry Processor. Edge to span corner distances are determined in viewer space. This produces a piecewise linear approximation to the curves which exact mapping would provide. The edges are continuous at span boundaries and have slope discontinuities so small as to be imperceptable. The resulting scene appears fully valid to the viewer, with all distortions corrected.