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. 29, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 22, 1995
Applicant:
Inventors:
Kurt Barton Akeley, Mountain View, CA (US);
Carroll Philip Gossett, Mountain View, CA (US);
Assignee:
Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06T / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
345419 ; 345422 ;
Abstract
A system and method for merging received pixel fragments with an existing fragment compares a depth range for the received fragment with a depth range for the existing fragment. If there is a range overlap, the new fragment is merged with the existing fragment for which there is overlap. If there is no range overlap, the new fragment is discarded. The merge operation can be performed for fragments received for a single surface, such as the nearest surface. Alternatively, the merge operation can be performed for fragments received for a plurality of surfaces.