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:
Jun. 27, 2006
Filed:
May. 31, 2000
Douglas A. Voorhies, Menlo Park, CA (US);
James M. Van Dyke, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Jim E. Margeson, Iii, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Douglas A. Voorhies, Menlo Park, CA (US);
James M. Van Dyke, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Jim E. Margeson, III, Santa Clara, CA (US);
NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for early Z-value based culling prior to pixel rendering in a graphics pipeline. In initial stages of processing, Z-value culling is performed on at least one pixel. Thereafter, the pixel is conditionally rendered. Whether the pixel is rendered or not is conditioned on results of the Z-value culling. By culling, or removing, the pixels that do not meet certain criteria prior to rendering, much processing is avoided in the rendering portion of the graphics pipeline.