Multiple-level graphics processing system and method

Abstract

A multiple-level graphics processing system and method (e.g., of an operating system) for providing improved graphics output including, for example, smooth animation. One such multiple-level graphics processing system comprises two components, including a tick-on-demand or slow-tick high-level component, and a fast-tick (e.g., at the graphics hardware frame refresh rate) low-level component. In general, the high-level, less frequent component performs computationally intensive aspects of updating animation parameters and traversing scene data structures, in order to pass simplified data structures to the low-level component. The low-level component operates at a higher frequency, such as the frame refresh rate of the graphics subsystem, to process the data structures into constant output data for the graphics subsystem. The low-level processing includes interpolating any parameter intervals as necessary to obtain instantaneous values to render the scene for each frame of animation.