JP2003123082A - Device and method for image processing and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor and method capable of efficient processing in drawing processing of unit graphic. SOLUTION: In a configuration for performing drawing processing of unit graphic, for example, in which polygons, etc., continue, integration processing of area data that are simultaneously processable is conducted to perform drawing. The number of effective pixels within a processable unit area is increased in one processing the number of pieces of area data can be reduced, and the efficiency of drawing processing is accomplished. In continuous drawing processing for polygons, rectangular area data corresponding to each polygon are integrated to generate one piece of rectangular area data and processing is carried out about a unit area existing in an adjacent side of an adjacent polygon, for example, a rectangular area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing device such as a graphics operation device, an image processing method, and a computer program. Specifically, in a configuration for performing continuous drawing processing of unit figures, the number of effective pixels occupied in the processing unit area is calculated by integrating the processing unit areas of the drawing processing among a plurality of unit figures and executing the processing collectively. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer program capable of increasing the number of unit area data and efficiently drawing an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, "computer graphics" (CG) technology has been popular in which computer resources are used to create and process graphics and images, in combination with the improvement of calculation speed and the enhancement of drawing functions in computer systems. Study
It has been developed and put into practical use.

For example, in three-dimensional graphics, an optical phenomenon when a three-dimensional object is illuminated by a predetermined light source is represented by a mathematical model, and the surface of the object is shaded or shaded based on the mathematical model. By attaching a pattern, a more realistic and three-dimensional two-dimensional high-definition image is generated. Computer graphics are used in CAD / CAD in development fields such as science, engineering, and manufacturing.
It is becoming more and more widely used in CAM and other various application fields.

Three-dimensional graphics are generally composed of a "geometry subsystem" positioned as a front end and a "raster subsystem" positioned as a back end.

The geometry subsystem is a process of performing geometrical arithmetic processing such as the position and orientation of a three-dimensional object displayed on a display screen. In the geometry subsystem, an object is generally treated as an aggregate of a large number of polygons, and geometric calculation processing such as “coordinate conversion”, “clipping”, and “light source calculation” is performed for each polygon.

The raster subsystem, on the other hand, is the process of painting each pixel that makes up an object. The rasterization process is realized, for example, by interpolating the image parameters of all the pixels included in the polygon based on the image parameter obtained for each vertex of the polygon. The image parameters mentioned here include colors represented in RGB format (drawing color).
There are data, a Z value representing a distance in the depth direction, and the like. Also, in recent high-definition 3D graphics processing, f (fog) for creating a perspective, and texture t (tex for giving a sense of reality by expressing the texture and pattern of the object surface.
(ture) and the like are also included as one of the image parameters.

Here, in the pixel generation processing inside the polygon based on the vertex information of the polygon, DDA (Digital Di
fferential analyzer) is performed by using a linear interpolation method. In the DDA process, the inclination of the data in the side direction of the polygon is obtained from the vertex information, the data on the side is calculated using this inclination, then the inclination in the raster scanning direction (X direction) is calculated, and this inclination is calculated. The internal pixel is generated by adding the change amount of the parameter obtained from the parameter value of the scanning start point.

At this time, there is a method in which a plurality of pixels are simultaneously generated by scanning in a unit of area instead of scanning in a unit of one pixel. As one of them, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-338959 (Japanese Patent Application No. 11-15
2702). The method described in this publication improves the drawing speed of pixels by generating pixels for each area within a rectangle and performing the processing at the same time, and collectively passing the pixels in the area of the rectangle as rectangular area data to subsequent processing. It was made.

[0009]

However, for example, a three-dimensional model is expressed as a combination of polygons (triangles) that are unit figures, and the drawing processing of this polygon is performed by applying the above-described pixel processing in units of rectangular areas. Attempts to do so may reduce the efficiency of the process.

Description will be made with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 (a)
As shown in FIG.
It is assumed that two rectangular areas (for example, rectangular area 501) are set. At this time, as shown in the figure, the polygon (triangle) that is the unit figure of the stereo model that is the drawing processing target is
It is assumed that there are two polygons 502 and 503.

The polygon 502 includes four pixels on the left side of the rectangular area 501 as a drawing area, and the polygon 5
03 includes 3 pixels on the right side of the rectangular area 501 as a drawing area. At this time, the conventional drawing apparatus uses the polygon 5
02 is drawn and the polygon 503 is drawn separately. Therefore, even for the same rectangle, that is, for pixels included in the rectangular area 501, the processing is executed twice, when the polygon 502 is drawn and when the polygon 503 is drawn.

That is, as shown in FIG. 15B, in the process of drawing the polygon 502, the process for four pixels in the rectangular area 501 which is the processing unit area for pixel generation is executed, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. As shown in c), in the process of drawing the polygon 503, the process for three pixels in the rectangular area 501 is executed. In this way, although two rectangular area data can be actually combined into one rectangular area data, two rectangular area data are generated individually, the amount of processing data is increased, and the pixel generation configuration is performed in each area. There is a problem in that it hinders the improvement of processing efficiency.

The example shown in FIG. 15 is an example in which two polygons (triangles) are included in the pixel generation unit area. However, when more polygons (triangles) are included, the processing efficiency is improved. The problem of reduction becomes even more pronounced.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a case in which five unit graphics polygons (triangles) are included in a pixel generation unit area. In FIG. 16, it is assumed that a 4 × 2 rectangular area (for example, rectangular area 601) is set as a pixel generation unit area. At this time, as shown in the figure, the polygon that is the unit figure of the three-dimensional model that is the drawing processing target,
5 of polygons 611, 612, 623, 614, 615
It is assumed that these all have drawing pixels in the rectangular area 601.

In such a case, the conventional drawing apparatus processes each polygon (triangle). That is,
As shown in FIG. 16B, in the process of drawing the polygon 611, the process for one pixel in the rectangular area 601 is executed, and then the process of drawing the polygon 612 as shown in FIG. 16C. In FIG. 16D, the processing is performed for two pixels in the rectangular area 601, and in the drawing processing of the polygon 613 shown in FIG. 16D, one pixel in the rectangular area 601 and the polygon 614 shown in FIG. In the drawing process, the rectangular area 60
1 pixel in 1 and the polygon 615 shown in FIG.
In the drawing processing of, the processing for the three pixels in the rectangular area 601 is sequentially executed.

As described above, although the rectangular area data can actually be put together into one rectangular area data, the five rectangular area data are individually generated, the amount of processed data increases, and the pixel in area unit is increased. There is a problem that the improvement of the processing efficiency due to the generation configuration is significantly hindered.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and in a configuration for executing continuous drawing processing of unit figures, the processing unit areas of the drawing processing are integrated and collectively processed in a plurality of unit figures. By increasing the number of effective pixels in the processing unit area and reducing the number of unit area data, it is possible to efficiently draw an image, an image processing method, and a computer. -The purpose is to provide a program.

[0018]

The first aspect of the present invention is as follows.
In an image processing apparatus that divides a drawing processing target model into unit figures and generates pixels in the drawing target area of the screen coordinate system to perform drawing processing, the pixel attribute value for each processing unit area included in the unit figure is calculated. In the case where the processing unit area data generation means for calculating the processing unit area data and the plurality of processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation means have the same position information, the processing unit area data And a processing unit area data integration unit that executes integration processing.

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further determines a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on the adjacency relationship between different unit figures. The processing unit area data generating means includes a plurality of processing unit area data generating means capable of parallel processing, and the drawing order determining means includes processing including an adjacent side between two unit figures. In the plurality of processing unit area data generating means, either one of the unit area and the processing unit area data generation processing for the processing unit area of the non-adjacent portion not including the adjacent side between the two unit figures is performed. It is characterized in that the drawing order determination processing is executed so as to be executed in parallel.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further draws a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on the adjacency relationship between different unit figures. The drawing order determining means sets the drawing processing procedure of one unit figure as the order of the adjoining portion with the preceding processing unit figure, the non-adjacent portion, and the adjoining portion with the subsequent processing unit figure. It is characterized in that it is configured to execute processing.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further determines a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on the adjacency relationship between different unit figures. The drawing order deciding means has a configuration for setting the drawing order of the region including the side as the boundary of the unit graphic in either a clockwise or counterclockwise loop shape. And

Further, in one embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the processing unit area data integrating means has the same position information in the processing unit area data generated by the processing unit area data generating means, and It is characterized in that the processing unit area data is integrated into one processing unit area data under the condition that the effective pixel positions in the processing unit area do not overlap.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image processing apparatus has unit area data storage means for storing the processing unit area data generated by the processing unit area data generation means, The processing unit area data integration unit is configured to determine integration possibility based on position information of a plurality of processing unit area data stored in the unit area data storage unit.

Further, in one embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the drawing processing target model is a three-dimensional model, and the unit graphic is a polygon.

Further, a second aspect of the present invention is the image processing method, wherein the drawing processing target model is divided into unit figures and pixels are generated in the drawing target area of the screen coordinate system to perform the drawing processing. The processing unit area data generating step of calculating the pixel attribute value for each processing unit area included in the unit graphic as the processing unit area data and the plurality of processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generating step are at the same position. And a processing unit area data integration step of performing integration processing of the plurality of processing unit area data when the information processing apparatus has the information.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the image processing method further comprises drawing for determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures. And a step of determining the processing unit area data, wherein the processing unit area data generation step is executed by a plurality of processing unit area data generation means capable of parallel processing, and the drawing order determination step includes processing including an adjacent side between two unit figures. In the plurality of processing unit area data generating means, either one of the unit area and the processing unit area data generation processing for the processing unit area of the non-adjacent portion not including the adjacent side between the two unit figures is performed. It is characterized in that the drawing order determination processing is executed so as to be executed in parallel.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the image processing method further comprises drawing for determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating step based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures. There is an order determining step, and the drawing order determining step sets a drawing processing procedure of one unit figure as an order of an adjacent portion with a preceding processing unit figure, a non-adjacent portion, and an adjacent portion with a subsequent processing unit figure. It is characterized by executing processing.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the image processing method further comprises drawing for determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating step based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures. The method further comprises an order determining step, and the drawing order determining step sets the drawing order of the region including the side as the boundary of the unit graphic in either a clockwise or a counterclockwise loop.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the processing unit area data integration step comprises:
A plurality of processing unit area data are processed into one processing unit provided that the processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation step have the same position information and the effective pixel positions in the processing unit area do not overlap. It is characterized in that a process of integrating with the region data is executed.

Further, in an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the image processing method further comprises a unit area data storing step of storing the processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generating step in a storage means. In the processing unit area data integrating step, the integration possibility is determined based on the position information of the plurality of processing unit area data stored in the unit area data storing step.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, the drawing processing target model is a three-dimensional model, and the unit graphic is a polygon.

Further, a third aspect of the present invention is a computer system for performing image processing in which a drawing processing target model is divided into unit figures and pixels are generated in a drawing target area of a screen coordinate system to perform drawing processing. A computer program to be executed on the above, wherein the processing unit area data generation step of calculating a pixel attribute value for each processing unit area included in the unit graphic as processing unit area data, and the processing unit area data generation step A plurality of processing unit area data having the same position information, a processing unit area data integration step for executing an integration processing of the plurality of processing unit area data, and a computer program. It is in.

The computer program of the present invention is, for example, a storage medium or communication medium provided in a computer-readable format for a general-purpose computer system capable of executing various program codes, such as a CD or FD. , MO, etc., or a computer program that can be provided by a communication medium such as a network. By providing such a program in a computer-readable format, processing according to the program is realized on the computer system.

Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention are as follows.
It will be clarified by a more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described below and the accompanying drawings. In this specification, the system is a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices, and is not limited to a device in which each configuration is provided in the same housing.

[0035]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, as a specific example of the image processing apparatus, a desired three-dimensional image for an arbitrary three-dimensional object model, which is applied to a home game machine or the like, is displayed at high speed on a display such as a CRT. A three-dimensional computer graphics system will be described. The image processing apparatus has a configuration in which a three-dimensional object model as a drawing processing target model is divided into polygons as unit figures, and pixels are generated in a drawing target area of a screen coordinate system to perform drawing processing. In the present embodiment, an example is described in which the unit figure is a triangular polygon, but the unit figure is not limited to a triangle, and any unit figure having a curved surface or the like can be adopted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a three-dimensional computer graphics system 1 of this embodiment. The three-dimensional computer graphics system 1 represents a three-dimensional model as a combination of polygons (triangles) that are unit figures, determines the color of each pixel on the display screen by drawing this polygon, and renders the polygon on a display. It is a system that does. Further, in the three-dimensional computer graphics system 1, in addition to the (x, y) coordinates that represent the position on the plane, the z coordinate that represents the depth is used to represent the three-dimensional object, and this (x, y, z) An arbitrary point in the three-dimensional space is specified by the three coordinates.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the three-dimensional computer graphics system 1, a main memory 2, an I / O interface circuit 3, a main processor 4, and a rendering circuit 5 are connected via a main bus 6.

The function of each component will be described below. The main processor 4 reads out necessary graphics data from the main memory 2 in accordance with, for example, a process based on a user input via the I / O interface circuit 3, or a program processing situation, for example, a game progress situation, and the like. For Clipping processing, Lighting processing,
And polygon (Geometry) processing is performed to generate polygon rendering data.

The main processor 4 sends the polygon rendering data to the rendering circuit 5 via the main bus 6.
Output to. The I / O interface circuit 3 inputs polygon rendering data from the outside as necessary,
This is output to the rendering circuit 5 via the main bus 6. Here, the polygon rendering data includes x, y, and z coordinates of each of the three vertices of the polygon, color information, and fog (fog:
It has fog values, texture coordinates, etc.

The rendering circuit 5 will be described in detail below. As shown in FIG. 1, the rendering circuit 5 is
It has a DDA setup circuit 11, a triangle DDA circuit 12, a texture engine circuit 13, a memory interface circuit 14, a graphics memory 15, and a display controller circuit 16.

The DDA setup circuit 11 is connected to the main bus 6 and the triangle DDA circuit 12, and in the subsequent triangle DDA circuit 12, from the coordinate value of the three vertices of the polygon, the color, the fog value, and the texture coordinate, for each pixel. As a previous process for obtaining the coordinate value, the color, the fog value, and the texture coordinate, the change amount in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is obtained for each value. Specifically, from the value of the start point, the value of the end point, and the distance between the start point and the end point,
The variation (DDA setup data) for the unit length is calculated. The calculated value is output to the triangle DDA circuit 12.

The triangle DDA circuit 12 is a DDA
It is connected to the setup circuit 11 and the texture engine circuit 13, and in the order based on the polygon drawing order data,
The value input from the DDA setup circuit 11 (DDA
Based on the setup data), the coordinate values, colors, and
A process of collectively obtaining fog values and texture coordinates is performed. In this embodiment, an area having a plurality of pixels to be collectively processed, that is, a processing unit area is a 2 × 4 rectangular area of 8 pixels. The data obtained by collecting the plurality of pixels is called rectangular area data. The rectangular area data has position information of coordinates at which the rectangular area data is drawn.

When drawing the vicinity of the boundary of a polygon, the rectangular area data has 8 effective pixels in the rectangular area.
Not necessarily one. That is, only the pixels inside the polygon (triangle) are the effective pixels in the 2 × 4 8-pixel rectangular region as the processing unit region in the portion extending over the sides of the polygon (triangle).

The triangle DDA circuit 12 performs a data integration process based on the position information of the rectangular area data when the rectangular area data can be integrated. As for integration, rectangular area data included in different polygons (triangles)
It is carried out when the pixels have the same position information and the effective pixels do not overlap. FIG. 2 shows the case where two rectangular area data are integrated, and FIG. 3 shows the case where five rectangular area data are integrated.
Shown in.

In FIG. 2, a drawing area of a polygon (triangle) 111 includes a rectangular area 121 as a processing unit area, and drawing areas of other polygons (triangles) 112 include a rectangular area 122 as a processing unit area. 3 shows an example of processing of the triangle DDA circuit 12 in the case where the position information corresponding to the rectangular area 121 and the position information corresponding to the rectangular area 122 are the same position information. These two rectangular area data are integrated to generate rectangular area data of the rectangular area 120.

In FIG. 3, the drawing area of the polygon (triangle) 131 includes a rectangular area 141 as a processing unit area, and the drawing area of the polygon (triangle) 132 includes a rectangular area 142 as a processing unit area. ) 133
Of the polygon (triangle) 134 includes a rectangular area 144 as a processing unit area, and the drawing area of the polygon (triangle) 134 includes a rectangular area 144 of the polygon (triangle).
A rectangular area 14 as a processing unit area in the drawing area 135
5 shows a processing example of the triangle DDA circuit 12 when 5 is included.
When the position information corresponding to each of the rectangular areas 141 to 145 is the same position information, the rectangular area data of the rectangular area 140 is generated as a processing unit area in which these five rectangular area data are integrated.

FIG. 4 is a detailed configuration diagram of the triangle DDA circuit 12. The triangle DDA circuit 12
Drawing order determination means 40, storage means 49, rectangular area data generation means 41, rectangular area data generation means 42, adjacent side mode register 43, adjacent side mode register 44, mode end register 45, mode end register 46, rectangular area data integration. It has a means 47 and a rectangular area data storage means 48.

The drawing order determination means 40 is connected to the DDA setup circuit 11 and the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42, and the input value (D
Based on the DA setup data), processing for determining the drawing processing order in the rectangular area data generation means 41, 42 in the subsequent stage is executed.

The drawing order determining means 40 that has received the DDA setup data from the DDA setup circuit 11 executes the rectangular area data generation processing executed as the drawing processing in the rectangular area data generation circuits 41 and 42 in the subsequent stage based on the received data. Determine the order.

The drawing order determining means 40 determines the drawing order for one polygon as follows. The first processing area is the side adjacent to the preceding processing polygon drawn before the drawing processing target polygon. The next processing area is a portion surrounded by three sides forming a polygon (triangle) in a polygon that is not adjacent to another polygon, and the last processing area is a subsequent drawing drawn after the drawing processing target polygon. The adjacent side to the processing polygon.
The drawing order is determined in this order. Further, in processing a side where a plurality of polygons are adjacent to each other, polygon drawing order data is generated so that the directions in which the adjacent polygons are drawn are the same.

A specific processing example of the drawing order determining method executed by the drawing order determining means 40 will be described. For example, the direction of drawing the sides of the polygon is set so that all three sides are clockwise or counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 5, for example. The drawing order of polygons is uniquely determined by the drawing direction of the adjacent side of the preceding processing polygon drawn before the drawing processing target polygon. The drawing order of continuous polygons will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, a case where three adjacent polygons 61, 62, 63 are drawn will be described. When these three polygons are drawn in order of the polygon 61, the polygon 62, and the polygon 63, when the drawing of the polygon 61 is completed, the drawing of the next polygon 62 is executed. The drawing order of the polygon 62 is the adjacent side 6 to the preceding processing polygon 61 to be drawn first.
4, portions 65 and 66 surrounded by non-adjacent sides and three sides, and finally, an adjoining side 67 of a subsequent processing polygon drawn after the polygon.

As described above, the drawing processing order of one polygon is the order of the adjoining portion with the preceding processing polygon, the non-adjacent portion, and the adjoining portion with the subsequent processing polygon. The order of processing the two regions, that is, the regions 65 and 66 surrounded by the non-adjacent side and the three sides is arbitrary, and the region 65 may be processed first and the region 66 may be processed later, or vice versa. Further, the areas 65 and 66 may be drawn together.

A polygon having no adjacent side to the preceding processing polygon drawn before the drawing processing target polygon but having an adjacent side to the subsequent processing polygon drawn after the drawing processing target polygon is the drawing order. It is determined from the side adjacent to the subsequent processing polygon drawn after the target polygon. When there is no adjacent side with both the preceding processing polygon and the succeeding processing polygon, it is determined that the drawing is performed in a predetermined order, for example, from the vertex with the maximum Y coordinate to the vertex with the minimum Y coordinate first.

The drawing order determination means 40 has a storage means 49, and in the storage means 49, the DDA setup data corresponding to each polygon input from the DDA setup circuit 11 and the drawing order determination corresponding to the polygon. Means 40
The drawing order data calculated and determined in (3) or the drawing order data before being determined in the calculation process is stored. As described above, in order to determine the drawing order of polygons, the relational data of the adjacent side with the subsequent processing polygon is required. Therefore, the storage unit 49 stores 1 of the drawing order determination target polygons input to the drawing order determination unit 40 to determine the drawing order.
The DDA setup data regarding the immediately preceding polygon to be processed and the temporary drawing order data before being determined are also held.

When the DDA setup circuit 11 inputs the DDA setup data corresponding to one polygon to be rendered, to the rendering order determination means 40,
First, the side adjacent to the pre-processed polygon stored in the storage unit 49 is examined, and the drawing order data corresponding to the input DDA setup data is calculated.

As described above, the calculation of the drawing order data is determined in the order of the adjoining portion with the preceding processing polygon, the non-adjacent portion, and the adjoining portion with the subsequent processing polygon. That is, the drawing processing procedure of the preceding polygon is finally determined by clarifying the adjacency relationship with the succeeding polygon. Therefore, the DDA setup data and the drawing order data corresponding to the preceding processing polygon stored in the storage unit 49 are determined by the drawing order determining unit 40 in the drawing order determining process of the subsequent polygon, and the adjacent side of the subsequent polygon is determined. It becomes necessary to make it clear, and the drawing order data corresponding to the polygons stored in the storage means 49 will be finally decided in the drawing order calculation processing of the subsequent polygons.

The drawing order determining means 40 determines the drawing order data by the above processing and stores the DD in the storage means 49.
The A setup data and the determined drawing order data are output to the rectangular area data generation means 41 or 42. Further, the drawing order determination means 40 is used by the rectangular area data generation means 4
The DDA setup data corresponding to the processing polygon next to the polygon corresponding to the data output to 1 or 42, and the provisionally determined drawing order data corresponding thereto are stored in the storage means 49, and thereafter, the DDA setup is performed. The storage means 4 is based on the data input from the circuit 11.
The polygon drawing order stored in 9 is fixed, and the fixed drawing order data is output to the rectangular area data generation means 41 or 42. The drawing order determination means 40 repeatedly executes these processes.

The rectangular area data generating means 41 and 42 for generating processing unit area data in the triangle DDA circuit shown in FIG. 4 scan polygons in units of rectangular areas, and the inside of the polygons in the rectangular areas are scanned. Rectangular area data generation is performed in which pixel attribute values such as coordinate values, colors, fog values, and texture coordinates for a plurality of pixels are obtained as processing unit area data. The scanning is performed in any direction with respect to any side, and also with respect to a portion that is not a side. The rectangular area data generation means 41, 42 are processing unit area data generation means capable of parallel processing. here,
Although two parallel processing examples are shown, three or more parallel processing means may be provided.

A specific example of the rectangular area data generation processing executed by the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 will be described with reference to FIG. Each polygon is drawn by processing unit area data in a rectangular area as one or more processing unit areas included in the polygon, that is, coordinate values, colors of pixels included in the rectangular area as a processing unit area,
This is performed as a process for obtaining pixel attribute values such as fog values and texture coordinates. As shown in FIG. 7, one polygon 70 may be shared by a plurality of sides 75 and 76 like rectangular areas 71 and 72. However, the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 form one polygon 70. In a polygon, rectangular area data whose coordinates do not overlap is generated.

For example, when drawing a side, it is decided to generate rectangular area data from the rectangular area including the start vertex of the side to immediately before the rectangular area including the end vertex of the side. According to this rule, the direction of drawing the side is either a clockwise or counterclockwise loop as shown in FIG.
The rectangular area as the processing unit area shared by the two sides is drawn as the side for drawing the front side in the loop.

FIG. 8 shows an example of generating rectangular area data. The direction in which the side is drawn is set as a clockwise loop, as shown by the arrow in FIG. The rectangular area 81 is
It is shared by the side 82 and the side 83. In this case, the side 82
In the relationship between the side and the side 83, the side in front of the clockwise loop is the side 83, and thus the rectangular area 81 is drawn as a part of the side 83. The rectangular area shared by the three sides forming the polygon is drawn as the first side in the drawing order.

The rectangular area data generation means 41, 42 convert the generated rectangular area data into rectangular area data integration means 47.
Output to. As described above, the rectangular area data has coordinate values, colors, fog values, and texture coordinates for a plurality of pixels inside the polygon in the rectangular area.

The triangle DDA circuit 12 shown in FIG.
The adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44 are connected to the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42, and indicate whether the connected rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 are processing objects on adjacent sides or non-adjacent areas. Holds the value. If it is an adjacent side, "1" is held, and if it is not adjacent, "0" is held.
The case where the adjacent side mode register holds "1" is called the adjacent side mode, and the case where the adjacent side mode register holds "0" is called the non-adjacent mode.

The triangle DDA circuit 12 shown in FIG.
The mode end registers 45 and 46 are connected to the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42, and when the connected rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 have finished drawing adjacent sides, or a non-adjacent part. "1" when drawing is finished
Hold. If drawing has not been completed, “0” is held.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the processing when the rectangular area data generating means 41 and the rectangular area data generating means 42 in the triangle DDA circuit 12 generate rectangular area data of continuous polygons. The details of the process will be described below according to this flow.

Step S101: It is determined whether both of the adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44 are "1" (adjacent side mode). Both of the adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44 are "1", that is, both the rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 to which the adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44 are connected draw the adjacent side. If it indicates execution, the process proceeds to step S102, and otherwise,
It proceeds to step S104.

The drawing apparatus of the present invention has two rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 as shown in FIG. 4, and these two rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42.
In the adjacent side mode, the rectangular area data generation for the adjacent side shared by the two adjacent polygons is executed in parallel, and in the non-adjacent mode, the rectangular area data generation for different rectangular areas belonging to one polygon is executed. Perform processing in parallel.

Step S102: Immediately after the transition from the non-adjacent mode to the adjacent side mode, the rectangular area data generating means 41
And the DD held in the rectangular area data generation means 42
In the case where the A setup data correspond to the same polygon, in order to execute the processing in the adjacent side mode, that is, the rectangular area data generation for the adjacent side shared by two adjacent polygons in parallel, It is necessary to replace the DDA setup data held in the rectangular area data generating means. Step S102 is
This is a process of determining whether or not this replacement process is necessary, and it is determined whether or not the DDA setup data held in the rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 correspond to the same polygon. . In the case of Yes, the process proceeds to step S103, and in the case of No, the process proceeds to step S107.

Step S103: If the DDA setup data held in the rectangular area data generating means 41 and the rectangular area data generating means 42 correspond to the same polygon, the rectangular area data generating means 41 is subjected to the next processing target. Enter new DDA setup data corresponding to the polygon.

Step S104: Check whether both of the adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44 are "0" (non-adjacent mode). That is, the adjacent side mode registers 43 and 44
When both the rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 connected to indicate the drawing processing execution of the non-adjacent part, the process proceeds to step S105, and otherwise the process proceeds to step S107.

Step S105: Immediately after the transition from the adjacent side mode to the non-adjacent mode, the rectangular area data generating means 41
And the DD held in the rectangular area data generation means 42
In the case where the A setup data corresponds to different polygons, one rectangular area data generating means is used to execute the processing in the non-adjacent mode, that is, the different rectangular area data generation for one polygon in parallel. It is necessary to replace the held DDA setup data. Step S105 is a process for determining the necessity of this replacement process, and whether the DDA setup data held in the rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 corresponds to different polygons. To determine. In the case of Yes determination, the process proceeds to step S106, and in the case of No determination, step S10.
Proceed to 7.

Step S106: If the DDA setup data held in the rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 are different, the new DDA setup data is input to the rectangular area data generation means 42. Here, the data input to the rectangular area data generation unit 42 is the same as the data input to the rectangular area data generation unit 41 in step S103, that is, the data corresponding to the same polygon. The rectangular area data generation means 41 and the rectangular area data generation means 42 execute parallel rectangular area data generation processing for different rectangular areas belonging to one polygon based on the DDA setup data corresponding to the same polygon. Become.

Step S107: With respect to the rectangular area data generation means 41, if the mode end register 45 is not "1", the rectangular area data generation processing is executed. Similarly, also in the rectangular area data generation means 42, if the mode end register 46 is not "1", the rectangular area data generation processing is executed.

Step S108: When the rectangular area data generation means 41 finishes the drawing mode currently being drawn,
“1” is set in the mode end register 45. Similarly, when the rectangular area data generation means 42 finishes the drawing mode that is currently being drawn, the mode end register 46
Set "1".

Step S109: Mode end register 4
5. It is determined whether "1" is set in both the mode end registers 46. “1” is set in both of the mode end registers 46, and each rectangular area data generation means 4
When it is confirmed that the processes of 1, 42 are completed, the process proceeds to step S110.

Step S110: Mode end register 4
5. If "1" is set in both the mode end register 46, the drawing modes of both the adjacent side mode register 43 and the adjacent side mode register 44 are switched. That is, if the value of the adjacent side mode register is "1", "0"
Is input, and if the value of the register is "0", "1" is set. Further, the values of both the mode end register 45 and the mode end register 46 are set to 0.

In this way, the adjacent side mode registers 43,
In the adjacent side mode register 44, in the adjacent side mode, the rectangular area data generation for the adjacent side shared by the two adjacent polygons is executed in parallel, and
In the non-adjacent mode, parallel processing is executed for different rectangular areas belonging to one polygon. The adjacent side mode register 43 and the adjacent side mode register 44 repeatedly execute these processes.

The triangle DDA circuit 12 shown in FIG.
The rectangular area data integration means 47 in the rectangular area data integration means 47 is connected to the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42, and sets a plurality of rectangular area data belonging to different polygons having the same coordinates as position information as the number of effective pixels in the rectangular area. Performs a process of integrating the rectangular area data with more.

FIG. 10 is a detailed block diagram of the rectangular area data integration means 47. The rectangular area data integration unit 47 includes a rectangular area data storage unit 48 and a rectangular area data selection unit 4.
71, a rectangular area data comparison unit 472, and an integrated rectangular area data generation unit 473.

The rectangular area data storage means 48 holds a plurality of rectangular area data input from the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 (for example, a maximum of six pieces). In the present embodiment, the number of rectangular area data that the buffer can hold is 6, but it may be 4, 10 for example.
However, in order to perform the integration efficiently, it is desirable that the number is at least more than the number of rectangular area data generating means.

The rectangular area data selection means 471 selects the rectangular area data to be output to the texture engine circuit 13 from the rectangular area data storage means 48. As for the selection, the oldest data is selected from the rectangular area data that has been stored for a predetermined time or more after being input to the rectangular area data storage means 48. In this embodiment, the time is used as the reference for selection, but the number of effective pixels in the area data may be used as the reference. Further, both time and the number of effective pixels may be used as a reference.

The rectangular area data comparing means 472 compares the rectangular area data selected by the rectangular area data selecting means 471 with the rectangular area data stored in the rectangular area data storage means 48. If the rectangular area data that can be integrated with the rectangular area data selected by the rectangular area data selection unit 471 is stored in the rectangular area data storage unit 48, these two rectangular area data that can be integrated are combined into the integrated rectangular area data. It outputs to the generation means 473.
If there is no rectangular area data that can be integrated, the rectangular area data selected by the rectangular area data selection means 471 is output to the texture engine circuit 13 alone.

Whether or not the two rectangular area data can be integrated is determined by the position information of each rectangular area data and the position of the pixel in each rectangular area. If the rectangular area data has the same position information and the positions of the pixels in the rectangular areas do not overlap, it is determined that the integration is possible. FIG. 11 shows examples of cases where the integration is possible and cases where the integration is not possible.

As shown in FIG. 11A, the rectangular area data (a-1) and the rectangular area data (a-2) have the same positional information between the rectangular area data, and are within the rectangular area. This is an example of the case where the pixel positions of 2 do not overlap, and it is determined that integration is possible. On the other hand, in FIG. 11B, the rectangular area data (b-1) and the rectangular area data (b-2) have the same position information of the rectangular area data, but the position of the pixel in the rectangular area is the same. This is an example in the case of overlapping, and it is determined that integration is impossible.

Rectangular area data integration means 47 shown in FIG.
The integrated rectangular area data generation unit 473 in the middle integrates two rectangular area data having the same position information to generate one rectangular area data. The generated rectangular area data has valid pixel data held by each of the two original rectangular area data. The position information is the same as the original rectangular area data. The new integrated rectangular area data is recorded in the rectangular area data storage means 48.

FIG. 12 shows a specific example of the integration process executed by the integrated rectangular area data generation means 473 in the rectangular area data integration means 47. Integrated rectangular area data generation means 4
Reference numeral 73 integrates two rectangular area data (a) and (b) having the same position information into one rectangular area data (c).
To generate. The generated rectangular area data (c) is the total effective pixels ((a) = 4, (b) = 3) held by the original two rectangular area data (a) and (b). It has data of the number of pixels ((C) = 7).
The position information of the integrated rectangular area data (c) is the same as the position information of the original rectangular area data (a) and (b).

The integrated rectangular area data generation means 473 executes the processing of integrating the rectangular area data having the same position information and writing it back to the rectangular area data storage means 48. Since the rectangular area data thus integrated is returned to the rectangular area data storage means 48 again, there is a possibility that it will be the object of integration again. Therefore, it is possible to combine three or more rectangular area data into one rectangular area data.

FIG. 13 shows an example of processing when the integrated rectangular area data generation means 473 in the rectangular area data integration means 47 combines three or more rectangular area data into one rectangular area data. Integrated rectangular area data generation means 4
73 firstly integrates two pieces of rectangular area data (a) and (b) having the same position information to generate one piece of rectangular area data. Further, the collected rectangular area data (a) +
For (b), the rectangular area data (c) is integrated to generate one rectangular area data. Further, the rectangular area data (d) is integrated with the combined rectangular area data (a) + (b) + (c) to generate one rectangular area data. Further, the collected rectangular area data (a) + (b) +
Rectangular area data (e) is integrated with (c) + (d), and one rectangular area data (f) = (a) + (b) +
(C) + (d) + (e) is generated.

The generated rectangular area data (f) is the original five rectangular area data (a), (b), (c),
Effective pixels ((a) = 1, (b) = 1, (c) = 2, (d) = 3 held by (d) and (e), respectively.
(E) = 1) total number of effective pixels ((f) =
It has the data of 8). Integrated rectangular area data (f)
The position information of the original rectangular area data (a), (b),
It is the same as the position information of each of (c), (d), and (e).

FIG. 14 shows a rectangular area data integration means 47.
2 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the process executed when the rectangular area data is output to the texture engine circuit 13. The processing of each step shown in the flowchart will be described below.

Step S201: The rectangular area data selecting means 471 selects rectangular area data as a candidate for integration from the rectangular area data storing means 48. In the selection, the oldest one is selected from the rectangular area data which has been input to the rectangular area data storage means 48 for a certain time or more.

Step S202: The rectangular area data comparing means 472 causes the rectangular area data selecting means 471 to select the rectangular area data and the rectangular area data storing means 48.
Check if it can be integrated by comparing with the rectangular area data in. The comparison is performed on the basis of whether or not the position information of the rectangular area data is the same and whether the positions of the pixels in the rectangular area do not overlap.

Step S203: Whether the rectangular area data storage means 48 has rectangular area data which can be integrated with the rectangular area data selected by the rectangular area data selecting means 471. If there is, the process proceeds to step S204. If not, the process proceeds to step S205.

Step S204: The integrated rectangular area data generation means 473 integrates the rectangular area data having the same position information and writes it back to the rectangular area data storage means 48. The integrated rectangular area data is the rectangular area data storage means 48.
May be subject to consolidation again.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13 described above, it is possible to combine three or more rectangular area data into one rectangular area data.

Step S205: The rectangular area data selected by the rectangular area data selecting means 471 is output to the texture engine circuit 13.

By such a procedure, the rectangular area data of the rectangular area as the processing unit area set corresponding to different polygons are integrated, and the integrated rectangular area data is output to the texture engine circuit 13 shown in FIG. Will be processed. The texture engine circuit 13 determines the color, fog value, coordinates, etc. of a pixel having a valid value in the rectangular area data input from the triangle DDA circuit 12, and the graphics memory is determined via the memory interface circuit 14. Write to 15.

Since the texture engine circuit 13 can perform processing on the integrated rectangular area data, processing is performed for each processing unit area set for each unit figure (polygon) as in the conventional case. The number of unit areas (rectangular area data) to be processed is reduced compared to the case of executing, and one unit area (rectangular area data)
The number of effective pixels included in is also increased by the integration process, which enables efficient processing.

In the present embodiment, the rectangular area data comparing means 472 transfers the rectangular area data to the integrated rectangular area data generating means 473 to be integrated in one integration processing, but it is necessary to use two. Alternatively, the integrated rectangular area data generation unit may collectively determine the integration possibility of three or more rectangular area data and execute the integration of three or more rectangular area data at once. In this case, the plurality of rectangular area data (a) to (e) described above with reference to FIG.
Rectangular area data (a) ~
The rectangular area data (f) is generated by collectively integrating (e).

Further, as described above with reference to FIG. 11, in the present embodiment, when the rectangular area data is integrated, it cannot be integrated if the pixel positions in the area overlap. Overlapping pixels may be integrated to create a new pixel. In this case, for example, the color as the rendering data corresponding to the pixel, the fog value, etc. are determined based on the data corresponding to the plurality of pixels at the same position, such as generating a new color by mixing the colors of the pixels. Then, it is set as the rendering data of the pixel included in the new integrated rectangular area data.

Further, the rectangular area data generating means has been described in the present embodiment as an example of a structure having two rectangular area data generating means 41 and 42 as described with reference to FIG. The number of data generating means need not be two, and may be four or eight, for example. In this case, there is an advantage that the number of rectangular area data that can be generated simultaneously increases.

Further, the triangle DDA circuit 12 is
In the present embodiment, in order to consider the adjacency relationship of polygons, as shown in FIG. 4, a drawing order determining means for determining the drawing order based on the adjacency relationship is provided, and in the adjacent side mode register The processing mode can be determined by further providing a mode end register to determine the mode end. However, for example, if the drawing is executed without considering the adjacency relationship, each of these By omitting the configuration, it has one or more rectangular area data generating means and rectangular area data integrating means, and integrates a plurality of rectangular area data generated by the rectangular area data generating means to output one integrated rectangular area data. It may be configured to.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rectangular area is set as one unit area for pixel processing, but this unit area can be set as an area having an arbitrary shape including a plurality of pixels.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the triangle DDA
The processing of each component that executes the processing of the output data of the circuit 12 will be described.

The texture engine circuit 13 includes a triangle DDA circuit 12 and a memory interface circuit 14.
Of the input rectangular area data, the corresponding data is simultaneously read out from the graphics memory 15 through the memory interface circuit 14 for a plurality of pixels having valid values, and the pixel color Then, the fog value is used to mix with the fog color. Finally, the pixel coordinates, color, and z value are written to the graphics memory 15 via the memory interface circuit 14.

The memory interface circuit 14 is connected to the texture engine circuit 13, the graphics memory 15, and the display controller circuit 16, and in order to calculate the value corresponding to the texture coordinates input from the texture engine circuit 13, for example, 1 With respect to the texture coordinates of the point, four neighboring point values are read from the graphics memory 15, processing such as linear interpolation according to the distance is performed, and the calculated value is output to the texture engine circuit 13. In addition, based on the coordinate value of the pixel input from the texture engine circuit 13, if the input z value is before the z value corresponding to the coordinate value of the pixel of the graphics memory 15 (viewpoint side). For example, the color and the z value are written in the graphics memory 15. Further, in order to represent a semitransparent substance, the color of the graphics memory 15 and the input color may be mixed and written in the graphics memory 15. When the display controller circuit 16 receives a read request for the graphics memory 15, the graphics memory 15 outputs the color of the requested data.

The graphics memory 15 is connected to the memory interface circuit and stores texture data, pixel colors and z values. It rewrites or outputs data in response to a read or write request from the memory interface circuit.

The display controller circuit 16 is connected to the memory interface circuit 14, generates an address to be displayed on a display means such as a CRT (not shown) in synchronization with the given horizontal and vertical synchronizing signals, and displays it from the graphics memory 15. A request for reading data is output to the memory interface circuit 14. The display data input from the memory interface circuit 14 is stored in a built-in storage circuit and converted into RGB data in an analog format,
It is output to a display means such as a CRT at regular time intervals.

Next, the operation of the three-dimensional computer graphics system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described collectively.
First, polygon rendering data is output from the main processor 4 to the triangle DDA circuit 12 via the main bus 6. The DDA setup circuit 11 calculates variation data in the vertical and horizontal directions of the triangle, and the calculated data is output to the drawing order determination means 40 of the triangle DDA circuit 12.

The drawing order determination means 40 of the triangle DDA circuit 12 calculates (undetermined) drawing order data based on the DDA setup data input from the DDA setup circuit 11, and stores it in the storage means 49 together with the DDA setup data. To do. Then, when the DDA setup data to be drawn next to the polygon stored in the storage means 49 is similarly output from the DDA setup circuit 11 to the drawing order determination means 40, the pre-processed polygon stored in the storage means 49. The DDA setup data and the drawing order data are determined, and the data can be output to the rectangular area data generation means 41 or the rectangular area data generation means 42.

When processing the adjacent sides of a polygon, the rectangular area data generating means 41, 42 respectively execute the processing for generating the rectangular area data belonging to two adjacent polygons in parallel and process the non-adjacent portions. When doing so, the generation processing of the rectangular area data belonging to the same polygon is executed in parallel. When the processing of the non-adjacent portion is completed and the processing of the adjacent portion is started, the rectangular area data generation means 41 first receives data from the drawing order determination means 40. At this time, the rectangular area data generation means 42 processes the previous polygon. Then, when the processing of the adjacent portion is completed and the processing of the non-adjacent portion is completed, the rectangular area data generation means 42 receives the data from the drawing order determination means 40. At this time, the rectangular area data generation means 41 and 42 process the same polygon. The rectangular area data generation means 41, 42 share the processing of the same polygon, for example, by generating every other rectangular area data. When the processing of the non-adjacent portion is completed and the processing of the adjacent portion is performed again, the data of the polygon to be drawn next is input to the rectangular area data generation means 41. In this way, the rectangular area data is generated for the adjacent part and the non-adjacent part and is output to the rectangular area data storage means 48.

The rectangular area data integration means 47 integrates the data in the same area among the data in the rectangular area data storage means 48 and outputs the integrated data to the texture engine circuit 13.

In the texture engine circuit 13, for valid pixels in the rectangular area data, the values corresponding to the texture coordinates are simultaneously read from the graphics memory 15 through the memory interface circuit 14 for a plurality of pixels, and the pixel color is read. And the texture value are mixed, and then the fog color is mixed using the fog value,
The pixel coordinates, color, and z value are output to the memory interface circuit 14.

The memory interface circuit 14 uses the input z value and color to overwrite the color of the graphics memory 15 at the input coordinates, or after mixing, overwrites.

The display controller circuit 16 reads out the color of the pixel of the graphics memory 15 via the memory interface circuit 14 and outputs it to the display means such as a CRT as analog RGB data. With the above operation,
The model can be drawn efficiently.

In the present embodiment, the processing example of alternately drawing the adjacent portion and the non-adjacent portion of each polygon by one drawing is shown. However, it is possible to write the z value and the color of each pixel of the model. It may be configured to be set as an operation, and for each operation unit, the adjacent part and the non-adjacent part are alternately processed. That is, the z-value and color of the adjacent part are processed at the first time, the z-value and color of the non-adjacent part are executed at the second time, or conversely, the z-value and the color of the non-adjacent part are processed at the first time. Alternatively, the processing configuration may be such that the z value and the color of the adjacent portion are processed a second time.

The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can modify or substitute the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and should not be limitedly interpreted. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the section of the claims described at the beginning should be taken into consideration.

The series of processes described in the specification can be executed by hardware, software, or a combined configuration of both. When executing the processing by software, the program recording the processing sequence is installed in the memory in the computer incorporated in the dedicated hardware and executed, or the program is stored in a general-purpose computer capable of executing various processing. It can be installed and run.

For example, the program can be recorded in advance in a hard disk or a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a recording medium. Alternatively, the program may be a floppy (registered trademark) disc or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc).
Read Only Memory), MO (Magneto optical) disk,
It can be temporarily or permanently stored (recorded) in a removable recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory. Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called package software.

The program is installed in the computer from the removable recording medium as described above, is wirelessly transferred from the download site to the computer, or is wired to the computer via a network such as LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Then, the computer can receive the program thus transferred and install it in a recording medium such as a built-in hard disk.

The various processes described in the specification are
The processing may be executed not only in time series according to the description, but also in parallel or individually according to the processing capability of the device that executes the processing or the need. Further, the system in the present specification is a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices,
The devices of the respective configurations are not limited to being in the same housing.

[0121]

As described above, according to the image processing apparatus and method of the present invention, when drawing continuous unit figures, the unit area data to be processed is integrated to occupy the processing unit area. It is possible to increase the number of effective pixels and reduce the total number of processing unit area data.
As a result, it is possible to draw an image efficiently. That is, in the structure for executing the drawing process of continuous unit figures such as polygons, the structure for executing the drawing by executing the integration process of the region data that can be processed at the same time, The number of effective pixels can be increased, the number of area data can be reduced, and the efficiency of the drawing process can be realized.

Further, according to the graphic operation device and the method thereof of the present invention, in the continuous drawing processing of polygons, the unit area corresponding to each polygon, for example, the rectangular area data is not processed independently, but the adjacent sides of the adjacent polygons are processed. With respect to the rectangular area existing over the area, since the respective rectangular area data corresponding to each polygon are integrated to generate one rectangular area data and the processing is executed,
It is possible to draw an image efficiently.

Further, according to the graphic operation device and the method thereof of the present invention, since the data of the processing unit area is generated in consideration of the adjacency relation of the unit figures such as polygons, the integration of the processing unit areas is achieved. It becomes easy to determine whether or not it is possible, the integration process is efficiently executed, and the image can be efficiently drawn.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an integration process of rectangular area data executed in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an integration process of rectangular area data executed in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a triangle DDA circuit in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a polygon processing procedure executed in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a polygon processing procedure executed in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a polygon processing procedure and rectangular area data executed in the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a polygon processing procedure executed by the image processing apparatus of the present invention and rectangular area data.

FIG. 9 is a triangle DDA of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.
It is a flow chart explaining processing performed in a circuit.

FIG. 10: Triangle DD of the image processing apparatus of the present invention
It is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a rectangular area data integration means in the A circuit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining rectangular area data integration processing executed by area data integration means of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an integration process of rectangular area data executed by area data integration means of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a rectangular area data integration processing executed by area data integration means of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the area data integration unit of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining polygon rectangular area unit processing in the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a problem in polygon rectangular area unit processing in the image processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 3D computer graphics system 2 main memory 3 I / O interface circuit 4 main processor 5 Rendering circuit 6 main buses 11 DDA setup circuit 12 Triangle DDA circuit 13 Texture engine circuit 14 Memory interface circuit 15 Graphics memory 16 Display controller circuit 40 Drawing order determining means 41 rectangular area data generation means 42 rectangular area data generation means 43 Adjacent edge mode register 44 Adjacent edge mode register 45 Mode end register 46 Mode end register 47 Rectangular area data integration means 48 rectangular area data storage means 49 storage means 471 rectangular area data selection means 472 rectangular area data comparison means 473 integrated rectangular area data generation means

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus that divides a drawing processing target model into unit figures and generates pixels in a drawing target area of a screen coordinate system to perform drawing processing, for each processing unit area included in the unit figure. Processing unit area data generation means for calculating the pixel attribute value of the processing unit area data and a plurality of processing unit area data generated by the processing unit area data generation means have the same position information, An image processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit area data integration unit that executes an integration processing of processing unit area data. 2. The image processing apparatus further includes a drawing order determination unit that determines a processing procedure in the processing unit region data generation unit based on an adjacency relationship between different unit graphics. The generating means is composed of a plurality of processing unit area data generating means capable of parallel processing, and the drawing order determining means includes a processing unit area including an adjacent side between two unit figures and an adjacency between two unit figures. A drawing order determination process is performed so that one of the processing unit region data generation processes for a processing unit region of a non-adjacent portion that does not include a side is executed in parallel in the plurality of processing unit region data generation means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is configured to execute. 3. The image processing apparatus further comprises drawing order determining means for determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures, and the drawing order determining means. Is configured to execute a process of setting a drawing processing procedure of one unit figure as an order of an adjoining portion with a preceding processing unit figure, a non-adjacent portion, and an adjoining portion with a subsequent processing unit figure. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The image processing apparatus further comprises drawing order determining means for determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on the adjacency relationship between different unit figures, and the drawing order determining means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein is configured to set a drawing order of a region including a side serving as a boundary of the unit graphic in a clockwise or counterclockwise loop shape. 5. The processing unit area data unifying means has the same positional information in the processing unit area data generated by the processing unit area data generating means, and the effective pixel positions in the processing unit area do not overlap. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is configured to execute processing for integrating a plurality of processing unit area data into one processing unit area data under the condition. 6. The image processing apparatus has unit area data storage means for storing processing unit area data generated by the processing unit area data generation means, and the processing unit area data integration means has the unit area data storage means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus has a configuration for determining integration possibility based on position information of a plurality of processing unit area data stored in the data storage means. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing processing target model is a three-dimensional model, and the unit graphic is a polygon. 8. An image processing method in which a drawing processing target model is divided into unit figures, and pixels are generated in a drawing target area of a screen coordinate system to perform drawing processing, wherein each processing unit area included in the unit figure. Processing unit area data generation step of calculating the pixel attribute value of as processing unit area data, and a plurality of processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation step have the same position information, An image processing method, comprising: a processing unit area data integration step that executes an integration processing of processing unit area data. 9. The image processing method further includes a drawing order determining step of determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating means based on an adjacency relationship between different unit graphics, the processing unit area data The generating step is executed by a plurality of processing unit area data generating means capable of parallel processing, and the drawing order determining step includes a processing unit area including an adjacent side between two unit figures and an adjacency between two unit figures. A drawing order determination process is performed so that one of the processing unit region data generation processes for a processing unit region of a non-adjacent portion that does not include a side is executed in parallel in the plurality of processing unit region data generation means. The image processing method according to claim 8, which is executed. 10. The image processing method further includes a drawing order determining step of determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating step based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures, and the drawing order determining step. 9. A process for setting a drawing processing procedure of one unit graphic as an order of an adjacent part to a preceding process unit graphic, a non-adjacent part, and an adjacent part to a subsequent process unit graphic is executed. The image processing method described in. 11. The image processing method further includes a drawing order determining step of determining a processing procedure in the processing unit area data generating step based on an adjacency relationship between different unit figures, and the drawing order determining step. 9. The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the drawing order of the area including the side as the boundary of the unit graphic is set to either a clockwise or a counterclockwise loop. 12. In the processing unit area data integration step, the processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation step has the same position information, and the effective pixel positions in the processing unit area do not overlap. 9. The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein a process of integrating a plurality of processing unit area data into one processing unit area data is executed under the condition. 13. The image processing method includes a unit area data storage step of storing the processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation step in a storage means, and the processing unit area data integration step includes: The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the integration possibility is determined based on position information of the plurality of processing unit area data stored in the unit area data storing step. 14. The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the drawing processing target model is a three-dimensional model, and the unit graphic is a polygon. 15. A computer program that divides a drawing processing target model into unit figures and generates pixels in a drawing target area of a screen coordinate system to execute image processing for performing drawing processing on a computer system. A processing unit area data generation step of calculating a pixel attribute value for each processing unit area included in the unit graphic as processing unit area data, and a plurality of processing unit area data generated in the processing unit area data generation step. A computer program product, comprising: a processing unit area data integration step for executing an integration processing of the plurality of processing unit area data when having the same position information.