Patent ID: 9607426
Date: 2017-03-28
CPC Classifications: G06F,G06T,G09G

Claim:
1. A machine-implemented method for rasterizing a stream of geometry for a frame of pixels wherein a value of each pixel is defined based on one or more samples for that pixel, the method comprising: processing at least one element of geometry from the stream and determining a first visible element of geometry at a sample for a pixel in the frame of pixels; responsive to determining the first visible element of geometry, initiating running of a shader for said first visible element of geometry, comprising emitting a ray to be traced within a 3-D scene in which elements of the geometry are located, the ray associated with the sample; and processing at least one other element of geometry from the stream and determining a second visible element of geometry at the sample and determining whether the second visible element of geometry is the same element of geometry as the first visible element of geometry, and if so, then continuing to process the ray, and otherwise terminating the processing of the ray.