Patent ID: 7616218

Claim:
A graphics processing apparatus, comprising: a graphics pipeline configured to process a first input graphics primitive and a second input graphics primitive, the first input graphics primitive and the second input graphics primitive having a different number of edges, the graphics pipeline including a clipping module configured to: select a first set of edges of the first input graphics primitive based on whether the first set of edges intersect a first clipping plane of a set of clipping planes; clip the selected first set of edges with respect to the first clipping plane to produce a first clipped graphics primitive; select a second set of edges of the second input graphics primitive based on whether the second set of edges intersect the first clipping plane; and clip the selected second set of edges with respect to the first clipping plane to produce a second clipped graphics primitive, wherein the clipping module is configured to determine whether the first input graphics primitive intersects the first clipping plane, and the clipping module is configured to perform, with respect to the first clipping plane, a predetermined number of clipping operations on the first input graphics primitive if the first input graphics primitive intersects the first clipping plane, wherein the clipping module is configured to determine whether the second input graphics primitive intersects the first clipping plane, and the clipping module is configured to perform, with respect to the first clipping plane, the same predetermined number of clipping operations on the second input graphics primitive if the second input graphics primitive intersects the first clipping plane.