Patent ID: 7164419

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for optimizing the performance of a graphics intensive software application while using graphics acceleration hardware of a video card comprising the process actions of: attempting to initialize the graphics acceleration hardware; testing the compatability of one or more software functions of a software application requiring the graphics acceleration hardware if the attempt to initialize is successful, wherein the testing process action comprises at least one of; verifying the graphics acceleration hardware of the video card is not on a list of video cards with known incompatibilities with the a location software; verifying that the application software initializes the interface to the graphics acceleration hardware of the video card successfully; verifying that there is sufficient memory on the video card to conduct the tests; verifying that the calls to the video card hardware are successful; verifying that a sub-pixel positioning function to correct for offsets between actual pixel positions of a texture drawn to video card memory and expected pixel position of a texture drawn to video card memory is operational, wherein the process action of verifying that sub-pixel positioning function is operational comprises: drawing a test to video memory; determining where the pixels for the test image were drawn using the expected pixel boundary and color of each pixel considered; calculating the offset values between where the pixels were expected to be drawn and where they were actually drawn, wherein the process action of calculating the offset values between where the pixels were expected to be drawn and where they were actually drawn comprises using the formula abs(r_actual−r expected)+abs (g_actual−g_expected)+abs(b_actual−b_expected), where r_actual represents the amount of red in the actual pixel color, r_expected represents the amount of red in the expected pixel color, where g_actual represents the amount of green in the actual pixel color, g_expected represents the amount of green in the expected pixel color, and where b_actual represents the amount of blue in the actual pixel color, b_expected represents the amount of blue in the expected pixel color; and determining whether the calculated offset values are acceptable to correct for the pixel offset during 3D graphics rendering; verifying that an opacity function, which emulates opacity of rendered objects in the application software, is operational; and verifying that a color replacement function, that replaces colors of a rendered object in the application software, is operational and establishing the optimum utilization of the graphics acceleration hardware based upon the results of testing.