Patent ID: 7310103

Claim:
A method for comparing a pixel location against a plurality of windows, the method comprising: passing the pixel location through a plurality of clip circuits, wherein the clip circuits are connected in a series to form a pipeline, and wherein each clip circuit is a segment of the pipeline; computing a window result in each clip circuit for the pixel location, wherein each clip circuit is provided data defining a different one of the plurality of windows, wherein the window result comprises an indication of inclusion of the pixel location within the corresponding one of the plurality of windows; outputting the pixel location and a window word from each clip circuit, wherein said outputting comprises, passing the pixel location and the window word directly to a next clip circuit in the series of clip circuits except for the last clip circuit in the series, and wherein the window word also comprises any previous window results; and examining the window word output by the last clip circuit in the series of clip circuits to determine if the pixel is included in at least one of the windows.