Patent ID: 6842177

Claim:
A method for padding a macroblock of a video object, comprising the steps of: (a) horizontally scanning shape data for successive rows of the macroblock with a host processor to detect any transparent pixels and any opaque pixels contained in each row; (b) at each occurrence of one or more transparent pixels in a row having at least one opaque pixel, detected while horizontally scanning the shape data, determining a horizontal primitive with the host processor, as a function of a number of successive transparent pixels detected in the row; (c) communicating the horizontal primitive to a coprocessor for horizontal padding of the row of the macroblock of step (b), as a function of texture data associated with one or more opaque pixels that are adjacent to said one or more transparent pixels, producing horizontally padded pixels; (d) for each row that includes only transparent pixels, determining a vertical primitive as a function of a number of adjacent rows that include only transparent pixels; and (e) communicating the vertical primitive to the coprocessor or vertical padding of the macroblock as a function of the texture data associated with pixels disposed in one or more adjacent rows, producing a fully padded macroblock.