Patent ID: 7120311

Claim:
A method of rendering visual content to a display device having a plurality of pixels, comprising: receiving at least one sample in each bin of a buffer, wherein at least two samples are received in at least one bin of the buffer, wherein each sample includes a Z-value reflecting an orthogonal distance of the sample front a plane of a display of the display device defined by said plurality of pixels; and for each bin, assigning a Z-range to each of said at least one sample in the bin, and if the Z-range of the first sample of said at least one sample does not overlap the Z-range of a second sample, setting the Z-interval for the bin to the Z-range of the first sample if the first sample's Z-range is in front of the second sample's Z-range, and to the Z-range of the second sample if the Z-range of the second sample is in front of the Z-range of the first sample, wherein the second sample is discarded if the first sample's Z-range is in front of the second sample's Z-range, and the first sample is discarded if the Z-range of the second sample is in front of the Z-range of the first sample, and wherein the second sample is stored temporarily if the first sample's Z-range is in front of the second sample's Z-range in case the Z-interval for the bin subsequently overlaps with the second sample's Z-range, and the first sample is temporarily stored if the Z-range of the second sample is in front of the Z-range of the first sample in case the Z-interval for the bin subsequently overlaps with the first sample's Z-range.