Patent Document ID: 20040027358
Application ID: 10628332
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. An image data generating apparatus which defines an object in three-dimensional space as a group of basic-shape polygons to render the object, which includes a buffer storing data representing a luminance and a depth value corresponding to a position of each of pixels arranged in a grid on a screen, and which uses the data in the buffer and thereby generates data representative of an object-corresponding image with surfaces including ones hidden on the basis of the depth values, each depth value meaning a distance to each pixel from a visual point, the apparatus comprising: first means for dividing an input two-dimensional image into blocks each having a prescribed number of pixels arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction; second means for assigning different block ID numbers to the respective blocks generated by the first means; third means for generating MIP maps with different resolutions in response to each of the blocks, a maximum resolution among the different resolutions being equal to a resolution of the input two-dimensional image; a memory storing data representative of the MIP maps generated by the third means for each of the blocks; fourth means for receiving polygon data representing an on-screen position of a polygon, a depth value of the polygon which means a distance to the polygon from a visual point, a luminance of the polygon, and a correspondence between the polygon and positions of pixels of a two-dimensional image to be applied to the polygon; fifth means for calculating, from the polygon data received by the fourth means, a block ID number corresponding to a desired MIP map among the MIP maps generated by the third means which is to be applied to the polygon, an intra-MIP-map-block position of the desired MIP map, and a resolution of the desired MIP map; sixth means for reading, from the memory, data representative of the desired MIP map in response to the block ID number, the intra-MIP-map-block position, and the resolution calculated by the fifth means; seventh means for calculating a luminance of each pixel in a final image in which the desired MIP map represented by the data read from the memory is applied to the polygon for each pixel position; and eighth means for outputting data representative of each pixel luminance calculated by the seventh means.