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Display device interface including support for generalized flipping of surfaces
| Details |
Inventors: Eisler, Craig G.; Engstrom, G. Eric;
Assignee: Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA)
Primary Examiner: Buchel, Jr.; Rudolph J.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Klarquist Sparkman Campbell Leigh & Whinston LLP
A method for generalized flipping of pixmaps and other arrays of image data in a software display device interface for computer generated graphics applications. The display device interface enables application programs to create flipping surface structures representing on and offscreen pixmaps, textures, sprites, overlays, etc. The display device interface includes a flip function to control the flipping of these flipping structures. It also includes functions to synchronize access to the surfaces represented by the flipping structure. Applications and other processes can use these access synchronization functions to manipulate surfaces represented by the flipping structure without conflicting with a client's use of the surface. Clients other than the display controller can act as clients of the flipping operation. For instance, flipping structures can be used to implement video texture mapping, where the client of a texture flipping structure is a 3D rendering system. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention provides a method and system for supporting generalized flipping of surfaces.
Surfaces generally refer to arrays of image data including pixmaps, depth (z) buffers, alpha (transparency/opacity) buffers, and the memory that store this data is called surface memory.
The generalized flipping method is implemented in a display device interface, which enables application programs and other processes executing in a computer to control a display device.
The flipping method is general because it allows for flipping of any type of surface, in addition to the traditional notion of screen flipping, and it enables clients other than the display device to act as the consumer of a flip.
To support generalized flipping, the display device interface provides services to create flipping surface structures, to flip a flipping structure, and to synchronize access to surface memory that the surface structures represent.
The display device interface is a software interface to display hardware in a host computer.
To create a flippable surface, an application or other process in the computer invokes the service in the display device interface to create a flipping surface structure.
This surface structure is capable of representing different types of surfaces including an offscreen pixmap, a pixmap that covers less than the entire display screen, a texture map, an overlay, an alpha buffer, and a Z buffer, for example.
The flipping service in the display device interface can flip a flipping surface structure representing any of these types of surfaces.
In response to a request to flip, a flip function exchanges the surface memory currently serving as the front and back buffer.
The flip function determines whether and when a flip can be performed.
During a flip operation, the display device interface controls access to the surface memory represented by the flipping structure.
Producers and clients of the flipping structure can request access to the front and back buffers of a flipping structure by invoking a service in the display device interface to synchronize access to a surface
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