Method and system for dynamically allocating a frame buffer for efficient anti-aliasing

摘要

An anti-aliasing system provides anti-aliasing at the edges of objects in a displayed or printed image without video artifacts or the need for an expensive anti-aliasing buffer. As geometric data is rasterized, the rasterizer identifies pixels on the edge of objects in the image being rendered. These pixels are then rendered at a higher resolution with a number of sub-pixels. The Z-buffer is signaled as to which pixels will require the additional, higher resolution data. The Z-buffer then dynamically allocates memory space in an additional memory unit to hold that additional sub-pixel data. A memory offset or address is provided in the Z-buffer to direct the memory controller to the appropriate address in the additional memory unit when the data in the additional memory unit is being blended to produce the data defining the corresponding main pixel which data is then stored in the Z-buffer.