RLE based Software Rasterisation

Abstract

The market of computer graphics is dominated by GPU based technologies. However today’s fast central processing units (CPU) based on modern architectural design offer new opportunities in the field of classical software rendering. Because the technological development of the GPU architecture has almost reached the limits in the field of the programming model, the CPU-based solutions will become more popular in the near future. This publication reviews the problems and opportunities of two-dimensional rendering from a practical point of view. An efficient, software based rasterization method is presented for textures having transparent color components. The applicability of the solution is proved through measurement results compared to other methods and the GPU based implementation.