Topic >>>> Scan Conversion

CSE5280 - Computer Graphics

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 Graphics Display Devices
Frame Buffer – a region of memory sufficiently
large to hold all of the pixel values for the
display

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 Graphics Display Devices - cont
How each pixel value in the frame buffer is sent to
the right place on the display surface

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 Graphics Devices – cont
Each pixel has a 2D address (x,y)
 For each address (x,y) there is a specific memory location
that holds the value of the pixel (I.e. mem[136][252])
 The scan controller sends the logical address (136, 252) to
the frame buffer, which emits the value mem[136][252]
 The value mem[136][252] is converted to a corresponding
intensity or color in the conversion circuit, and that intensity or
color is sent to the proper physical position, (136, 252), on the
display surface

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 Scan Converting Lines
Line Drawing
Draw a line on a raster screen between 2 points
What’s wrong with the statement of the problem?
• It does not say anything about which pts are allowed as
end pts
• It does not give a clear meaning to “draw”
• It does not say what constitutes a “line” in the raster world
• It does not say how to measure the success of the
proposed algorithm

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 Scan Converting Lines - cont
Problem Statement
Given 2 points P and Q in the plane, both with
integer coordinates, determine which pixels on a
raster screen should be “on” in order to make a
picture of a unit-width line segment starting at point P
and ending at point Q

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 Finding the next pixel
Special Case:
 Horizontal Line:
• Draw pixel P and increment the x coordinate value by one to get the
next pixel.
 Vertical Line:
• Draw the pixel P and increment the y coordinate value by one to get
the next pixel
 Diagonal Line:
• Draw the pixel P and increment both the x and y coordinate values by
one to get the next pixel
 What should we use in the general case?

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 Vertical Distance
Why can we use the vertical distance as a
measure of which point is closer?
Because vertical distance is proportional to the
actual distance
How do we show this?
Congruent Triangles

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 Vertical Distance – cont
By similar triangles we can see that the true
distances to the line (in blue) are directly
proportional to the vertical distances to the line
(in black) for each point.
Therefore the point with the smaller vertical
distance to the line is the closest to the line

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 Strategy 1 – Incremental Algorithm
The Basic Algorithm
Find the equation of the line that connects the 2
points P and Q
Starting with the leftmost point P, increment xi by 1
to calculate where A = slope, and
B = y interceptyi  Axi  B
Intensify the pixel at
 xi , Round ( yi) where, Round ( yi)  Floor(0.5  yi)
This computation selects the closest pixel, the pixel
whose distance to the “true” line is smallest
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 Strategy 1 – Incremental Algorithm
The Incremental Algorithm
Each iteration requires a floating-point multiplication
therefore, modify
Yi  1  Axi  1  B  A xi  x   B  yi  Ax
If x  1 , then yi  1  yi  A
Thus, a unit change in x changes y by slope A, which
is the slope of the line
At each step, we make incremental calculations
based on the preceding step to find the next y value

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 Strategy 1 – Incremental Aglo

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 Example Code

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 Problem with the Incremental
Algorithm
Rounding integers takes time
Real variables have limited precision, summing
an inexact slope (A) repetitively introduces a
cumulative error buildup
Variables y and A must be a real or fractional
binary because the slope is a fraction
Special case needed for vertical lines

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 Strategy 2 – Midpoint Line Algorithm
Assume that the line’s slope is shallow and positive ( 0
< slope < 1); other slopes can be handled by suitable
reflections about the principle axes

Call the lower left endpoint x 0 ,and
y 0 the upper right
endpoint  x1, y1
Assume that we have just selected the pixel P at  xp, yp 
Next, we must choose between the pixel to the right
(pixel E), or one right and one up (pixel NE)
Let Q be the intersection point of the line being scan-
converted with the grid line
x  xp  1
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 Strategy 2 – Midpoint Line Algorithm

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 Strategy 2 – Midpoint Line Algorithm
The line passes between E and NE
The point that is closer to the intersection point Q must be
chosen
Observe on which side of the line the midpoint M lies:
 E is closer to the line if the midpoint lies above the line (I.e. the line
crosses the bottom half)
 NE is closer to the line if the midpoint lies below the line, I.e., the line
crosses the top half
The error, the vertical distance between the chosen pixel and
the actual line is always <= ½
The algorithm chooses NE as the next pixel for the line shown
Now, find a way to calculate on which side of the line the
midpoint lies
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 The Line
The line equation as a function f(x):
 f(x) = A*x + B = dy/dx * x + B
Line equation as an implicit function:
 F(x,y) = a * x + b * y + c = 0 for coefficients a, b, c where a, b != 0; from
above, y *dx = dy*x + B*dx, so a = dy, b = -dx,
c=B *dx, a>0 for y(0) < y(1)
Properties (proof by the case analysis):
 when any point M is on the line
F ( xmany
 when )  0M is above the line
, ympoint
F ( xmany
 when )  0M is below the line
, ympoint
 Our
F decision
( xm, ym)will
 0be based on the value of the function at the midpoint
M at
1/1/2000 x p  1, yp  1
2
 18
 Decision Variable
Decision Variable d:
 We only need the sign of F ( xp  1, yp  1 2) to see where the
line lies, and then pick the nearest pixel
 D  F ( xp  1, yp  12 )
• If d > 0 choose pixel NE
• If d < 0 choose pixel E
• If d = 0 choose either one consistently
How to update d:
 On the basis of picking E or NE, figure out the location of the
M for that pixel, and the corresponding value of d for the next
grid line

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 Example Code

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 Scan Conversion Summary

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