Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Perceptible output or display
Patent
1996-07-24
1999-10-26
Harrison, Jessica J.
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Perceptible output or display
A63F 924
Patent
active
059718528
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to image processing methods and apparatus applicable to game devices which advance a game on a real time basis by displaying an image on a display, and more particularly to an image processing method and apparatus which effectively uses the hardware resources of a game device.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally, a computer game device which is capable of processing a game on a real time basis includes a game device body which utilizes pre-stored game software, a control unit which gives an operational signal used for processing which includes movement of a character in a game, a display which displays an image which expresses images in the development of a game contained in the game device body, and an acoustic unit which generates the necessary sound as the game proceeds.
Game devices having a clear display screen to providing a more realistic image are popular. Particularly, game devices which use polygon processing are popular as they are capable of expressing three-dimensional image data as a collection of given units providing high visual reality. In a game device using polygon processing, the number of polygons which constitutes an object (a displayed object movable on the display screen) is increased and the polygon surfaces are coated with a texture to thereby further enhance a realistic image.
As just described above, the demand for increasingly more realistic images requires that hardware should have an ability to reduce processing time as well as to process a greatly increased quantity of data on a real time basis, so that the load on the hardware is greatly increased. This demand is expected to continuously increase in the future, thereby increasing the operational load on the hardware.
First of all, the game device is required to perform real-time image processing on the basis of data input by the player, with the basic load on the central processing unit being essentially high compared to sole computer graphics image processing.
In addition, if a game device is composed of a plurality of expensive high-speed operation devices in order to ensure an overwhelming data processing ability such as is present in a flight simulator, the game device would be an expensive commodity and would not satisfy the needs of the market.
As such, conventional game devices must perform image display processing, whilst limiting the processing ability of its processor or the amount of its data capacity. Thus, the resulting image would give insufficient reality to viewers.
In view of the problems with the conventional techniques, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus which is capable of reducing the image processing load and displaying an image having greater reality.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method and apparatus which is capable of reducing the image processing load of an object to be displayed in order to thereby display an image having greater reality.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above objects, in an image processing method according to the present invention, rotational components of a matrix of an object obtained by coordinate conversion involving a matrix of information on a virtual camera and a version matrix is set so as to form a unit matrix to thereby provide data for the display of the object. The matrix of camera information includes, for example, information on the position and rotation of the camera.
The virtual camera can be compared to a regular camera in that the former has a viewpoint and an image angle involving the delineation of computer graphics. The virtual camera is set by designation of its position, optical axis direction (direction of its lens), image angle (zoom-wide), and twist (rotational angle around the optical axis). In other words, the virtual camera implies a virtually set viewpoint. The virtual camera can be understood as a visual field direction determination means which determines the visual field direction of t
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Itai Katunori
Sekikawa Shunsuke
Sumi Masayuki
Harrison Jessica J.
Kabushiki Kaisha Sega Enterprises
Sager Mark A
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