Patents by Inventor Colin D. McCartney

Colin D. McCartney has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7439981
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems for interfaces between video applications and display screens that allow applications to intelligently use display resources of their host device without tying themselves too closely to operational particulars of that host. A graphics arbiter provides display environment information to the video applications and accesses the applications' output to efficiently present that output to the display screen, possibly transforming the output or allowing another application to transform it in the process. The graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on the screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time, thus improving output quality while decreasing resource waste by avoiding the production of “extra” frames. The graphics arbiter tells an application when its output is fully or partially occluded so that the application need not expend resources to draw portions of frames that are not visible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Colin D. McCartney
  • Patent number: 7315308
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Patent number: 7315307
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Patent number: 7239324
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Patent number: 7038690
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems for interfaces between video applications and display screens that allow applications to intelligently use display resources of their host device without tying themselves too closely to operational particulars of that host. A graphics arbiter provides display environment information to the video applications and accesses the applications' output to efficiently present that output to the display screen, possibly transforming the output or allowing another application to transform it in the process. The graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on the screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time, thus improving output quality while decreasing resource waste by avoiding the production of “extra” frames. The graphics arbiter tells an application when its output is fully or partially occluded so that the application need not expend resources to draw portions of frames that are not visible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Colin D. McCartney
  • Publication number: 20040217960
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2004
    Publication date: November 4, 2004
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Publication number: 20040212621
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2004
    Publication date: October 28, 2004
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Publication number: 20030071818
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems for interfaces between video applications and display screens that allow applications to intelligently use display resources of their host device without tying themselves too closely to operational particulars of that host. A graphics arbiter provides display environment information to the video applications and accesses the applications' output to efficiently present that output to the display screen, possibly transforming the output or allowing another application to transform it in the process. The graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on the screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time, thus improving output quality while decreasing resource waste by avoiding the production of “extra” frames. The graphics arbiter tells an application when its output is fully or partially occluded so that the application need not expend resources to draw portions of frames that are not visible.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2002
    Publication date: April 17, 2003
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Colin D. McCartney
  • Publication number: 20030067467
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems that allow video applications to merge their outputs for display and to transform the outputs of other applications before display. A graphics arbiter tells applications the estimated time when the next frame will be displayed on a display screen. Applications tailor their output to the estimated display time. When output from a first application is incorporated into a scene produced by a second application, the graphics arbiter “offsets” the estimated display time it gives to the first application in order to compensate for the latency caused by the second application's processing of the first application's output. A set of overlay buffers parallels the traditional buffers used to prepare frames for the display screen. In composing a frame, the screen merges video information from a traditional buffer with that from an overlay buffer, conserving display resources at the final point in the display composition process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2002
    Publication date: April 10, 2003
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas P. Wilt, Stephen J. Estrop, Colin D. McCartney
  • Patent number: 6363404
    Abstract: A method, system and computer-readable medium for providing user-interfacing within textures of three-dimensional models. A processor with hardware and software components stores one or more markup documents with one or more user-interface element that may be a link element in one or more texture image files of predefined three-dimensional model(s). Then, the processor generates a three-dimensional model(s) for display on a display device based on predefined three-dimensional model information, predefined viewpoint information and the one or more markup documents stored in the one or more texture image files. Users can cause the processor to generate a new markup documents as texture by selecting a link element displayed within the three-dimensional model's texture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Ketan K. Dalal, Anthony L. Willie, Colin D. McCartney, Robert M. Heddle
  • Patent number: 6362819
    Abstract: A method, system and computer-readable medium for tessellating textures and mapping the resulting texture fragments onto the surface geometries of a three-dimensional model is disclosed. First, a texture is fragmented into texture fragments based on rasterization requirements. Then, the corresponding surface geometry of the three-dimensional model is fragmented so as to correspond to the texture fragments and each texture fragment is mapped to a corresponding surface geometry fragment. This process is repeated for each viewable geometric surface of the three-dimensional model that is to be textured. Thereafter, the three-dimensional model is displayed with the texture fragments mapped to the surface geometries. Prior to the mapping, the polygons, e.g., triangles, that define the surface geometries that are divided by the boundaries between texture image fragments are reconstituted as new, smaller triangles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Ketan K. Dalal, Colin D. McCartney