Abstract: When placing an energy harvesting electronic device in an environment, such as a room, the amount of light energy that will be available at different locations in the environment is predicted (34) by using a physically based lighting model to simulate the interaction of light from light source or sources in the environment with the geometry in the environment. The predicted amount of light energy at different locations in the environment is then used to generate a display (42) to the user indicating the suitability of locations in the environment for a light energy harvesting electronic device that is to be placed in the environment.

Abstract: A set of plural primitives to be processed (140) for a frame for output in a graphics processing system is divided into plural subsets of primitives (141), such that each primitive is allocated into one subset of primitives only, and each subset of primitives contains only contiguous primitives. For each subset of primitives that the set of primitives has been divided into, data representative of the primitives of the subset of primitives, and data indicating the volume of space that the subset of primitives falls within, is generated and stored (143). This data is stored as a tree representation of the set of primitives with each leaf node of the tree representing a respective sub-set of primitives that the set of primitives has been divided into (142). The tree representation of the subsets of primitives is then used, e.g., to determine respective sets of subsets of primitives that could cast a shadow from a light source for respective regions of an output frame to be generated.

Abstract: When rendering a scene for output that includes a light source that could cast shadows in a graphics processing system, the world-space volume for the scene to be rendered is first partitioned into a plurality of sub-volumes, and then a set of geometry to be processed for the scene that could cast a shadow from a light source to be considered for the scene in the sub-volume is determined for any sub-volume that is lit by a light source. The determined sets of geometry for the sub-volumes are then used to determine light source visibility parameters for output samples, such as vertex positions and/or screen space sampling positions, for the scene. The determined light source visibility parameter for an output sample is then used to modulate the effect of the light source at the output sample when rendering an output version of the output sample.

Abstract: When placing an energy harvesting electronic device in an environment, such as a room, the amount of light energy that will be available at different locations in the environment is predicted (34) by using a physically based lighting model to simulate the interaction of light from light source or sources in the environment with the geometry in the environment. The predicted amount of light energy at different locations in the environment is then used to generate a display (42) to the user indicating the suitability of locations in the environment for a light energy harvesting electronic device that is to be placed in the environment.

Abstract: To simulate the effect of shadows on specular lighting in an image being rendered, a specular volume is determined for a region of the image being rendered and used to determine the region of a light source that could provide a specular lighting contribution in the frame region. A set of geometry that could cast a shadow in the frame region is then determined and used, together with the determined region of the light source that could provide a specular lighting contribution, to determine a specular light source visibility parameter for sampling positions in the frame region. The determined specular light source visibility parameters are then used to modulate the specular lighting from the light source when shading the geometry in the frame region to produce the rendered output image for the frame region.

Abstract: A set of plural primitives to be processed (140) for a frame for output in a graphics processing system is divided into plural subsets of primitives (141), such that each primitive is allocated into one subset of primitives only, and each subset of primitives contains only contiguous primitives. For each subset of primitives that the set of primitives has been divided into, data representative of the primitives of the subset of primitives, and data indicating the volume of space that the subset of primitives falls within, is generated and stored (143). This data is stored as a tree representation of the set of primitives with each leaf node of the tree representing a respective sub-set of primitives that the set of primitives has been divided into (142). The tree representation of the subsets of primitives is then used, e.g., to determine respective sets of subsets of primitives that could cast a shadow from a light source for respective regions of an output frame to be generated.

Abstract: To simulate the effect of shadows on specular lighting in an image being rendered, a specular volume is determined for a region of the image being rendered and used to determine the region of a light source that could provide a specular lighting contribution in the frame region. A set of geometry that could cast a shadow in the frame region is then determined and used, together with the determined region of the light source that could provide a specular lighting contribution, to determine a specular light source visibility parameter for sampling positions in the frame region. The determined specular light source visibility parameters are then used to modulate the specular lighting from the light source when shading the geometry in the frame region to produce the rendered output image for the frame region.

Abstract: When rendering a scene for output that includes a light source that could cast shadows in a graphics processing system, the world-space volume for the scene to be rendered is first partitioned into a plurality of sub-volumes, and then a set of geometry to be processed for the scene that could cast a shadow from a light source to be considered for the scene in the sub-volume is determined for any sub-volume that is lit by a light source. The determined sets of geometry for the sub-volumes are then used to determine light source visibility parameters for output samples, such as vertex positions and/or screen space sampling positions, for the scene. The determined light source visibility parameter for an output sample is then used to modulate the effect of the light source at the output sample when rendering an output version of the output sample.