Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!fluke!ssc-vax!coy
From: coy@ssc-vax (Stephen B Coy)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: checking whether 2 2D polygons overlap
Message-ID: <3556@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP>
Date: 12 Dec 90 20:24:28 GMT
References: <7039@plains.NoDak.edu> <850@portnoy.megatek.uucp>
Sender: news@ssc-vax.UUCP
Reply-To: coy@ssc-vax.UUCP (Stephen B Coy)
Organization: Boeing Aerospace & Electronics
Lines: 26

In article <850@portnoy.megatek.uucp> toddh@megatek.UUCP (Todd Heckel) writes:
>	You're correct when you state that the Z-Buffer method is the most
>	implemented in high-performance graphics ___Workstations___.
>	However, it is very uncommon to see Z-Buffers used in high-performance
>	___Image Generators___, like those used for Flight Simulators and such.
>-- 
>	Todd Heckel
>	Megatek Corporation	uunet!megatek!toddh	
>	9645 Scranton Road		or
>	San Diego, CA  92121	toddh@megatek.uucp

Uncommon, yes, but not unheard of.  A few years ago Boeing Aerospace
delivered a very nice system for image generation for a B-1B flight
simulator.  The system was Z-buffer based with some enhancements
along the lines of the A-buffer for anti-aliasing.  Boeing also lost
a few tens of millions on the contract.  Similar technology was used
for this summer's delivery of an image generation system to the Army
for mission planning.  One of the big selling points with a Z-buffer
based system vs a BSP based system is the faster turn-around time
for developing databases.  The nature of the Z-buffer algorithm also
lends itself to heavy pipelining/parallelization.

Stephen Coy
uw-beaver!ssc-vax!coy

			A house divided is a duplex.