Patent attributes
Adaptive sampling alleviates aliasing by partitioning the field of view of an image sample point into depth regions. Portions of the scene are sampled within a depth region using sample rays. If a sample ray is not completely occluded in the depth region, corresponding sample rays are evaluated in adjacent depth regions. Sample rays can be recursively evaluated in further depth regions until all the subsamples intersect opaque objects or a depth limit or transparency threshold is reached. The value of an image sample point is the weighted combination of sample rays. The number of sample rays in each depth region may increase monotonically with distance along a line of sight from an image sample point for effects such as reflection, refraction, and illumination. The number of sample rays in each depth region may increase monotonically with distance from a focal plane for effects such as depth of field.
