EECE 478
Lecture notes for January 8, 2001
Basic Raster Graphics Algorithms for Drawing 2D Primitives
 Idea is to approximate mathematical “ideal” primitives, described in Cartesian spaces,
by sets of pixels on a raster display (bitmap in memory or framebuffer)
 Fundamental algorithms for scan converting primitives to pixels, and clipping them
 Many algorithms were initially designed for plotters
 Can be implemented in hardware, software and firmware
 Primitives:
o Lines
o Circles, arcs, ellipses
o Region filling
o Clipping
o Alphanumeric symbols – text
 Want efficiency and speed
Scan Converting Lines
 Assume that the line will be 1 pixel thick and will approximate an infinitely fine line
 What properties should the line have?
o Slopes –1 to 1 = 1 pixel per column, otherwise 1 pixel per row
o Constant brightness (irrespective of length or orientation)
o Drawn as fast as possible
 Other considerations:
o Pen style, line style, end point (rounded?), aliasing
 Assume (unless specified otherwise) that we will represent pixels as disjoint circles,
centered on grid.
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Idea is to compute the coordinates of a pixel that lies on or near an ideal, infinitely
thin line imposed on a 2D raster grid.
For the algorithms discussed below, assume:
o Integer coordinates of endpoints
o Pixel on or off (2 states)
o Slope |m|  1
(get jaggies, but antialiasing discussed later)
Three line drawing algorithms will be discussed below. They are:
1. Digital Differential Algorithm (DDA)
2. Midpoint Line Algorithm
3. Bresenham’s Line Algorithm
Digital Differential Algorithm (or Basic Incremental Algorithm)
(brute force approach)
 For y = mx + b, slope m = y / x
 Idea is to increment x by 1 (xi) and calculate yi=mxi + b
 Pixel to be turned on is at (xi, round(yi))
The simplicity of this algorithm is its advantage but it is inefficient due to
 Floating point multiplication and Addition
 Rounding
We can eliminate the multiplication by noting that:
yi+1 = mxi+1 + b
= m(xi +x ) + b
= yi + mx
since x = 1
= yi + m
(For slope |m| > 1, just do the opposite: increment y and compute x, xi+1=xi+m-1.)
C code
Line (int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1)
{
int x;
float m, y;
m = (y1-y0)/(x1-x0);
y=y0;
for (x=x0; x<=x1; x++) {
TurnOn(x, (int)(y+0.5));
y+=m;
}
}
must check for special case m = infinity.
Drawback:
 Floating point values (m,y)
 Round operation
 Special cases m = 0 or infinity
Midpoint Line Algorithm(variant of Bresenham’s)
reduces to Bresenham’s for lines and circles
 Uses only integer arithmetic and no rounding
 Idea is to provide the best-fit approximation to a true line by minimizing the error
(distance) to the true line.
 Slope 0  m  1 (rest is done with reflection)
 Endpoints : (x0, y0) and (x1, y1)
E – east pixel from P
NE – northeast pixel
Q – intersection point of line with x = xp+1
M – midpoint of E and NE
Idea
 If Q > M then pick NE
 If Q < M then pick E
 If Q = M then pick either one (but be consistent)
Error will be  0.5
How to do:
 Line (implicit form)
F(x,y) = ax + by + c = 0
(a, b, c = ?)
 slope intercept form
y = (dy/dx)x + B
dy x - dxy + Bdx = 0
 therefore
a = dy, b = -dx and c = Bdx
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F(x,y) = 0 – on line
> 0 – for points below line
< 0 – for points above line
so, need only compute F(xp+1,yp+1/2) and test it’s sign
assume that
d = F(xp+1, yp+1/2)
then
d > 0 pick NE
d < 0 pick E
d = 0 pick either, say E
iteratively calculate d:
depends on pick of NE or E
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if E
dnew = F(xp+2, yp+1/2)
= a(xp+2) + b(yp+1/2) + c
but
dold = a(xp+1) + b(yp+1/2) + c
therefore
dnew = dold + a
E = a = dy
so, do not have to computer F directly
if NE
dnew = F(xp+2, yp+1+1/2)
dnew = dold + a + b
NE = a + b = dy – dx
so at each step, pick between NE and E by sign of d, then update d by NE or E
to begin
d = F(x0+1, y0+1/2)
= F(x0, y0) + a + b/2
= a + b/2
= dy – dx/2
can get rid of fraction dx/2 by replacing F(x,y) by 2F(x,y), so need only simple
addition.
C code
Line (int x0, int y0, int x1, int y1)
{
int dx, dy, dE, dNE, d, x, y;
dx = x1 – x0;
dy = y1 = y0;
d = 2 * dy – dx;
dE = 2 * dy;
dNE = 2 * (dy – dx);
x = x0;
y = y0;
while (x<x1){
if (d <=0) {
d+=dE;
++x;
}
else {
d+=dNE;
x++;
y++;
}
TurnOn(x,y);
}
}
Addition Issues (section 3.2.3 of textbook)
 Endpoint order
a line from P0 to P1 must be the same as the line from P1 to P0
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Starting at the edge of a clip rectangle
must know error at clip point or line will be altered if assumed to be starting point
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Varying the intensity of a line as a function of slope
one way to reduce aliasing
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Outline primitives composed of lines