Stencil based blurring

1 . A method comprising:

at an electronic device with one or more processors and a non-transitory memory:

obtaining a stencil that includes a plurality of reference values respectively indicative of a plurality of blur planes, wherein the plurality of reference values includes first and second reference values, wherein the first reference value identifies a first blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, wherein the second reference value identifies a second blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, and wherein the first reference value is different from the second reference value;

for each of the plurality of reference values, rendering a respective portion of content associated with a corresponding blur plane, in order to generate a respective portion of a blur render; and

blurring the respective portions of the blur render to generate blurred content.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of reference values uniquely indicates a corresponding blur plane of the plurality of blur planes.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of blur planes is associated with a distinct depth.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein rendering the respective portion of the content includes:

for the first reference value, identifying a portion of first content based on the first blur plane value, and rendering the portion of the first content to generate a first portion of the blur render; and

for the second reference value, identifying a portion of second content based on the second blur plane, and rendering the portion of the second content to generate a second portion of the blur render.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein blurring the respective portions of the blur render includes blurring the first portion of the blur render and the second portion of the blur render.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

storing the first reference value at a location in the non-transitory memory while identifying the portion of the first content; and

in response to rendering the portion of the first content, overwriting the first reference value with the second reference value at the location in the non-transitory memory.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

identifying the portion of the first content includes determining that a depth of the first content is greater than a depth of the first blur plane; and

identifying the portion of the second content includes determining that a depth of the second content is greater than a depth of the second blur plane.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein identifying the portion of the first content includes determining that the depth of the first content is less than the depth of the second blur plane.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a stencil buffer and a depth buffer are allocated in the non-transitory memory, wherein the stencil is stored in the stencil buffer, and wherein the depth buffer includes first and second depth values respectively indicating the depth of the first content and the depth of the second content.

10 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

identifying the portion of the first content includes determining that the portion of the first content overlaps with the first blur plane in xy space; and

identifying the portion of the second content includes determining that the portion of the second content overlaps with the second blur plane in the xy space.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the portion of the first content does not overlap with the portion of the second content in z space.

12 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

identifying the portion of the first content includes determining that the portion of the first content has a color characteristic that satisfies a chromatic condition; and

identifying the portion of the second content includes determining that the portion of the second content has a color characteristic that satisfies the chromatic condition.

13 . The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying the portion of the second content includes determining that the portion of the second content has a color characteristic that satisfies a color difference condition with respect to a color characteristic of an overlapping portion of the first content.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a non-blur render by rendering, for each of the plurality of reference values, a remaining portion of the content;

foregoing blurring the non-blur render; and

concurrently displaying, on a display of the electronic device, the blurred content and the non-blur render.

15 . An electronic device comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the non-transitory memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

obtaining a stencil that includes a plurality of reference values respectively indicative of a plurality of blur planes, wherein each of the plurality of reference values uniquely indicates a corresponding blur plane of the plurality of blur planes;

for each of the plurality of reference values, rendering a respective portion of content associated with a corresponding blur plane, in order to generate a respective portion of a blur render; and

blurring the respective portions of the blur render to generate blurred content.

16 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of blur planes is associated with a distinct depth.

17 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of reference values includes first and second reference values, wherein the first reference value identifies a first blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, wherein the second reference value identifies a second blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, and wherein the first reference value is different from the second reference value.

18 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device with one or more processors, cause the electronic device to:

obtain a stencil that includes a plurality of reference values respectively indicative of a plurality of blur planes, wherein each of the plurality of blur planes is associated with a distinct depth;

for each of the plurality of reference values, render a respective portion of content associated with a corresponding blur plane, in order to generate a respective portion of a blur render; and

blur the respective portions of the blur render to generate blurred content.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein each of the plurality of reference values uniquely indicates a corresponding blur plane of the plurality of blur planes.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of reference values includes first and second reference values, wherein the first reference value identifies a first blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, wherein the second reference value identifies a second blur plane of the plurality of blur planes, and wherein the first reference value is different from the second reference value.