SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING AND DISPLAYING GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:

presenting a first graphical element on a display of a client device;

presenting a second graphical element that partially obstructs the first graphical element on the display, the second graphical element comprising an image; and

determining that a third graphical element will be presented on the display and will partially occupy a location of the second graphical element, and, in response:

rendering the image to an offscreen buffer;

presenting the rendered image at the location of the second graphical element; and

presenting the third graphical element to partially obstruct the rendered image.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first graphical element and the third graphical element are presented by an application running on the client device, and wherein the second graphical element is presented by an operating system on the client device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second graphical element comprises an operating system dialog.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second graphical element comprises at least one of a dialog box, a popup window, a modal window, and an overlay window.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second graphical element is configured for one of (i) overlaying all other graphical elements at the location and (ii) being fully obstructed by other presented graphical elements.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the image comprises:

terminating the presentation of the second graphical element.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the image comprises at least one of text, a picture, a drawing, a frame of a video, a frame of an animation, and any combination thereof.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein (i) the image comprises a frame of a video, (ii) rendering the image comprises rendering a plurality of frames from the video to the offscreen buffer, and (iii) presenting the rendered image comprises presenting the rendered plurality of frames from the video.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting that a user of the client device has selected a region of the rendered image on the display; and

mapping the selected region to a corresponding region in the second graphical element.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the corresponding region in the second graphical element is a selectable region; and

taking an action on the client device that is consistent with the selectable region.

11 . A system, comprising:

one or more computer processors programmed to perform operations comprising:

presenting a first graphical element on a display of a client device;

presenting a second graphical element that partially obstructs the first graphical element on the display, the second graphical element comprising an image; and

determining that a third graphical element will be presented on the display and will partially occupy a location of the second graphical element, and, in response:

rendering the image to an offscreen buffer;

presenting the rendered image at the location of the second graphical element; and

presenting the third graphical element to partially obstruct the rendered image.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first graphical element and the third graphical element are presented by an application running on the client device, and wherein the second graphical element is presented by an operating system on the client device.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second graphical element comprises an operating system dialog.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second graphical element is configured for one of (i) overlaying all other graphical elements at the location and (ii) being fully obstructed by other presented graphical elements.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein rendering the image comprises:

terminating the presentation of the second graphical element.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the image comprises at least one of text, a picture, a drawing, a frame of a video, a frame of an animation, and any combination thereof.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein (i) the image comprises a frame of a video, (ii) rendering the image comprises rendering a plurality of frames from the video to the offscreen buffer, and (iii) presenting the rendered image comprises presenting the rendered plurality of frames from the video.

18 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

detecting that a user of the client device has selected a region of the rendered image on the display; and

mapping the selected region to a corresponding region in the second graphical element.

19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising:

determining that the corresponding region in the second graphical element is a selectable region; and

taking an action on the client device that is consistent with the selectable region.

20 . An article, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more computer processors, cause the computer processors to perform operations comprising:

presenting a first graphical element on a display of a client device;

presenting a second graphical element that partially obstructs the first graphical element on the display, the second graphical element comprising an image; and

determining that a third graphical element will be presented on the display and will partially occupy a location of the second graphical element, and, in response:

rendering the image to an offscreen buffer;

presenting the rendered image at the location of the second graphical element; and

presenting the third graphical element to partially obstruct the rendered image.