Average rate regulator for parallel adaptive sampler

1 . A graphics rendering system comprising:

a graphics display device;

one or more processor; and

logic to configure the processor to:

form a first accumulation of importance values of pixels of an image for which ray trace sampling is not clamped (non-clamped pixels);

form a second accumulation of waste importance of pixels of the image for which the ray trace sampling is clamped (clamped pixels);

apply the first accumulation and the second accumulation to adapt an average per-pixel sample count of a ray tracer;

forming a first ratio of (a) a sum of the first accumulation and the second accumulation, and (b) a total importance of the non-clamped pixels and the clamped pixels; and

multiplying the first ratio by a total number of the pixels in the image.

2 . A method comprising:

forming a first accumulation of importance values of pixels in an image for which sampling by a ray tracer is not clamped (non-clamped pixels);

forming a second accumulation of waste importance of pixels in the image for which sampling by the ray tracer is clamped (clamped pixels);

applying the first accumulation and the second accumulation to set an average sample count for pixels in the image by forming a first ratio of (a) a sum of the first accumulation and the second accumulation, and (b) a total importance of the non-clamped pixels and the clamped pixels;

multiplying the first ratio by a total number of the pixels in the image; and

generating with the ray tracer a number of samples for each pixel of the plurality of pixels by applying the average sample count to a per-pixel importance setting.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

forming a second ratio of (c) a total number of the pixels in the image, and (d) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image; and

scaling the first ratio by the second ratio to form a third ratio.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

scaling the third ratio by a difference between a previously configured average sample count and a configured minimum sample count.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein generating with the ray tracer the number of samples for each pixel comprises:

scaling an importance of each pixel by a first ratio of (a) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image, and (b) the first accumulation.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

scaling the first ratio by a difference between the average sample count and a configured minimum sample count to generate a second ratio; and

adding the configured minimum sample count to the second ratio.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating a count of one of (a) a number of the clamped pixels in the image, and (b) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count are each generated by a reduction of a different respective texture layer.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count are each generated by a reduction of a same texture layer.

10 . A non-volatile computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when applied to one or more computer processor, implement a ray tracer comprising:

a ray generator configured with an average per-pixel sample count;

a sample count generator configured to:

form a first accumulation of importance values of pixels of the image for which sampling is not clamped (non-clamped pixels);

form a second accumulation of waste importance of pixels of the image for which sampling is clamped (clamped pixels);

scale an importance of each pixel by a first ratio of (a) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image, and (b) the first accumulation; and

apply the first accumulation and the second accumulation to adapt the average per-pixel sample count of the ray generator.

11 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the sample count generator is configured to form a second ratio of (a) a sum of the first accumulation and the second accumulation, and (b) a total importance of the non-clamped pixels and the clamped pixels.

12 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to:

multiply the second ratio by a total number of the pixels in the image.

13 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to:

form a third ratio of (c) a total number of the pixels in the image, and (d) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image; and

scale the second ratio by the third ratio to form a fourth ratio.

14 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to:

scale the fourth ratio by a difference between a previously configured average sample count and a configured minimum sample count.

15 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to:

scale the first ratio by a difference between the average sample count and a configured minimum sample count to generate a second ratio; and

add the configured minimum sample count to a second ratio.

16 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to:

generate a count of one of (a) a number of the clamped pixels in the image, and (b) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image.

17 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to generate the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count by a reduction of a different respective texture layer.

18 . The non-volatile computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the sample count generator is further configured to generate the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count by a reduction of a same texture layer.

19 . A method comprising:

forming a first accumulation of importance values of pixels in an image for which sampling by a ray tracer is not clamped (non-clamped pixels);

forming a second accumulation of waste importance of pixels in the image for which sampling by the ray tracer is clamped (clamped pixels);

applying the first accumulation and the second accumulation to set an average sample count for pixels in the image;

generating a count of one of (a) a number of the clamped pixels in the image, and (b) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image;

wherein the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count are each generated by a reduction of a different respective texture layer; and

generating with the ray tracer a number of samples for each pixel of the plurality of pixels by applying the average sample count to a per-pixel importance setting.

20 . A method comprising:

forming a first accumulation of importance values of pixels in an image for which sampling by a ray tracer is not clamped (non-clamped pixels);

forming a second accumulation of waste importance of pixels in the image for which sampling by the ray tracer is clamped (clamped pixels);

applying the first accumulation and the second accumulation to set an average sample count for pixels in the image;

generating a count of one of (a) a number of the clamped pixels in the image, and (b) a number of the non-clamped pixels in the image;

wherein the first accumulation, the second accumulation, and the count are each generated by a reduction of a same texture layer; and

generating with the ray tracer a number of samples for each pixel of the plurality of pixels by applying the average sample count to a per-pixel importance setting.