Forward Image Warping

We present a new forward image warping algorithm, which speeds up perspective warping – as in texture mapping. It processes the source image in a special scanline order instead of the normal raster scanline order. This special scanline has the property of preserving parallelism when projecting to the target image. The algorithm reduces the complexity of perspective-correct image warping by eliminating the division per pixel and replacing it with a division per scanline. The method also corrects the perspective distortion in Gouraud shading with negligible overhead. Furthermore, the special scanline order is suitable for antialiasing using a more accurate antialiasing conic filter, with minimum additional cost. The algorithm is highlighted by incremental calculations and optimized memory bandwidth by reading each source pixel only once, suggesting a potential hardware implementation. CR Categories: I.3.1 [Computer Graphics]: Hardware Architecture – Graphics Processors, Raster Display Devices; I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation; I.3.7 [Image Processing]: Enhancement – Geometric correction, filtering;