Pixel-Planes 4: A Summary

Abstract

We describe the current state of the Pixel-planes research project, whose goal is to develop powerful raster graphics systems for the next generation of workstations, The first full-scale prototype has been in regular use in our department's computer graphics laboratory since its first demonstration at SIGGRAPH '86, more than a year ago, We describe the final hardware configuration of the prototype system, filling in some of the engineering details heretofore unpublished, Next we outline the programming environment for the machine and summarize the major algorithms that have been developed, Finally we discuss our progress towards a new generation of the Pixel-planes architecture, Pixelplanes 5.