Ivan Herman - Böcker

The ultimate goal of all 3D graphics systems is to render 3Dobjects on a two-dimensional surface such as plotter outputor a workstation screen. The approach adopted by mostgraphics systems is to perform a central or parallelprojection of the objects onto the view surface. Thesesystems have to make use of the mathematical results ofprojective geometry.This monograph has as its aim the derivation of a frameworkfor analyzing the behavior of projective transformations ingraphics systems. It is shown that a mathematically precisedescription of the projective geometrical nature of agraphics system leads not only to a deeper understanding ofthe system but also to new approaches which result in fasteror more precise algorithms.A further aim of the book is to show the importance ofadvanced mathematics for computer science. Many problemsbecome easier to describe or to solve when the appropriatemathematical tools are used. The author demonstrates thatprojective geometry has a major role to play in computergraphics.

In 1998, SC24, the subcommittee of ISO/IEC JTC 1 concerned with computer graphics and image processing, completed work on a new standard for multimedia presentation; the PREMO standard (Presentation Environment for Multimedia Objects) is published under the official reference ISO/IEC 14478. PREMO essentially provides a middleware specification for multimedia programming - more generally it also serves as a reference model for distributed multimedia. This book does not attempt to replace the official standard but provides a readable version of the basic concepts, presents some features of the PREMO objects in detail, highlights the reasons for specific design decisions, and gives simple examples and motivation claryfying the underlying concepts. A particularly helpful feature is that the authors provide detailed specifications of the PREMO objects in Java. Mainly for students and professionals who need to improve their understanding of the issues involved in distributed multimedia.

Eurographics, the European Association for Computer Graphics, has always been an important forum for discussions and presentation of results concerning the first ISO Graphical Standard, GKS (the Graphical Kernel System) and later of its three-dimensional extension, GKS-3D. This book is a collection of those articles which have appeared within the framework of Eurographics in the past 5 years, and which still contain, even after several years, valid and interesting results concerning the problems arising in connection with GKS. Some of these papers help the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the standard; others deal with general implementation problems, and finally there are some presentations of specific algorithms usable also for a GKS or GKS-3D implementation. The book may be of a particular interest to those specialists who intend to implement a GKS package or some similar graphics subsystem and who can therefore make direct use of the experiences reflected in this collection. The book should also be a valuable supplement in university courses concerned with teaching the principles of implementing device-independent computer graphics.

This book is a collection of several tutorials from the EUROGRAPHICS '90 conference in Montreux. The conference was held under the motto "IMAGES: Synthesis, Analysis and Interaction", and the tutorials, partly presented in this volume, reflect the conference theme. As such, this volume provides a unique collection of advanced texts on 'traditional' com­ puter graphics as well as of tutorials on image processing and image reconstruction. As with all the volumes of the series "Advances in Computer Graphics", the contributors are leading experts in their respective fields. The chapter Design and Display of Solid Models provides an extended introduction to interactive graphics techniques for design, fast display, and high-quality rendering of solid models. The text focuses on techniques for Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG). The follow­ ing topics are treated in depth: interactive design techniques (specification of curves, surfaces and solids; graphical user interfaces; procedural languages and direct manipulation) and display techniques (depth-buffer, scan-line and ray-tracing techniques; CSG classification techniques; efficiency-improving methods; software and hardware implementations).