Department of Applied Mathematics
and Computational Sciences
University of Cantabria
UC-CAGD Group
LINE DRAWING ALGORITHMS
Andrs Iglesias
e-mail:
[email protected]Web pages: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
http://etsiso2.macc.unican.es/~cagd
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
COMPUTER-AIDED GEOMETRIC DESIGN
AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS:
Line Drawing Algorithms
The lines of this object
appear continuous
However, they are
made of pixels
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Line Drawing Algorithms
We are going to analyze how this process is achieved.
Some useful definitions
General requirements
Straight lines must appear as straight
determining which pixels
provide the best approximation
to a desired line on the screen.
lines.
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Scan Conversion: Combination
of rasterization and generating the
picture in scan line order.
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Rasterization: Process of
They must start and end accurately
Lines should have constant brightness
along their length
Lines should drawn rapidly
Line Drawing Algorithms
For any other orientation the choice
is more difficult:
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
For horizontal, vertical and
45 lines, the choice of
raster elements is obvious.
This lines exhibit constant
brightness along the length:
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Line Drawing Algorithms
Rasterization of straight lines.
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or
Rasterization yields uneven brightness: Horizontal and vertical lines
appear brighter than the 45 lines.
For fixing so, we would need:
1. Calculation of square roots
(increasing CPU time)
2. Multiple brigthness levels
Compromise:
=>
1. Calculate only an approximate line
2. Use integer arithmetic
3. Use incremental methods
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Line Drawing Algorithms
The equation of a straight line is given by: y=m.x+b
Algorithm 1: Direct Scan Conversion
2. Step along the pixels horizontally
until we reach the right-hand end
of the line, xr
x = xl;
while (x <= xr){
ytrue = m*x + b;
y = Round (ytrue);
PlotPixel (x, y);
/* Set the pixel at (x,y) on */
x = x + 1;
3. For each pixel compute the
corresponding y value
4. round this value to the nearest
integer to select the nearest pixel
The algorithm performs a floating-point multiplication for every step in x.
This method therefore requires an enormous number of floating-point
multiplications, and is therefore expensive.
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
1. Start at the pixel for the left-hand
endpoint x1
Line Drawing Algorithms
Algorithm 2: Digital Differential Analyzer (DDA)
The differential equation of a straight line is given by:
y2 - y1
y
dy = constant
or
=
dx
x
x2 - x1
DDA uses
repeated
addition
xi+1 = xi + x
yi+1 = yi +
y2 - y1
y
1
x2 - x1
1
We need only compute m once, as the start of the scan-conversion.
The DDA algorithm runs rather slowly because it requires real
arithmetic (floating-point operations).
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
The solution of the finite difference approximation is:
Line Drawing Algorithms
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
DDA algorithm for lines with -1 < m < 1
x = xl;
ytrue = yl;
while (x <= xr){
ytrue = ytrue + m;
y = Round (ytrue);
PlotPixel (x, y);
x = x + 1;
}
-8
-7
Example: Third quadrant
-6
-5
-4
-2
-1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
Switching the roles of x and y when m>1
Gaps occur
when m > 1
-3
Reverse the roles
of x and y using
a unit step in y,
and 1/m for x.
Line Drawing Algorithms
Algorithm 3: Bresenhams algorithm (1965)
Bresenham, J.E. Algorithm for computer control of a digital plotter, IBM Systems Journal,
January 1965, pp. 25-30.
This algorithm uses only integer arithmetic, and runs significantly faster.
(1,1)
(0,1)
Key idea: distance between
the actual line and the nearest
1/2 m 1 grid locations (error).
Plot (1,1)
Initialize error:
e=-1/2
0 m 1/2
Plot (1,0)
Error is given by:
e=e+m
1/2
(0,0)
?
(1,0)
Reinitialize error:
when e>0
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Line Drawing Algorithms
Example: m=3/8
If e<0 below
else above
below
below
above
above
Error
0
Reinitialize
error:
e = 1/4 -1
= -3/4
Error: e=e+m
Initial value:
e = - 1/2
e = -1/2+3/8
=-1/8
e = -1/8+3/8
= 1/4
e = -3/4+3/8
= -3/8
Line Drawing Algorithms
However, this algorithm does not lead to integer arithmetic. Scaling by: 2* dx
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
void Bresenham (int xl, int yl, int xr, int yr)
{
int x,y;
/* coordinates of pixel being drawn */
int dy, dx;
int ne;
/* integer scaled error term */
x = xl; y = yl;
/* start at left endpoint
*/
ie = 2 * dy - dx;
/* initialize the error term */
while (x <= xr){
/* pixel-drawing loop */
PlotPixel (x,y);
/* draw the pixel */
if (ie > 0) {
y = y + 1;
ne = ne - 2 * dx;
/* replaces e = e - 1 */
}
x = x + 1;
ne = ne + 2 * dy;
/* replaces e = e + m */
}
}
Line Drawing Algorithms
Bresenhams algorithm also applies for circles.
Bresenham, J.E. A linear algorithm for incremental digital display of circular arcs
Communications of the ACM, Vol. 20, pp. 100-106, 1977.
Reflect first
quadrant
about x=0
-1 0
0 1
0 1
1 0
2 Reflect first octant about y=x
Key idea: compute
the initial octant only
1
2
( )
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Generate first
octant
1
4
4
Reflect upper
semicircle
about y=0
( )
1 0
0 -1
Line Drawing Algorithms
Bresenhams incremental circle algorithm.
9
8
2001 Andrs Iglesias. See: http://personales.unican.es/iglesias
Example:
circle of radius 8
Bright pixels:
initial pixel
(0,8)
(1,8)
(2,8)
(3,7)
(4,7)
(5,6)
(6,5)
(7,4)
(7,3)
(8,2)
(8,1)
end pixel
(8,0)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
