First the controller... now this. Nintendo ups the ante

[QZA]

this article appeared in Gameshout.com

"Nintendo has filed patents for a technology called displacement mapping, which seems to refer to the Nintendo Revolution graphics
Displacement mapping is a technique that is used to render detailed surfaces while successfully simultaneously keeping polygon count low.

In regards to the technology, Nintendo has filed a total of two patents. One of them refers to a specialized hardware for vector operations, optimizing the graphics hardware so that the displacement mapping is computed efficiently. The other patent reduces the strain put on the CPU that is caused by rendering a 3D world in 2D.

The technology is not new but Nintendo is patenting its particular usage in Nintendo projects such as the Nintendo Revolution.

It is believed that, with the power of "displacement mapping", Nintendo Revolution can achieve better graphics than the XBox 360 with much less power. Basically, allowing the Nintendo Revolution to advance a bit farther than the 360"

[shivadee]

ANYTHING nintendo says they could do i go believe. This is ONE company that thinks AHEAD of time. These people is some BOSS, and they prove it time and time again.some1337 mofos rite dere.

[ProtoJoe]

Yup, thats nintendo for you....to be sort of bluntly, "its not the size of your tool, its how you use it "

[TrinireturnofGamez]

  Displacement mapping is a feature that comes with Shader model   3.0   i believe , basically better bump mapping.
   All the sh!t people talking about the revolution bieng an upgraded Xbox or Gamecube is... well.. sh!t ,  Nintendo knows what its doing .
 
  Displacement mapping is  used already in Half Life 2 and Farcry :p

  Shots  are from farcry : higher detailed image is one using displacement mapping . 



 If nintendo patents it , that means  no one else can use it without paying them royalties...  so nintendo can make the best of its hardware efficiently while Sony and Microsoft have to use lots of polygons and hi res textures or less efficient displacement mapping  , resulting in using more processing power to get Nintendo's results .

[TinyGrasshopper]

ooh. cool.

[BeoBear]

go nintendo , go nintendo , go!