Fast data parallel polygon rendering

The authors describe a data parallel method for polygon rendering on a massively parallel machine. This method, based on a simple shading model, is targeted for applications which require very fast rendering for extremely large sets of polygons. Such sets are found in many scientific visualization applications. The renderer can handle arbitrarily complex polygons which need not be meshed. Issues involving load balancing are addressed and a data parallel load balancing algorithm is presented. The rendering and load balancing algorithms are implemented on both the CM-200 and the CM-5. Experimental results are presented. This rendering toolkit enables a scientist to display 3D shaded polygons directly from a parallel machine avoiding the transmission of huge amounts of data to a post-processing rendering system.