Editing Rendering (computer graphics) (section)

=== History ===
In the era of [[vector monitor]]s (also called ''calligraphic displays''), a display processing unit (DPU) was a dedicated [[Central processing unit|CPU]] or [[coprocessor]] that maintained a list of visual elements and redrew them continuously on the screen by controlling an [[Cathode ray|electron beam]]. Advanced DPUs such as [[Evans & Sutherland]]'s [[Line Drawing System-1]] (and later models produced into the 1980s) incorporated 3D coordinate transformation features to accelerate rendering of [[Wire-frame model|wire-frame images]].{{r|n=Foley82|pp=93-94, 404-421}}{{r|EandS1979}} Evans & Sutherland also made the [[Digistar]] [[planetarium]] projection system, which was a vector display that could render both stars and wire-frame graphics (the vector-based Digistar and Digistar II were used in many planetariums, and a few may still be in operation).{{r|NagoyaCityScienceMuseum}}{{r|WorldwidePlanetariumsDatabase1}}{{r|WorldwidePlanetariumsDatabase2}} A Digistar prototype was used for rendering 3D star fields for the film [[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]] &ndash; some of the first 3D computer graphics sequences ever seen in a feature film.{{r|Smith1982}}

Shaded 3D graphics rendering in the 1970s and early 1980s was usually implemented on general-purpose computers, such as the [[PDP-10]] used by researchers at the University of Utah{{r|Phong1973}}{{r|Catmull1974}}. It was difficult to speed up using specialized hardware because it involves a [[Graphics pipeline|pipeline]] of complex steps, requiring data addressing, decision-making, and computation capabilities typically only provided by CPUs (although dedicated circuits for speeding up particular operations were proposed {{r|Phong1973}}). [[Supercomputer]]s or specially designed multi-CPU computers or [[computer cluster|clusters]] were sometimes used for ray tracing.{{r|n=IntroToRTCh6}} In 1981, [[James H. Clark]] and [[Marc Hannah]] designed the Geometry Engine, a [[Very-large-scale integration|VLSI]] chip for performing some of the steps of the 3D rasterization pipeline, and started the company [[Silicon Graphics]] (SGI) to commercialize this technology.{{r|Peddie2020}}{{r|Clark1980}}

[[Home computer]]s and [[Video game console|game consoles]] in the 1980s contained graphics [[coprocessor]]s that were capable of scrolling and filling areas of the display, and drawing [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] and lines, though they were not useful for rendering realistic images.{{r|Fox2024}}{{r|NESDevPPU}} Towards the end of the 1980s [[Graphics card|PC graphics cards]] and [[Arcade video game|arcade games]] with 3D rendering acceleration began to appear, and in the 1990s such technology became commonplace. Today, even low-power [[mobile processor]]s typically incorporate 3D graphics acceleration features.{{r|Peddie2020}}{{r|PowerVRAt25}}