Optimal Regular Volume Sampling

Optimal Regular Volume Sampling

Abstract

The classification of volumetric data sets as well as their rendering algorithms are typically based on the representation of the underlying grid. Grid structures based on a Cartesian lattice are the de-facto standard for regular representations of volumetric data. In this paper we introduce a more general concept of regular grids for the representation of volumetric data. We demonstrate that a specific type of regular lattice – the so-called body-centered cubic – is able to represent the same data set as a Cartesian grid to the same accuracy but with 29.3% fewer samples. This speeds up traditional volume rendering algorithms by the same ratio, which we demonstrate by adopting a splatting implementation for these new lattices. We investigate different filtering methods required for computing the normals on this lattice. The lattice representation results also in lossless compression ratios that are better than previously reported. Although other regular grid structures achieve the same sample efficiency, the body-centered cubic is particularly easy to use. The only assumption necessary is that the underlying volume is isotropic and band-limited - an assumption that is valid for most practical data sets.

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Authors
  • Theußl, Thomas
  • Möller, Torsten
  • Gröller, Eduard
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Supplemental Material
Shortfacts
Category
Paper in Conference Proceedings or in Workshop Proceedings (Full Paper in Proceedings)
Event Title
IEEE Visualization 2001
Divisions
Visualization and Data Analysis
Subjects
Computergraphik
Event Location
San Diego, California
Event Type
Conference
Event Dates
October 21 - October 26
Date
October 2001
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