Jack Elton Bresenham

Last updated

Jack Elton Bresenham (born October 11, 1937, Clovis, New Mexico, US) [1] is a former professor of computer science.

Contents

Biography

Bresenham retired from 27 years of service at IBM as a Senior Technical Staff Member in 1987. He taught for 16 years at Winthrop University and has nine patents. [2] He has four children.[ citation needed ]

Bresenham's line algorithm, developed in 1962, is his most well-known innovation. It determines which points on a 2-dimensional raster should be plotted in order to form a straight line between two given points, and is commonly used to draw lines on a computer screen. It is one of the earliest algorithms discovered in the field of computer graphics. The midpoint circle algorithm shares some similarities to his line algorithm and is known as Bresenham's circle algorithm. [3] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bézier curve</span> Curve used in computer graphics and related fields

A Bézier curve is a parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. A set of discrete "control points" defines a smooth, continuous curve by means of a formula. Usually the curve is intended to approximate a real-world shape that otherwise has no mathematical representation or whose representation is unknown or too complicated. The Bézier curve is named after French engineer Pierre Bézier (1910–1999), who used it in the 1960s for designing curves for the bodywork of Renault cars. Other uses include the design of computer fonts and animation. Bézier curves can be combined to form a Bézier spline, or generalized to higher dimensions to form Bézier surfaces. The Bézier triangle is a special case of the latter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasterisation</span> Conversion of a vector-graphics image to a raster image

In computer graphics, rasterisation or rasterization is the task of taking an image described in a vector graphics format (shapes) and converting it into a raster image. The rasterized image may then be displayed on a computer display, video display or printer, or stored in a bitmap file format. Rasterization may refer to the technique of drawing 3D models, or to the conversion of 2D rendering primitives, such as polygons and line segments, into a rasterized format.

Bresenham's line algorithm is a line drawing algorithm that determines the points of an n-dimensional raster that should be selected in order to form a close approximation to a straight line between two points. It is commonly used to draw line primitives in a bitmap image, as it uses only integer addition, subtraction, and bit shifting, all of which are very cheap operations in historically common computer architectures. It is an incremental error algorithm, and one of the earliest algorithms developed in the field of computer graphics. An extension to the original algorithm called the midpoint circle algorithm may be used for drawing circles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James H. Clark</span> American computer scientist and entrepreneur

James Henry Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in computer graphics led to the development of systems for the fast rendering of three-dimensional computer images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Line drawing algorithm</span> Methods of approximating line segments for pixel displays

In computer graphics, a line drawing algorithm is an algorithm for approximating a line segment on discrete graphical media, such as pixel-based displays and printers. On such media, line drawing requires an approximation. Basic algorithms rasterize lines in one color. A better representation with multiple color gradations requires an advanced process, spatial anti-aliasing.

Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems are also considered to be part of computational geometry. While modern computational geometry is a recent development, it is one of the oldest fields of computing with a history stretching back to antiquity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Warnock</span> American computer scientist, inventor and technology businessman (1940–2023)

John Edward Warnock was an American computer scientist, inventor, technology businessman, and philanthropist best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company, with Charles Geschke in 1982. Warnock was President of Adobe for his first two years and chairman and CEO for his remaining sixteen years at the company. Although he retired as CEO in 2001, he continued to co-chair the Adobe Board of Directors with Geschke until 2017. Warnock pioneered the development of graphics, publishing, web and electronic document technologies that have revolutionized the field of publishing and visual communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiaolin Wu's line algorithm</span> Line algorithm with antialiasing

Xiaolin Wu's line algorithm is an algorithm for line antialiasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hidden-line removal</span> Problem of finding obscured edges in a wire-frame 3D model

In 3D computer graphics, solid objects are usually modeled by polyhedra. A face of a polyhedron is a planar polygon bounded by straight line segments, called edges. Curved surfaces are usually approximated by a polygon mesh. Computer programs for line drawings of opaque objects must be able to decide which edges or which parts of the edges are hidden by an object itself or by other objects, so that those edges can be clipped during rendering. This problem is known as hidden-line removal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Dongarra</span> American computer scientist (born 1950)

Jack Joseph Dongarra is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Tennessee. He holds the position of a Distinguished Research Staff member in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor and teacher in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. He served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (2014–2018). Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. He was the recipient of the Turing Award in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvy Ray Smith</span> American filmmaker, Pixar co-founder

Alvy Ray Smith III is an American computer scientist who co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and Pixar, participating in the 1980s and 1990s expansion of computer animation into feature film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Bentley (computer scientist)</span> American computer scientist (born 1953)

Jon Louis Bentley is an American computer scientist who is known for his contributions to computer programming, algorithms and data structure research.

Ronald Paul "Ron" Fedkiw is a full professor in the Stanford University department of computer science and a leading researcher in the field of computer graphics, focusing on topics relating to physically based simulation of natural phenomena and machine learning. His techniques have been employed in many motion pictures. He has earned recognition at the 80th Academy Awards and the 87th Academy Awards as well as from the National Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midpoint circle algorithm</span> Determines the points needed for rasterizing a circle

In computer graphics, the midpoint circle algorithm is an algorithm used to determine the points needed for rasterizing a circle. It's a generalization of Bresenham's line algorithm. The algorithm can be further generalized to conic sections.

In computer graphics, a digital differential analyzer (DDA) is hardware or software used for interpolation of variables over an interval between start and end point. DDAs are used for rasterization of lines, triangles and polygons. They can be extended to non linear functions, such as perspective correct texture mapping, quadratic curves, and traversing voxels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer graphics (computer science)</span> Sub-field of computer science

Computer graphics is a sub-field of computer science which studies methods for digitally synthesizing and manipulating visual content. Although the term often refers to the study of three-dimensional computer graphics, it also encompasses two-dimensional graphics and image processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph S. B. Mitchell</span> American computer scientist and mathematician

Joseph S. B. Mitchell is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Applied Mathematics and Statistics and Research Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fei-Fei Li</span> Chinese-American computer scientist (born 1976)

Fei-Fei Li is a Chinese-American computer scientist, known for establishing ImageNet, the dataset that enabled rapid advances in computer vision in the 2010s. She is the Sequoia Capital professor of computer science at Stanford University and former board director at Twitter. Li is a co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and a co-director of the Stanford Vision and Learning Lab. She served as the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 2013 to 2018.

You-Dong Liang (梁友栋) is a mathematician and educator, best known for his contributions in geometric modeling and the Liang-Barsky algorithm.

References

  1. Earnshaw, Rae A., ed. (1991). Fundamental Algorithms for Computer Graphics: NATO Advanced Study Institute directed by J.E. Bresenham, R.A. Earnshaw, M.L.V. Pitteway. Springer-Verlag. p. v.
  2. Phipps, Amanda (January 26, 1994). "Former Winthrop professor responsible for drawing lines on computer". Rock Hill, South Carolina: The Johnsonian. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.
  3. "Dr. Jack Elton Bresenham". IT History Society. December 21, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  4. "Jack Bresenham - Academia.edu". independent.academia.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2024.