Multi-projector, visually immersive displays have emerged as an important tool for a number of applications including scientific visualization, augmented reality, advanced teleconferencing, training, and simulation. Techniques have been developed that use one or more cameras to observe a given display setup in a more casual alignment, where projectors are only coarsely aligned. Using camera-based feedback from the observed setup, the necessary adjustments needed to register the imagery, both in terms of geometry and color, can be automatically computed. In order to create seamless imagery in such a multi-projector display the desired image (first-pass) has to be warped (second-pass) to "undo" the distortions caused by the projection process. So far this has always been done in software. The second rendering pass, while not significant, does cause some overhead. In addition, applications designed for regular displays usually have to be modified in the source code level to take advantage of the large display capability. In contrast, abutted displays (mechanically aligned projectors with no overlap), while take days or weeks to setup, can largely run any application without modification, thanks to the widely available multi-channel output even in consumer-grade PCs. Based on our prior research, this has been one of the most significant disadvantages of displays with overlaps.
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