D3DPR: A Direct3D-Based Large-Scale Display Parallel Rendering System Architecture for Clusters

The current trend in hardware for parallel rendering is to use clusters instead of high-end super computer. We describe a novel parallel rendering system that allows application to render to a large-scale display. Our system, called D3DPR, uses a cluster of PCs with high-performance graphics accelerators to drive an array of projectors. D3DPR consists of two types of logical nodes, Geometry Distributing Node and Geometry Rendering Node. It allows existing Direct3D9 application to run on our parallel system without any modification. The advantage of high-resolution and high-performance can be obtained in our system, especially when the triangle number of the application becomes very large. Moreover, the details of interconnecting network architecture, data distribution, communication and synchronization, etc. are hidden from the users.