A fast ray tracing casting algorithm using adaptive isotriangular subdivision

The use of ray casting in volume rendering and its uses and advantages over surface rendering algorithms are discussed. Various adaptive algorithms that attempt to overcome its problem of high computational cost by taking advantage of image coherency and the bandlimited nature of volume data are described. A method of subdividing the image plane with isosceles triangles, instead of quadrants as is usually done is proposed. It results in fewer rays being fired without sacrificing image quality. A brief theoretical analysis of the algorithm in comparison with other methods is given.>