EP0201428B1 - Steuerungsschaltung für eine graphische Maschine und Verwendung dieser Schaltung in einer interaktiven graphischen Maschine - Google Patents

Steuerungsschaltung für eine graphische Maschine und Verwendung dieser Schaltung in einer interaktiven graphischen Maschine Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0201428B1
EP0201428B1 EP19860400980 EP86400980A EP0201428B1 EP 0201428 B1 EP0201428 B1 EP 0201428B1 EP 19860400980 EP19860400980 EP 19860400980 EP 86400980 A EP86400980 A EP 86400980A EP 0201428 B1 EP0201428 B1 EP 0201428B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
bits
memory
colour
image
table memory
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Expired - Lifetime
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EP19860400980
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0201428A1 (de
Inventor
Philippe Ligocki
Dominique Caignault
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Thales SA
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Thomson CSF SA
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
    • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
    • G09G5/02—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the way in which colour is displayed
    • G09G5/022—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the way in which colour is displayed using memory planes

Definitions

  • the invention relates to high resolution graphic display machines used to display images produced in digital form by a computer, on one or more color screens.
  • This type of machine conventionally has a computer coupled to a memory called “image memory” by graphic hardware and software resources: input-output processor, graphics processor, vector and character generator, surfacing processor, etc ...
  • image memory a memory
  • input-output processor graphics processor
  • graphics processor vector and character generator
  • surfacing processor etc ...
  • the image is decomposed into points or "pixels" and each point is characterized by an aspect word recorded, after processing, in the image memory.
  • This aspect word defines in numerical form the color of the point and possibly if it blinks.
  • the image can consist of 1024 lines of each 2048 points and be projected onto the screen of a cathode-ray tube by means of a television-type scan, at the frequency of 50 images per second.
  • the terminal is equipped with an image memory making it possible to memorize the aspect word of each point, this memory being read in synchronism with the scanning.
  • the image memory in which a point is defined by an aspect word is coupled to a work station comprising a color screen by a circuit controlling color video signals.
  • the aspect word extracted from the image memory is directly decoded by a digital-analog decoding circuit, to produce analog signals feeding the projection device, that is to say generally say three primary analog signals, R, G, B, controlling the red, green and blue beams of a trichromatic cathode ray tube, respectively.
  • the image memory provides eight-bit words, the terminal station can be constructed so that three of these bits encode the amplitude of the signal R, three encode the amplitude of the signal V, and two the amplitude of the signal B.
  • These eight bits of the aspect word stored in image memory provide a "palette" of 28 colors. In such a simple design, the pallet is determined once and for all by construction.
  • a known improvement consists in adding a random access memory known as color transcoding table memory.
  • a random access memory known as color transcoding table memory.
  • the aspect word provided by the image memory it is a color word, read in table memory which feeds the digital-analog decoding circuit producing the primary signals for each pixel, the address for reading the table memory being given by the aspect word supplied by the image memory.
  • the format of the aspect words stored in the image memory is the same as the addressing format of the table memory, unless bits of the aspect word are taken directly from the output. of the image memory to control a particular function, for example the flashing of certain areas of the image.
  • the processor In a graphics system as briefly described above, to modify the image displayed on a screen, the processor must recalculate all the points of the image, which leads to a complete "refresh" of the image to each modification.
  • the control circuit connecting the memory image to the projection device comprising means for selecting these sub-assemblies.
  • These subsets are selected in an aspect word in the format necessary for addressing, the unselected bits being set to 0 for example.
  • the choices in the color table memory are limited by the size of the selected bit subset.
  • the improvement which is the subject of the present invention is such that the possibilities of choice are not limited, the size of the image memory being increased.
  • the selection means are then controlled, on the one hand, by the image memory which stores appearance words having a format n greater than the format n 'of the address word of the table memory and, on the other hand , by a control word developed by user in an interactive dialogue with the graphics machine comprising nn 'bits.
  • the invention also relates to the use of such a control circuit in a graphics machine.
  • This single figure represents an exemplary embodiment of the control circuit for a graphics machine according to the invention.
  • the improvement according to the invention which makes it possible to contribute to the construction of a machine with a high level of interactivity, allows partial modifications of the image during an image refreshment, by the modification of only certain image memory plans.
  • This memory comprises a certain number of plans. It provides for each pixel a number of bits which is equal to the number of planes and which is greater than the number of bits necessary for the addressing of the color table memory.
  • the control circuit for a graphics machine shown in the figure includes an image memory 1, the content of which is supplied to each image calculation by the assembly 10 including the computer and the conventional graphics resources.
  • Each image point is characterized by an aspect word having a number of bits at most equal to the number n of planes in the image memory, ie 16 in the example above.
  • the output bus of this memory is a bus of n bits, that is to say 16 bits.
  • This bus is connected to an input of a plane selector circuit 3.
  • Another input of circuit 3 receives a command word from a configuration command register 2, to select from the aspect word a determined group of bits by the user.
  • This configuration command register 2 is loaded via the resources of the graphics system (set 10).
  • the output of the plane selector circuit 3 is connected by an n-bit bus to an addressing input of a color transcoding table memory 4 which supplies a color word for each image point.
  • the number ni is less than n, which means that the appearance of a point on the screen cannot be defined at any given time by more than n 'bits.
  • the selector circuit 3 therefore selects, for each point, from among the 16 bits supplied by the 16 planes of the image memory, at most 8 appearance bits and it transmits them for the addressing of the table memory 4.
  • Each of the 2 8 colored words stored at an address of the table memory 4 can consist of 3 words of 8 data bits respectively associated with the three primary colors R, G, B. These 3 words, read at the address provided by the selector circuit 3 after selection of the planes of the image memory, are respectively applied to three digital-analog converters (DAC), 51, 52, 53 whose outputs provide the analog signals R, G, B controlling the red beams , green and blue of a trichrome cathode ray tube in a projection device 6.
  • DAC digital-analog converters
  • the circuit 3 is controlled by control words of n.n 'bits, that is to say 1 control word of n bits applied to each of the n' selectors.
  • Each selector then comprises n logical AND gates each receiving a bit of the word of n bits from the image memory 1, and a bit of the control word with n bit; the n AND gates of a selector have their outputs connected to a logic circuit OR with n 'inputs and one output, which provides a bit of the address of the table memory 4.
  • an elementary image can be memorized by a "logical plane" of the image memory made up of a subset of the planes of this memory, and the 16 planes of the image memory can per put to define several logical planes, each one being associated with a subset of the image forming an elementary image.
  • the processing of these different elementary images by the graphics processor of the display system can be carried out independently, both for their calculation and for their refreshment.
  • the control circuit according to the invention allows the user to view, on request, one of these different elementary images or else any combination of these images by means of a command issued by the command register. configuration 2. This arrangement allows the resources available to be adapted to the user's needs.
  • Essential elements of the relief are stored in a subset of the planes of this first "logical plane", and additional elements of the relief are stored in another subset of the planes of this first "logical plane".
  • the circuit described above constitutes a first improvement which can be combined with another improvement relating to the color tables.
  • a color palette larger than the capacity of the color transcoding table memory 4, which capacity is 28 colors in the example above
  • the user replaces, as desired, the content of table memory 4 with the content of one of the buffers 71 to 74 of this set 7.
  • the transfer of one of these 4 buffers 71 to 74 in the memory 4 is controlled by two bits associated with the table used for the synthesis of the image and supplied by the computer unit 10 and graphic resources.
  • the corresponding transfer control means have not been shown in the figure. They are described in detail in French patent application No.
  • this second improvement offers an additional possibility to modify the appearance of a point of the screen from one scanning period to the next without modifying the content of the image memory, by the simple command of the transfer of a table of a buffer memory 71, ..., 74 in the table memory 4.
  • this control circuit provided with the first or the combination of the first and the second improvement in a graphic machine opens up great possibilities of interaction between the machine and the user, by simple commands which do not occupy calculation time in the set 10 computer and graphic resources controlling the machine.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Controls And Circuits For Display Device (AREA)

Claims (4)

1. Steuerschaltung für eine graphische Maschine, die mit einem Bildspeicher (1) zusammenwirkt, in dem der Aspekt jedes Bildpunkts durch ein mehrere Bits umfassendes Aspektwort kodiert ist,
- mit einem Tabellenspeicher für die Farbtranskodierung (4), der einer Farbpalette zugeordnete Farbwörter enthält und zum Auslesen für jeden Punkt des Bildschirms einer Projektionseinrichtung (6) durch den Bildspeicher (1) adressiert wird, wobei das Auslesen aus dem Bildspeicher (1) synchron mit der Strahlablenkung auf dem Bildschirm erfolgt,
- mit Auswahlmitteln, die es erlauben, an den Eingang des Tabellenspeichers nur einen Teil des Bits des Aspektworts zu übertragen,
- mit einer Digital-Analog-Wandlergruppe (51, 52, 53), die aus dem Transkodiertabellenspeicher (4) entnommene Farbwörter empfängt und analoge Steuersignale für die Projektionseinrichtung (6) liefert, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Anzahl n von Bits, mit denen der Aspekt der Punkte im Bildspeicher (1) kodiert wird, größer als die Anzahl n' von Bits zur Adressierung des Tabellenspeichers (4) ist, und daß Auswahlmittel (3) aufweisen
- n' Auswahlkreise (31, 32,...38), die zwischen dem Bildspeicher (1) und dem Tabellenspeicher (4) liegen und je einen über eine Datenschiene von n Bits mit dem Ausgang des Bildspeichers (1) verbundenen Eingang sowie einen Ausgang mit einem Bit und einen Steuereingang mit n Bits besitzen,
- ein Konfigurationssteuerregister (2), dessen Ausgang mit n.n' Bits an die Steuereingänge der Auswahlkreise angeschlossen ist und das diese so steuert, daß sie für jeden Punkt bei jedem Überstreichen des Bildschirms eine Untergruppe mit höchstens n' Bits aus den n Aspekt des Punkts kodierenden Bits auswählen.
2. Steuerkreis nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß jeder Auswahlkreis (31, 32, 33,...38) n UND-Tore, die je ein Aspektbit und ein Ausgangsbit des Steuerregisters (2) zugeführt erhalten, sowie einen ODER-Kreis mit n Eingängen und einem Ausgang aufweist, der ein Adressierbit für den Tabellenspeicher der Farbtranskodierung (4) liefert.
3. Steuerkreis nach einem der Ansprüche 1 und 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß der Tabellenspeicher für die Farbtranskodierung (4) einer Gruppe von Pufferspeichern (7) zugeordnet ist, die Farbtranskodiertabellen speichern, wobei der Inhalt eines dieser Pufferspeicher unter Steuerung durch den Benutzer in den Tabellenspeicher für die Farbtranskodierung (4) übertragen wird.
4. Verwendung des Steuerkreises nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche in einer interaktiven graphischen Maschine.
EP19860400980 1985-05-10 1986-05-06 Steuerungsschaltung für eine graphische Maschine und Verwendung dieser Schaltung in einer interaktiven graphischen Maschine Expired - Lifetime EP0201428B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR8507149A FR2581779B1 (fr) 1985-05-10 1985-05-10 Circuit de commande pour machine graphique et utilisation d'un tel circuit dans une machine graphique interactive
FR8507149 1985-05-10

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0201428A1 EP0201428A1 (de) 1986-12-17
EP0201428B1 true EP0201428B1 (de) 1990-09-05

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EP19860400980 Expired - Lifetime EP0201428B1 (de) 1985-05-10 1986-05-06 Steuerungsschaltung für eine graphische Maschine und Verwendung dieser Schaltung in einer interaktiven graphischen Maschine

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EP (1) EP0201428B1 (de)
DE (1) DE3673864D1 (de)
FR (1) FR2581779B1 (de)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH068993B2 (ja) * 1987-02-05 1994-02-02 株式会社ナムコ 映像表示装置
JP2612475B2 (ja) * 1988-06-24 1997-05-21 日本航空電子工業株式会社 カラー表示パネルの表示制御装置

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2032740A (en) * 1978-10-16 1980-05-08 Tektronix Inc Programmable color mapping
NL8101339A (nl) * 1981-03-19 1982-10-18 Philips Nv Inrichting voor het afbeelden van digitale informatie met selektiemogelijkheid van beeldpagina's en/of resolutie uitbreiding.

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Publication number Publication date
DE3673864D1 (de) 1990-10-11
FR2581779B1 (fr) 1987-06-12
EP0201428A1 (de) 1986-12-17
FR2581779A1 (fr) 1986-11-14

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