JPH03224758A - Multivalued expression device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow an image and characters to have density gradation by reading gradation data registered in the first register and writing it in a specified address in the image memory, if sent character dot data is '1', and reading data registered in the second register and writing it in a specified address in the image memory, if the sent character dot data is '0'. CONSTITUTION:A positive logic output of character bit data is applied to the first register 1 sequentially, starting with the fourth register 2 and a negative logic output is applied to the second register 2. If the bit of character data is '1', the output of the first register becomes effective and then is written in the seventh image memory unit. On the other hand, if the bit of character data is '0', the output of the second register becomes effective and then is written in the seventh image memory unit. Each time character data is written, eight bit data having eight gradation is written in the seventh image memory unit, if a frequency which is eight times as wide as a space in which characters are written is employed. The image data is written in the seventh image memory unit through the third register, and then data consisting of a mixture of character data and eight-bit gradation image data can be output.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a device for outputting both dot-developed image and character data to the same display device.

(Prior Art) For example, when printing images and characters using a printer, the images and characters are each developed into dot pattern data and output to the printer. There are printers like this that can give images gradations. This type of printer separates the original image into pixels and uses image data that represents the gradation using, for example, 1 byte of data for each pixel. However, when printing an image and text on the same screen, the image part Data is read from the memory and printed, and for the character portion, data is read from the character data memory and printed, and depending on whether the print is an image portion or a character portion, the memory is switched using a switch and output to the print head. Character data is expressed by one bit per pixel and has no gradation, but with the above-described configuration, there is little need for characters to have gradation.

However, instead of just whitening out the text in the image and inserting the text, there are cases where you want to add text over the image, and in such cases, you may want to insert text over the top of the image. Therefore, it is necessary to make the letters themselves darker or lighter. In other words, there are cases where it is desirable to have gradations in the characters themselves, but this is not possible with conventional printers.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention aims to provide an N-tone to the characters in a printer that can display images and characters on one screen.

(Means for solving the problem) A first register for registering gradation data representing the "1" portion of character dot data, rQ of character dot data,
When the received character dot data is "rl", the gradation data registered in the first register is read out and stored in the image memory. It is written to a predetermined address, and when the sent character dot data is rOJ, the data registered in the second register is read out and written to a predetermined address in the image memory.

(Function) The multilevel representation device develops and stores the transferred image data and character data as multilevel output data on the image memory, and sequentially extracts the contents of this image memory and outputs them to the display device. ing. In the present invention, two registers are provided in such a device, and the gradations to be given to characters are stored in advance in these registers. Character data consists of a signal indicating whether one pixel is "1" or "0", so if the received character data is "1"
If the contents of the above two registers are sent to the image memory depending on whether it is "0" or "0", it is the same as sending character data with character gradation, and by special software processing "O
Data processing that gives gradation to character data is performed without the need to change the character data of J"lJ to multi-pit data.

(Example) The figure shows an example of the present invention. In this embodiment, gradation is represented by 8-bit data, and character data is written in 8-bit units. In the figure, 1 is a first register, 2 is a second register, and 3 is a third register, each of which is an 8-bit register. The fourth register 4 is an 8-bit shift register.

5 is a first counter, and 6 is a second counter. Gradation data is written into the register 1.2 from the input terminals 1nl and In2. Gradation data representing the character data "l" is applied to the input terminal 1nl, and gradation data representing the character data V Q J is applied to the terminal In2. When writing character data to the image memory 7, first write the bit string of character data to the input terminal 1n4, and at the same time the counter 5 starts counting the clock pulses applied to the input terminal 1n5 and outputs 8 clock pulses. . A clock pulse is sent to register 4 and a second counter 6 indicating the address of the image memory, and positive logic outputs of bits of character data are applied to the first register l in order from the end of the fourth register 4, and negative logic outputs are applied to the first register l. The output is applied to the second register 2. If the character data bit is "1", the output of register 1 becomes valid and is written to image memory 7,
When the character data is "0", the output of the register 2 becomes valid and is written into the image memory 7. By using a frequency eight times higher than the interval at which character data is written, each time character data is written, 8 bits of data with 8 gradations are
is written to the image memory of The image data is written to the image memory 7 through the register 3, and it becomes possible to output data in which character data and image data having 8-bit gradation are mixed.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, the frequency of the clock pulse can be increased to more than 8 times (because characters are 8 bits) the upper side of the transfer rate of character data, etc. It is possible to add gradation to characters while keeping the base as is, and data processing speed is fast, unlike setting the gradation of characters using complicated software.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a device that inputs image data into an image memory, sequentially retrieves the contents of the image memory, and outputs them to a display device, a first method is used in which gradation data representing the "1" portion of character dot data of a dot configuration is registered. It is equipped with a register and a second register in which data representing the gradation of the "0" part of the character dot data is registered, and when the received character dot data is "1", the register is registered in the first register. The multi-value representation device writes data registered in the register into the image memory, and writes the contents of the second register into the image memory when the received character dot data is "0".