JPH06266830A - Electronic image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To control data transfer from an image device to show plural images. CONSTITUTION: This system includes an image storage device 11, a controller 14 and a monitor 13. The storage device 11 stores data which express plural images as many pixels. The controller 14 is provided to control the reading of data which express image parts sent from the storage device 11 in order to show in each display area on the monitor 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic image processing system. In the field of electronic image processing, image stores are used to store data representing images to be processed. The data typically represents a plurality of individual pixels that together form the picture or image to be processed. Early image processing devices provided storage with sufficient storage to store pixel data for only one image. The storage device was configured to have as many horizontal and vertical storage locations as there were horizontal and vertical pixels in the image. In early devices, the limited number of memory locations available limited the size of images that could be stored therein.

As storage technology has improved, the cost of storage devices has decreased, while at the same time increasing the number of storage locations available. It is common today to provide storage devices with multiple memory locations for storing several images each represented by a relatively large number of pixels.

Since the image to be processed is usually a rectangle of some shape and size, the storage device is rectangular and the respective area for each image in the storage device is stored therein. It is natural to think that it has the same rectangular shape as the image. Therefore, for example, 1K × 2K
The image defined by the pixels of
The locations of the pixels in the image, which are stored in the area of the 2K storage locations, will correspond directly to the respective locations of the corresponding storage locations where the pixel data is stored in the storage device.

However, there is a problem associated with using a large storage device to store some images: the maximum number of images is stored with a minimal amount of unused storage space in the storage device. As discussed, it is a matter of optimizing the way images are stored. This problem can be seen by considering a simple example. Suppose the store contains 3x3 storage locations and data representing an image of 2x2 pixels is stored therein. If the image data is stored in the memory in the form of an image, then four adjacent memory locations, for example the first two adjacent locations of the first row and the first two neighbors of the next row of the memory. The place to do is used. Five locations are available for storage of other data, namely the last location of each of the first and second rows and all three locations of the third row. Available locations are, for example, 1x3 or 3x1
Can be used to store data for an image of pixels, but cannot be used to store data in the form of a second 2x2 image. Another storage device would have to be used to store the data for the second image. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the limitation of storing image data in a storage device in the same manner as the image tends to waste space in the storage device.

A further discussion of this issue is given with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a storage device 1 in which several different images 2 to 8 of different size and rectangular shape are stored. It is intended to store images 2-8 in such a way as to reduce the number and size of unused areas of the storage device, such as areas 9, 10 and 11 which result in different sizes of images 2-8. A storage management program is available. For example,
The management program is arranged such that in the first example (as shown in FIG. 1) the image is placed as close as possible to the upper left corner of the storage device 1. The program is further configured such that when one image is removed from the storage device, the remaining images move within the storage device to occupy an empty space. Thus, for example, when image 4 is removed from storage device 1, the program moves image 7 and then image 8
Can be moved to the space previously occupied by image 7.

The problem of optimizing storage locations cannot be solved easily. When images of different shapes and sizes are stored in a single storage device, voids such as void 9 of Figure 1 are often created between regions containing image data.
The best use of storage space for a given combination of different images can only be identified by trying each possible combination of image locations in storage. No algorithm necessarily leads to the best solution, but as mentioned above, procedures are available that provide a shortcut to the optimal solution.

It is not desirable to spend much of the processing time to optimize the use of the storage device, because the processing time is needed to access the stored image data and produce the required processed image. Is more usefully spent. In order to realize a storage device with acceptable cost, capacity and accessibility, a compromise must be made between storage size, storage optimization and processing time.

A related problem is controlling the transfer of data from an image store for displaying multiple images on a monitor. The problem of displaying multiple images has been considered in British patent application GB-A-2174277 (IBM), which divides the display screen into multiple display lines, one for each image or images to be displayed in each line. A related display system is described in which associated information, including a boundary indicator and starting address for each image, is retained in storage. This system suffers from the disadvantage that a large amount of information needs to be stored in order to define multiple image displays per display row.

This problem is also taken into account in two British patent applications, GB-A-2130857 and GB-A-2179227, by Cadtrak Corporation. Both of these patent applications describe a graphic display system in which multiple image displays are defined by a set of control word sequences, each of which defines one scan line segment in one display area. This system again suffers from the disadvantage that a large amount of data is required to define the multiple image displays and this data requires a large amount of storage space.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic image processing system including the following: a storage device for storing image data representing a plurality of images as a large number of pixels, each image being stored in the storage device. Data is stored as a one-dimensional data list in a sequence of consecutive storage addresses, and further has a large number of display locations, and a display screen for displaying an image represented by the image data provided therein, and Define a plurality of areas on the display screen with a representation of the data identifying a plurality of vertical screen portions having at least one associated horizontal screen portion and a representation of the starting address in the memory for the image portion. For each display area and the prescribed means for identifying the data for each display area, And vertical screen portion data and the starting address, a calculation means for calculating an address in a storage device in which data representing a pixel for display is stored, and pixel data is read from the calculated storage address, Read means for outputting this to a display screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of image processing comprising: storing image data representing a plurality of images as a number of pixels, each image comprising: The data is stored as a one-dimensional data list, further defining a plurality of regions on the display screen with a representation of the data identifying a plurality of vertical screen portions each having at least one associated horizontal screen portion; Identifying, for each display area, data for an image portion in the representation of the starting address of the stored data; data representing pixels for display from the horizontal and vertical screen portion data and the starting address. Calculating the address of the stored data stored therein, and the calculated address Reading pixel data from the scan, and outputting it for display.

The present invention also provides an image processing system for displaying a plurality of images, the system controlling the reading of data representing a plurality of image portions from an image data storage device, each on a monitor. A controller for displaying the portion in an area, the controller identifying data defining each of the image portions in an image data store and each being defined by a vertical start position and a vertical length; And configured to divide the monitor into a plurality of vertical zones each having at least one associated horizontal zone defined by a horizontal start position and a horizontal length, both horizontal and vertical zones of the plurality of image portions. Each one defines the area to be displayed there.

The monitor is divided into a plurality of vertical zones each defined by a vertical start position and a vertical length, and each having at least one associated horizontal zone defined by the horizontal start position and horizontal length. Thereby, much less data is needed to define multiple image displays as compared to the system described above.

The above and further features of the invention include:
More clearly by considering the following detailed example of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, which is set forth in the appended claims and together with its advantages, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Will be.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, an image processing system 10 including a dynamic random access memory image store 11 for storing data associated with one or more images is illustrated. Storage device 11 is configured as a one-dimensional array of storage locations, each 0 (zero).
Is uniquely identified by a numeric address up to 2 ^{32 - 1} is the largest 2 ^n-1, for example, 32-bit addressing system from. The image data from the storage device 11 is read out via the multiplexer 12 to display the image on the monitor 13. The reading of data from the storage device 11 is controlled by the zone controller 14 and the associated control RAM 15. The zone controller 14 controls access to the storage device 11 by controlling addressing of storage locations within the storage device. Zone control device 14
Includes several ports, for example 16 ports, each of which can control access to selected storage locations in the storage device 11 for reading data to and from it.

The system 10 also includes an independently controlled drawing processor 16, which is described in our British Patent Application No. 2,089,625, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. By the inventors
It is similar to that implemented in image processing systems on the market under the name INTBOX®. The drawing processor 16 responds to a user operation of the stylus / touch tablet device 17. Drawing processor 16
Request data from the storage device 11 via the zone controller 14 for a location defined by the position of the stylus on the touch tablet, and to change the image feature, eg color, in the portion of the image represented thereby. It modifies the data and writes the modified data back to the same location, replacing the data previously stored there. The read-modify-write circuitry accesses the controller via selected ports within the zone controller 14.

The system may be required to display on the monitor 13 a picture representing some of the images represented by the data stored in the storage device 11. Typically, monitor 13 is capable of displaying images at a high definition television standard (HDTV) such as 1250 lines at 50 Hz. The image to be displayed can be of any size. For example, it may be very small, ie may contain fewer pixels than there are display locations on the monitor screen, and may be represented by as many pixels as there are display locations available on the monitor screen, or It may include far more pixels (eg, 10,000 × 8,000 pixels) than there are display locations on the monitor screen.
In other words, the image may have a resolution less than, equal to, or greater than the resolution on the monitor screen.

It will be appreciated that several modifications of the display are possible. For example, the entire image may be displayed at a lower resolution over all or part of the monitor screen, a portion of the image may be displayed at full resolution over all or part of the monitor screen, or A portion of the image may be displayed at a resolution less than full resolution over all or a portion of the monitor. This list is endless.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
Then, the width W₁Pixel and height H ₁Pixel image 18
Of the storage device 1 in the order of raster scan.
Start address S in 1₁Beginning with the address (S₁+
H₁). (W₁-1) in the sequence of memory locations ending in
Remembered. The zone controller 14 of FIG.
Image data from storage device 11 is displayed in raster order for display on top.
The address is generated so that the data is scanned. zone
The simplest task required of the controller is the monitor 13
Scanning the data to display the entire image on
Is. In this case, the zone controller 14 first (see FIG.
The data for the pixel in the upper left corner of the image (as shown in
Memory location S containing data₁Address (as illustrated in Figure 3)
Specify, then place S₁+1, S₁+2, S₁To +3,
Place (S₁+ H₁). (W₁Go until you reach -1),
Then place S₁Then, the scanning is repeated.

Since addressing data simply increments the counter by a fixed amount each time, it is easy to reverse the addressing by incrementing the counter by a negative number. The effect of reversing the addressing in this way is to flip the image upside down as it is displayed on the monitor.

If the image 18 is much larger than the display screen of the monitor 13, ie has a higher resolution, a cutout image portion 19 of pixels of width XLEN and height YLEN is displayed on the monitor 13.
May be specified with respect to the above display. Cutout 19 is
It has a starting address S ₁ ′ where the data corresponding to the pixel in the upper left corner of the cutout is stored in the storage device 11. The data at address S ₁ ′ is first read, then the address is S ₁ ′ +1, then S ₁ ′ +2, and the data representing the last pixel of the first row of the cutout is address S ₁ ′ + XLEN−. Incremented until read from 1.
The data for the first pixel in the second row is stored in the storage device 11 at the location S ₁ ′ + W, ie this is the next location in the storage device to be addressed. (Note that the address is not S ₁ '+ XLEN, because it is the data stored for scan order that is for the entire image 18 and not for the cutout 19). Therefore, each line of the cutout 19 begins at an address that is a full width W ₁ away from the beginning address of the row before the cutout. Reading process of the line portion corresponding to the cut-out 19 is repeated until the data for the pixel at the bottom right of the cut-out is read from the memory location _{S 1 '+ YLEN W 1 +} XLEN-1. All the information needed to perform a scan of cutout 19 is loaded into memory within the zone controller, as described in more detail below.

It is often necessary to display multiple images simultaneously on each part of the monitor screen. For example, in our product PAINTBOX®, a pop-up palette or menu area may be selected by the user to facilitate painting and other operations available on the machine. When a palette is selected, the image is displayed in the upper 7 / 8th of the screen and the lower 1 / 8th of the screen contains the palette. Therefore, the two parts of the screen contain images that are completely unrelated. Image or image part 2
0 and the palette or menu 20a on each part of the monitor screen at the same time is shown in FIG.
Illustrated in.

To handle the display states illustrated in FIG.
The scan is divided into two Y zones, Y1 and Y2.
The Y zone has widths XLEN1 and XLEN2 and heights YLEN1 and YLEN2. Width XLEN1
And XLEN2 represent the number of display locations across the width of monitor 13, so XLEN1 and XLEN2 are equal to each other. Heights YLEN1 and YLEN2 together are equal to the height of the Y zone on monitor 13, ie, the number of lines. Stored image 20, 20a to be displayed
Have starting addresses S ₁ , S ₂ , widths W ₁ , W ₂ and heights H ₁ , H ₂ , each of the stored images 20, 20 a being as illustrated in FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings. The storage device 1
1 occupies its own sequence of addresses. The zone controller is configured to process the Y zones in sequence, starting with zone Y1 and proceeding to zone Y2. More than one Y zone may be defined if desired. Assuming that the stored images 20, 20a are the same size as their respective display areas, the zone controller first scans the storage at address S ₁ of display location [0,0].
Display location [XLEN1-1, YLEN1-
1] address (S ₁ + H ₁ ). (W ₁ -1), and then from the display location [0, YLEN 1] address S ₂ to the display location [XLEN1 + XLEN2-1, YLEN1].
+ YLEN2-1] address (S ₂ + H ₂ ). (W ₂
Scan up to -1).

However, the stored images 20, 20
2 if a is larger than the area in which they should be displayed
Only a portion of each of the two images is required for display
It Under these circumstances, the values XLEN1, XLEN2,
All of YLEN1 and YLEN2 are stored images.
The corresponding size W of the image₁, W₂, H₁, H₂When
Note that they are not the same. Is displayed
The first pixel of the image 20 to be rendered has a separate start address S
₁', The first pixel of image 20a is
Address S₂Zone control device, identified by ’
In the same manner as described above with reference to FIG.
Scan the storage device. Therefore, the display illustrated in FIG.
In order to generate the
With respect to S ₁Start scanning from ', then further XLEN image
S for prime₁′ + W₁And go to S₁′ + 2W₁
And so on until the line YLEN1 of the pixel is output.
The zone controller will then (XLEN2 = XLEN1
S) for additional XLEN1 pixels₂From '
Scan, S₂′ + W₂And the rest of the display
It is the same.

The image data representing a picture usually defines the picture in high resolution, so that the picture looks sharp and clear when viewed. However, the same level of resolution is not required to define images that represent menus, palettes, etc., so that such images are reserved in storage device 11 to free up storage space for other uses. It makes sense to specify a low resolution. The zone controller is thus able to control the output of image data from the storage device such that the displayed image can be a magnified version of the stored image, multiplied by a size factor M. Composed. Each Y zone has its own magnitude factor M, and M × for each zone.
It is arranged so that W is equal to the width of the display screen.

As will be apparent from the description below, FIG.
Zone controller 14 is further configured such that one or more Y zones can be horizontally divided into several X zones. Referring now to FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings, monitor 13
2 screens extending across the width of the screen and having display line heights of YLEN1 and YLEN2
An exemplary display configuration is shown, vertically divided into two Y zones, Y1 and Y2, respectively. The first Y zone Y1 has three X zones having widths of display points XLEN1, XLEN2, XLEN3, respectively X1, X2, X.
It is divided horizontally into three. The second Y zone is formed as a single X zone having a width of the display point of XLEN4 corresponding to the width of the screen. Therefore, the display point at the upper left corner of the first X zone, X1, is located at the upper left corner of the screen, ie the origin [0,0]. The display point at the upper left corner of the second X zone, X2, is the screen coordinate [XLE
N1,0] and similarly in the third X zone, X
The display point in the upper left corner of 3 is the screen coordinate [XLEN1 +
XLEN2,0]. The third X zone,
The lower right corner of X3 is the screen coordinate [XLEN1 + XL
EN2 + XLEN3-1, YLEN1-1]. Similarly, the lower right corner of the fourth X zone, X4, has screen coordinates [XLEN4-1, YLEN1 + YLEN].
2-1].

As illustrated in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, each image or image portion is stored in a storage device as a block of scan order data, and the zone controller 14 reads the data from memory. Control for the display of the pixels represented by it in the correct order to achieve the required display configuration. There may be a one-to-one relationship between the display of the image and the data representing the image, or the displayed image may be a magnified version of the stored data, where each pixel and each line is Repeated M _n times, where M _n
Is the zoom factor M for the image occupying the nth X zone. Similarly, each of the displayed images may be the entire respective shared image, as described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, or with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. As described, it can be part of a larger image.

Referring now briefly to FIGS. 3 and 4, a total of five display areas 18 are provided for displaying the cropped image 19 within the larger image 18 as shown.
a, 18b, 19, 18c and 18d must be defined by three Y zones, one in the middle
One has three X zones. This has been cropped (even though the two X zones 18b, 18c contain the same pictorial parts as zones 18a and 18d) to allow the display to be properly split and the cutout 19 inserted. X zone 18b, 1 on each side of image 19
This is because 8c is required. It is impractical to change the Y-zoom in one line, so zones 18b, 1
Note that the zoom values for 9 and 18c are the same. Zones 18b and 18c are part of the same picture as zones 18a and 18d, so the picture must be continuous between all the zones in which it is represented and the zoom factor is five zones 18a, 18b, 19 , 18c, 1
Must be the same for all 8d.

FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings shows the zone controller 14 in more detail. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art from the above description, the zone controller stores the storage device 11 so that the screen-filled pixels distributed within the storage device are assembled for display on the monitor. Generate an address used to access a memory location within. Each address is calculated by adding an offset value to the base or starting address S _n , or by changing the previous base address S _n to the new address S _{n + 1} . The data defining the position of each image or image portion in the storage device 11 and the size of each zone is stored in the control RAM 15.

As already mentioned, the zone controller 14
Includes a plurality of ports in parallel, eg 16 ports. The ports are independently operable such that control data may be transferred to one port while another port controls access to the storage device 11. In the presently preferred configuration, there are four ports, ports 0, 1, 8
And 9 are dedicated to the video port, through which the image data is transferred to display the desired or combined image on the monitor 13. Two of the ports, eg ports 0 and 1, are used for the display of odd display fields and the other two ports, eg ports 8 and 9 are used for the even fields. This allows one port to be used, for example, to control the reading of data during one scan cycle while the other is loaded with control data to control the reading of data during the next scan cycle. become. The other ports are selected as needed, for example controlling the transfer of data in read-modify-write operations, one port being used for reading data and another port for writing modified data. Used. To reduce cost, ports are paired to share some common hardware. This means that both ports of a pair cannot be used at the same time, but they can be used in double-buffered operation, eg port 2 controls the loading of data, while port 10 stores data. Controls the writing of data to 11, and vice versa. For simplicity, only one port element is shown in FIG.

Zone controller 14 includes an internal zone RAM 21 in which a set of data for each port is stored. The data set contains all the information needed to enable the above and other display states to be implemented. The data set is divided into separate blocks which identify a plurality of locations in the zone RAM where other data words can be found and a location in the storage device 11 where the image data to be output to the monitor 13 is located. Contains a data word.

During the initialization or setup process, external circuitry (not shown) causes at least three data, referred to herein as port block 22, Y zone block 23, and X zone block 24, as shown in FIG. The block is loaded into the zone RAM 21. Zone R
The data in the AM is ready for use by the zone controller when the port is selected. Each Y specified in the image
There is a Y zone data block 23 for each zone and an X zone data block 24 for each X zone defined in the image. The port data block 22 has information 25
Includes three fields of -27. First field 2
5 is the zone R in which the first Y zone data block is located
The address in the AM 21 and the length of the Y zone are identified (YLEN1 in FIG. 7). The second field 26 is the zone RAM in which the current Y zone data block is located.
21 and the length of the current Y zone, and the third field 27 identifies the length of the current X zone along with the address in the zone RAM 21 in which the current X zone is located (FIG. 7). XLEN).

The Y-zone data block 23 contains only two data fields 28, 29, since this block only serves as a pointer to the data block for the X-zone. The first field 28 of the Y zone block 23 is the RA in which the first X zone data block for that Y zone is located.
Identify the length of the first X zone with the address in M21. The remaining field 29 is the address in the zone RAM 21 where the next Y zone data block is stored,
Identify the length of the next Y zone.

The X Zone data block, for example block 24, contains all of the information needed to display the X Zone, except for the separately defined zoom and scroll data. Thus, the X zone data block 24 is
It contains data identifying its length along with one field 30 which points to an address in RAM 21 where the zone data block is held. The second field 31 of the X-zone data block identifies an increment value that determines the amount of address increment as the addressing to the storage device moves along the line of data. The third field 32 contains the current address, i.e. the storage location in the store 11 currently addressed by the zone controller. The fourth field 33 contains the start address of the X zone, and the fifth and sixth fields 34, 35 respectively are the length of each line in the data to be displayed (XLEN in FIG. 7) and the current in the X zone. And the address in the storage device 11 at which the line starts.

Zone RAM 21 provides up to 1k storage locations and thus has space for storing X-zone and Y-zone data blocks for many separate ports, ie, each port provided in the zone controller. As shown in FIG. 9, zone controller 14 includes a port store 36 at the end of a port operation in which instruction data identifying the task the port should perform when next requested is stored. When requested, the port transmits its data to the control sequencer 37, which outputs control signals to control the operation of the elements forming the zone controller 14 to perform the tasks required of the zone controller. To respond to the command data.

Thus, it is the control sequencer 37 that enables the zone controller to control the output of image data from the storage device. The control sequencer 37 is a microcontroller that includes a small microcode RAM (not shown) in which commands associated with different instruction sequences are stored. The sequence of instructions executed by the control sequencer is selected depending on the length values in the various fields of the data blocks 22, 23, 24 described above with reference to Figure 10 of the accompanying drawings.

The task of the zone controller 14 is the storage device 1.
Managing the access of the storage locations in 1 and thereby controlling the reading of data from the storage device 11 to the monitor 13,
To display a desired number of images on the monitor. In operation, the zone controller 14 outputs data representative of the memory location of the current pixel required for display via the memory interface 14 and simultaneously calculates the memory location of the next pixel required for display.

The operation of the zone controller is controlled by the control sequencer 3
All under the control of 7 are defined by 8 different instruction sequences. These eight instruction sequences are described in more detail below, including the start sequence, X step sequence, new X zone sequence, initialization X zone sequence, next line sequence, new Y zone sequence, end sequence, and repeat line sequence. Including.

[0039] As starting sequence example, the start sequence executable by the zone controller is represented by a data transfer sequence of Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings. Referring now to FIG. 11, the start or initialization sequence loads the data into the correct location in zone RAM 21 for subsequent tasks.
The first operation 38 performed in this initialization or start sequence is to RA the processor 39 (see FIG. 9) with data identifying the address of the first Y-zone data block 23 from the field 25 of the port block 22.
Read from M21. In step 40, the processor determines the Y zone block 23 in RAM 21.
Field 28 to first X-zone data block 2
The data identifying the address of 4 is read. Once the data from field 28 is read to processor 39, the XLEN value in field 28 is decremented by 1 in preparation for the next access of that field by processor 39. The YLEN value in field 33 is also decremented in preparation for the next access of that field. In step 41, the data read from field 25 is written into second field 26 such that the current Y zone is identified as the first Y zone. The starting address in field 33 of X-zone data block 24 is then read into processor 39, as represented by step 42. The start address is the current X address value in port block 22, the current address, and steps 43a and 44 so that all of the addresses in X zone block 24 are set to the start address value of the first X block. In fields 32 and 35 respectively. The operation in step 43a of writing to the current address field 32 also causes the processor 39 to output the current address value to the storage interface 45 (see FIG. 9).

The storage interface 45 is connected to the storage device 11 and monitors the image 13 for modification by or by the drawing processor 16.
An address is provided which allows the image data to be read from the addressed location to the multiplexer 12 for display above.

Thus, the start sequence represented in FIG. 11 initializes the data structure in the zone RAM at the start of a new display or draw cycle. The start sequence affects only the data associated with the first X and first Y zones. If other X and / or Y zones are present, the data for that or each other zone is initialized by other sequences as described in more detail below.

Other operations that can be performed by the zone controller 14 are controlled by similar microprogram controlled data transfers with the zone RAM 21. The structure of such a microprogram controlled sequence is well within the capabilities of those skilled in the art, so the other seven operation sequences performed by the zone controller will not be described in much detail.

X-Step Sequence The X-step sequence causes the zone controller to generate a series of image storage addresses to move along a line of image points in a single X zone. In other words, the control sequencer 37 tells the zone controller the value XINC (field 3 in the X zone block 24) at the address output to the image store via the storage interface 45.
1) is added and at the same time the X length value (field 27) is decremented so that the end of the X zone can be detected if this value becomes zero. During this operation, the control sequencer causes the XLEN value to be read from the zone RAM 21 and then output from the processor 39 to the zero detect circuit 49 (see FIG. 6). The control sequencer 37 causes the zero detection circuit 49 to perform zero XLEN.
If it is monitored for a value and such a value is detected, this means that at least the end of the line in the X zone has been reached.

Zero detect circuit 49 also receives data on YLEN (field 26 of port block 22), along with an indication of whether the current X and Y zone is the last X and Y zone. The zero detection circuit 49 sends the received data to the instruction calculator circuit 46, and the circuit 4
6 analyzes this data to determine which sequence should be executed by the zone controller next time.

New X Zone Sequence XLEN value is zero and current X Zone is current Y
If it is not the last X zone in the zone, then there is another X zone to address and the instruction calculator 4
6 controls the port storage device 36 so that the new X zone sequence is executed by the zone controller.
To load the microcode. The new X-zone sequence is configured to look at the next X-zone pointer (field 30 in X-zone block 24) and set its value to the current X-zone value. This sequence also has the value L
ineInc (field 34) is added to the X zone's current address (field 27), which causes the current address to be incremented by one line of storage location in storage device 11. Thereafter, the X step sequence is executed by the zone controller under the control of the control sequencer 37.

Initialized X Zone Sequence If the address generated by the zone controller corresponds to the start of the first line of the new X zone in the new Y zone, then the new X zone sequence described above is not used. Instead of X
The zone initialization sequence is executed, which is LineI.
Instead of adding the value of nc to the current address, the starting address from the X zone data block (field 33) is copied into the current address field 32 ready for use in the above X step sequence.

The length data in fields 26 and 27 are decremented accordingly. XLEN is decremented at each step along the line and YLEN is decremented at each line step. Thus, the length data gives an indication of the length remaining in the current X or Y zone.

The value of the next line sequence XLEN was zero in the previous cycle and the current X
If the zone is the last X zone in the current line, this means that the end of the line has been reached. The zero detect circuit 49 and the instruction calculator 46 together detect this condition and transfer the microcode to the port store 36 to the control sequencer 37 to generate the address for the next line. The next line control sequence identifies the first X zone of the current Y zone (from field 28) and then from the start address of the previous line to the start address of the current line,
Update the value of the line address in field 35 by adding the value LineINC from field 34.

New Y-Zone Sequence In addition to the X-length XLEN value being zero and the current X-zone being the last X-zone, the value of YLEN is also zero, at the end of the current Y-zone. Has arrived
Zero detect circuit 45 and instruction calculator 46 respond to port store 36 by loading the control sequencer with microcode to set up the zone controller for the new Y zone. The new Y zone sequence identifies the new Y zone by reading field 29 in Y zone data block 23 and writing this data in field 25 of block 22. The next Y data is the first X
It points to the new Y zone data block 23 'containing the field and the first X field points to the starting address of the data block 24' of the line first X zone in the new Y zone. Thus, the new Y zone sequence identifies the new Y zone and its first X zone and sets them up as the current Y and X zones. This sequence also copies the starting address in field 33 to the current X address field 27 and initializes this data for all X zones within the Y zone in a manner similar to how the storage address proceeds along this indicator line. Turn into.

If the values of the end sequences XLEN and YLEN are both likely to be zero, the current X zone is the last X zone and the current Y zone is the last Y zone, and thus the display scan. Has reached the end of. At this time, the zone controller does not know if the same port or another port will be requested again next time, so an end sequence is performed that saves the contents of the current Y and current X fields 26, 27 and Forces the start sequence to run and puts the port in the standby state until is requested again.

Repeat Line Sequence Control There is yet another sequence controlled by the sequencer, that is, the repeat line sequence executed during the zoom operation. The zone controller repeats the address lines to create a pixel-replicat
e) Includes a zoom calculator 47 that calculates when to repeat the line for vertical zoom. The zoom calculator 47 also calculates for the horizontal zoom whether new pixel data is needed or whether the previous pixel data will be used again. The current XLEN is decremented and the new X address is recalculated if new pixel data is needed.

The repeat line sequence executed by sequencer 37 overrides the next line sequence that would otherwise be executed. When the end of the line is reached, the instruction calculator 46 determines that the next sequence to be executed should be the next line sequence and causes the port store to send the appropriate microcode to the sequencer. However, when the zoom calculator 47 determines that the previous line needs to be repeated, the microcode selected by the command calculator is replaced by the microcode defining the repeat line sequence. The effect of repeating line sequence is zone RAM2
To get the starting value from 1 before (field 35) and make it the current address (field 32) and decrement the current YLEN value in field 26.

The zone controller 14 is a control lamp.
From the multiplexer 12 (see FIG. 2) to achieve horizontal pixel replication zoom by sending horizontal scroll data from the multiplexer to the multiplexer. Multiplexer 12
Contains an accumulator (not shown) containing a register loaded with the scroll value of the beginning of the line. The accumulator adds the repeated zoom value to the register and depends on the result to determine if the same pixel needs to be displayed more than once. The zoom calculation is performed in the processor 39 at the beginning of the control sequence while the first value is being read from the zone RAM, because during this period the processor is not occupied by the zone calculation and therefore does not perform the zoom calculation. Because it is used freely to do. The X-zoom is processed at the beginning of the X-step sequence, and the Y-zoom is processed at the beginning of the next-line sequence, which is replaced by the repeat-line sequence, if appropriate.

Both of the above command sequences are zone controlled so that the zoom controller 14 controls the addressing of pixel data in the one-dimensional data list in the storage device 11 for display at the display location on the two-dimensional display. Instruct the device 14 to operate.

When the read-modify-write operation is performed by the drawing processor 16, the zone controller 14 merely serves to generate address value patches from the instantaneous position of the stylus on the touch tablet 17. Data from the control RAM is sent to multiplexer 12 to tell when to start and stop reading and writing to the addresses identified by the zone controller. None of the complex image data manipulations described above, such as zooming, need be performed by the zone controller during a read-modify-write operation, and therefore control data need not be latched within the zone controller.

Although the present application has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, this embodiment is for purposes of illustration only and modifications and changes which may occur to those skilled in the art are set forth in the appended claims and the like. It should be appreciated that it can be done without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a layout of the exemplary storage device already described above.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an image processing system embodying the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary image situation and a manner in which image data therefor is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exemplary image situation and the manner in which image data therefor is stored.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second exemplary display situation and a mode in which data therefor is stored.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second exemplary display situation and a mode in which data therefor is stored.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another exemplary display situation and the manner in which other data is stored.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another exemplary display situation and the manner in which other data is stored.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the system of FIG. 2 in more detail.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how data is stored in a storage control device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one sequence of operations performed by the storage control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... System 11 ... Storage device 12 ... Multiplexer 13 ... Monitor 14 ... Zone control device 15 ... Control RAM 16 ... Drawing processor 17 ... Stylus / touch tablet device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Robin Alexander Cowley UK, Earl 159 ENY Berkshire, Newbury, Berggure, Penwood, Autumn cottage (no address) (72 ) Inventor Martin Stuart Ingram, Es ou 23 8 Jay Zett, UK, Hampshire, Winchester, Aresford Road, 113

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. An electronic image processing system comprising a storage device for storing image data representing a plurality of images as a number of pixels, the data for each image being one-dimensional in a sequence of consecutive storage addresses. A display screen stored as a data list for displaying an image represented by image data provided in and having a number of display locations; and a plurality of vertical screen portions each having at least one associated horizontal screen portion. Defining means for defining a plurality of regions on the display screen with a representation of the identifying data and for identifying for each display region the data for the image part with the representation of the starting address in the storage device, said horizontal and vertical screens For each display location from the partial data and the start address, Comprising a calculating means for calculating an address in memory where the data representing the element is stored, reading and this pixel data from the calculated stored addresses and reading means for outputting to the display screen, the system. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the defining means is configured to define the plurality of areas such that at least one of the vertical screen portions has a plurality of associated horizontal screen portions. 3. The defining means includes a memory for storing the horizontal and vertical screen portion data for the plurality of regions and data representing the start address for each of the image portions. Or the system according to claim 2. 4. A system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the computing means comprises a processor. 5. The read means each has an associated processor and memory that enables each port to calculate an address value for reading data from a memory device independently of the other ports. The system of claim 4, including a plurality of ports. 6. Computation means computes from said horizontal and vertical screen portion data an offset value identifying an instantaneous screen position for each instantaneous screen position within the screen scan, and from said offset value and said start address the instantaneous screen position. A system according to any of the preceding claims, configured to calculate a storage address at which a pixel for display at is stored. 7. A system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each image portion comprises a plurality of image lines and the data representing each image line is stored as a respective data list in the storage device. 8. Display means for providing an indication when the calculated address in the storage corresponds to the end of a line in the image portion, and a next means to be performed by the calculating means in response to the indication. 8. The system of claim 7, further comprising: determining means for determining a calculation. 9. The determining means includes an instruction calculator, a control sequencer, and an instruction storage device for storing data defining a sequence of operations controlled by the control sequencer, the instruction calculator responsive to the display. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the system selects data from the instruction store and communicates it to the sequencer. 10. A zoom calculator is further included, wherein said calculating means is responsive to the zoom calculator to calculate an address such that the reading means reads the data representative of a magnified version of the image portion from the storage device. System for enabling any of the preceding claims. 11. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one image portion corresponds to substantially the entire image defined by the data in the storage device. 12. A drawing processor and a user operable input device for making user-determined modifications to the image data in the storage device, the input device generating position data in response to the user operation. A system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the system is configured to: and the computing means is configured to generate from the position data a patch at a storage address containing data for modification by the drawing processor. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein one of the ports is operable to calculate a patch for the address. 14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising a multiplexer for multiplexing data among the storage device, the display screen, the defining means, the calculating means, and the drawing processor. The system described in. 15. A method of image processing, comprising the step of storing image data representing a plurality of images as a number of pixels, the data for each image being stored as a one-dimensional data list, each of which is at least one. Defining a plurality of regions on the display screen with a representation of the data identifying a plurality of vertical screen portions having one associated horizontal screen portion, and a representation of the starting address of the stored data for each of the data for the image portion. Identifying with respect to a representation area, calculating an address of the stored data in which data representing a pixel for display is stored, from the horizontal and vertical screen partial data and the starting address, the calculated address Reading the pixel data and outputting it for display. Law. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of regions is defined such that at least one of the vertical screen portions has a plurality of associated horizontal screen portions. 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of storing, in memory, the horizontal and vertical screen portion data for the plurality of regions and data representing the starting address for each of the image portions. Item 16. The method according to Item 16. 18. An offset value identifying an instantaneous screen position is calculated for each instantaneous screen position within a screen scan from the horizontal and vertical screen portion data, and the offset value at the instantaneous screen position is calculated from the offset value and the start address. Calculating the address at which the pixel for display is stored.
The method according to any one of claims 5 to 17. 19. The method according to claim 15, wherein each image portion includes a plurality of image lines and the data representing each image line is stored as a respective data list. 20. The method further comprising the step of providing an indication if the calculated address corresponds to the end of a line in the image portion, and in response to said indication, determining the next calculation to be performed. Item 19. The method according to Item 19. 21. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of iteratively calculating an address such that data representative of a magnified version of the image portion is output for display. 22. The method according to any of claims 15 to 21, wherein at least one image portion corresponds to a substantially entire image defined by the stored data. 23. An image processing system for displaying a large number of images, the system controlling the reading of data representative of a plurality of image portions from an image data storage device, in respective areas on a monitor. A controller for displaying this portion, the controller identifying data defining each of said image portions in an image data storage device, and a monitor each defined by a vertical start position and a vertical length. And configured to divide into a plurality of vertical zones each having a horizontal start position and at least one associated horizontal zone defined by a horizontal length, both horizontal and vertical zones being each of the plurality of image portions. A system that defines the area in which an object is displayed.