Patent · US Expired

Graphics display terminal and method of storing alphanumeric data therein

US4757309A · kind A · utility

18Cited by
7References
3Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 24, 1985
Grant dateJul 12, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 24, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG09G5/06
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The specification describes a method of storing alphanumeric characters in a graphics display terminal comprising a raster-scan display device and a refresh buffer including a plurality of bit planes each having a respective bit storage location corresponding to each addressable pel position on the screen of the display device. In the method, a first bit plane stores high resolution luminance data defining alphanumeric characters each as a selection of "on" bits within a respective n.times.m array where n is the width of the character box in the scan line direction, and at least one further bit plane stores low resolution color data for the characters. The attribute plane comprises a respective n-bit set of storage locations which corresponds to each n-bit wide by one pel deep portion of a character box in the luminance plane and defines at least the color and/or intensity of the foreground and background of the character for the width of the character box in respect of a single scan line. The specification also describes a graphics display terminal in which data in the luminance and attribute planes may be selectively decoded either as alphanumeric data stored as above, or as bit-…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.