Patent · US Expired

Controllable pixel border for improved viewability of a display device

US7362338B1 · kind B1 · utility

19Cited by
32References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 27, 2000
Grant dateApr 22, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 22, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG09G2310/0232
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A display device having a display matrix (m+2x by n+2x) including an active, e.g., controllable, pixel border located around the edge locations of a frame buffer matrix for improved character viewability. The border can be several pixels wide, e.g., 1<x<5. In one embodiment, the border is two pixels wide and surrounds a liquid crystal display (LCD) matrix area having (m×n) pixels that are controlled by a frame buffer memory. In one embodiment, the pixels of the border are active pixels and each contain a red, a green and a blue subpixel. The pixel border is useful for increasing viewability, e.g., contrast, of characters that are displayed along the edge of the LCD matrix area in a frame buffer region. The invention includes a border attribute register for containing a color attribute and a brightness attribute, in one embodiment. The border attribute register can be set by an operating system command and can be read by a timing generator which generates the appropriate signals for controlling the border pixels. These signals are generated during special periods which otherwise carry invalid data with respect to the frame buffer matrix. In this way, the invention is backward compat…

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