Claims
- 1. An image regeneration device for generating a composite image on a display composed of multiple superimposed screens in which each screen has selected image characteristics, said image regeneration device comprising:
- counter means for generating a series of initial coordinate signals, each coordinate signal associated with a pixel position on the display;
- mode selection means coupled to the counter means, for operating on each coordinate signal and generating new coordinate signals defining images to be illustrated on different screens on the display, said mode selection means including:
- register means for storing a plurality of parameters, one parameter for each screen;
- selector means for selecting a given parameter from the register means;
- modifying means coupled to the selector means and to the counter means for selectively modifying each initial coordinate signal according to the parameter selected by the selector means; and
- said mode selection means thereby operating on the initial coordinate signals to selectively generate new coordinates for scrolled images, enlarged images, reduced images and rotated images for each screen;
- image memory means for outputting image data for each screen as a function of addresses supplied to its input;
- address generator means coupled between the mode selection means and the image memory for generating addresses to the image memory as a function of the new coordinates generated by the mode selection means;
- microprogram storage means for controlling the selector means and for providing an alternative source of addresses to the image memory; and
- whereby image portions for each screen are superimposed to form a composite image on the display in which each screen image portion can be selectively scrolled, enlarged, reduced or rotated as a function of the selected parameters.
- 2. The image regeneration device of claim 1, wherein said mode selection means comprises:
- scroll means for generating new coordinate signals to cause an image on a screen to be scrolled by an amount defined by a selected parameter.
- 3. The image regeneration device of claim 2 wherein said mode selection means comprises:
- reverse affine transformation means for generating new coordinate signals for enlarging, reducing or rotating an image for a screen as a function of a selected parameter.
- 4. The image regeneration device of claim 3 which further comprises:
- region determination means, coupled to an output of the mode selection means for determining whether a new coordinate is within a predetermined region on the display.
- 5. The image regeneration device of claim 1 wherein said address generator means comprises:
- a background attribute table (BAT) and a character generator (CG), with said microprogram storage means providing control signals to the background attribute table and character generator to selectively control the operation thereof.
- 6. The image regeneration device of claim 1 wherein said address generator means also utilizes color mode information and information about whether a reverse affine transformation is selected for each screen, to generate the addresses to the image memory.
- 7. The image regeneration device of claim 4 wherein the scroll means, reverse affine transformation means and said region determination means are connected together so that:
- said counter means is coupled to an input of the scroll means, with an output of the scroll means providing an input to the reverse affine transformation means, and wherein an output of the reverse affine transformation means is coupled to an input of the region determination means, and wherein the output of the region determination means is coupled to an input of the address generator means.
- 8. An image regeneration apparatus that regenerates images to be shown on a display in which multiple screens are superimposed in a single screen, the apparatus comprising:
- an initial coordinate signal generation means that generates initial coordinate signals that are to be the basis of coordinate signals associated with pixel locations on said display;
- a coordinate transformation means that is coupled to said initial coordinate signal generation means and that transforms said initial coordinate signals into new coordinate signals for forming a given image based on parameters given for each of said multiple screens;
- an address generation means that transforms the new coordinate signals based on address functions and thereby generates address signals;
- an image data storage means for storing image data for said multiple screens, and from which said image data for respective screens is read out based on addresses generated by said address generation means; and
- a microprogram storage means that stores a microprogram containing a screen number code for each of said screens and controls said coordinate transformation means and said address generation means;
- wherein, synchronously with the serial operation of the microprogram and according to said screen number code in the microprogram, said coordinate transformation and said address generation are performed for each of said screens in series and image data for each pixel according to the transformed coordinate signal for each screen is read out from said image data storage means.
- 9. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein said read image data for each pixel on each screen is rearranged and outputted according to the order to be displayed on said display based on said microprogram.
- 10. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein said coordinate transformation means includes a scroll means that transforms said initial coordinate signal into a new coordinate signal for forming an image scrolled according to an amount defined by a parameter selected based on said screen number code.
- 11. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein said coordinate transformation means further includes a reverse affine transformation means that receives a coordinate signal outputted by said scroll means as an input and performs reverse affine transformation on the coordinate signal, and a new coordinate signal, for enlarging, reducing or rotating images on a screen, is transformed as a function selected based on said screen number code.
- 12. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 11 further includes a mode selection means for selecting a mode to transform said coordinate signal, and said mode selection means selects each mode for scrolling, enlarging, reducing or rotating images on a screen.
- 13. An image regeneration apparatus of claims 10, 11 or 12, wherein said coordinate transformation means further includes a region determination means receiving a coordinate signal outputted by said scroll means or reverse affine transformation means as an input, and which determines whether the inputted coordinate signal is within the region of any original image selected out of respective original images on multiple screens based on said screen number code, and based on the results of the determination the inputted coordinate signal is transformed into said new coordinate signal.
- 14. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein
- said microprogram further contain an address selection code for selecting a CG address or a background attribute table address;
- said image data includes image data of character images that is a partial image comprising a plurality of correlative pixels;
- said address generator means includes a CG address generator means for generating addresses for said image data storage means that generates image data for the character images;
- wherein, based on said new coordinate signal supplied to the CG address generator means and said microprogram, addresses for said image data storage means in which image data of the character images is stored are generated.
- 15. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 14, wherein
- said address generator means further includes a background attribute table address generator means for storing character codes comprising symbols representative of said character images, and wherein
- the character codes are read out based on said new coordinate signal supplied to the background attribute table address generator means and said microprogram, and addresses for said image data storage means are generated based on the character code and address selection code in said microprogram, and image data of the character images is read out based on the addresses.
- 16. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 13, wherein said initial coordinate signal is inputted to said scroll means, the coordinate signal scrolled by the scroll means is inputted to said reverse affine transformation means, the coordinate signal enlarged, reduced or rotated by the reverse affine transformation means is inputted to said region determination means, the coordinate signal outputted from the region determination means is inputted to said address generator means as said new coordinate signal according to the determination made by the region determination means with respect to whether the coordinate signal inputted to said region determination means is within the region of the original image, and
- said region determination is made with respect to the coordinate signal transformed by performing reverse affine transformation on said scrolled coordinate signal.
- 17. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein said microprogram storage means stores multiple microprogram and includes a microprogram delay means that delays the reading of the microprogram from the microprogram storage means by one cycle where the microprogram are read out in a loop comprising multiple cycles, and wherein a transformation stage of said coordinate transformation means, a determination stage of said region determination means and a generation stage of said address generation means are sequentially processed in pipeline synchronously with the one-cycle delayed reading of the microprogram.
- 18. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 17, wherein a transformation stage of said coordinate transformation means includes said scroll stage or said reverse affine transformation stage, said address generation stage includes a stage in which said CG address is generated and a stage in which said background attribute table address is generated, and the transformation stage of said coordinate transformation means, the region determination stage, the background attribute table address generation stage and the CG address generation stage are sequentially processed in pipeline in the order as recited synchronously with said delayed microprogram processing.
- 19. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 18, wherein a cycle count included in the basic loop in which a round of the microprogram processing is completed is integer-multiplied by the number of pixels in the character's horizontal direction.
- 20. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 8, wherein said coordinate transformation means includes a reverse affine transformation means for forming at least enlarged, reduced or rotated images and a normal mode means for forming normal images; and further provided are:
- a means that performs at least part of the reverse affine transformation operation prior to performing a reverse affine transformation operation per dot, a circuit means that rearranges and outputs the image data in the order to be displayed after accessing said image data storage means in said normal mode and a means that sets an effective display period to be coincident between said enlargement, reduction or rotation modes and a normal mode.
- 21. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 20, wherein the number of bits per word for said image data storage means is defined so as to be a common multiple of data word length per pixel in multiple color modes.
- 22. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 20, wherein accessing said image data storage means starts earlier by one character than the display start when the display mode is in said normal mode, and accessing said image data storage means starts after performing initial value calculation for reverse affine transformation prior to the display start when the display mode is in said enlargement, reduction or rotation mode.
- 23. An image regeneration apparatus comprising a means that generates coordinates of pixels for a display an image data storage means that stores image data for the pixels to be displayed on the display as a single screen in which multiple screens are superimposed, and an address generation means that generates addresses for the storage means based on the generated coordinates; wherein
- based on said microprogram containing screen number information and information of modes in which how many colors are to be displayed; and further provided are:
- a switching means that selectively switches the image data for storing multiple image data read out from the image data storage means in a given storage region of a first memory buffer means, a first memory buffer means that stores switched image data, and a parallel serial conversion means that serially outputs image data for said multiple screens outputted by the first memory buffer means for each pixel according to the order in which image data is to be displayed.
- 24. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 23 further comprising:
- a second memory buffer means that is disposed between said first memory buffer and said parallel serial conversion means and into which data to be stored in the first memory buffer means are transferred; and
- an input means that inputs transfer pulse signals so that a plurality of partial data of data stored in the second memory buffer means are transferred to said parallel serial conversion means respectively in a different timing; wherein
- said partial data are outputted with a delay according to the difference in timing of pulse signals with a different timing.
- 25. An image regeneration apparatus of claim 24, wherein said difference in timing represents an integer-multiplication of time intervals during which image data for one pixel is outputted, and a scroll amount is controlled for each screen according to the integer value.
- 26. An image regeneration method for regenerating images to be shown on a display in which multiple screens are superimposed in a single screen, the method comprising:
- generating initial coordinate signals that are to be the basis of coordinate signals associated with pixel locations on said display;
- transforming said initial coordinate signals into new coordinate signals for forming given images based on a given parameter for each of said multiple screens;
- transforming the new coordinate signals based on address functions and thereby generating address signals;
- reading out said image data for each screen from an image data storage means that stores image data for said multiple screens based on addresses generated by said address generation means;
- controlling said coordinate transformation means and said address transformation means by means of microprogram containing screen number codes for each of said screens;
- sequentially performing said coordinate transformation and said address generation for each of said screens synchronously with the sequential operation of the microprogram and according to said screen number code of the microprograms, and reading out image data from said image data storage means for each pixel associated with the transformed coordinate signals on each screen.
- 27. Apparatus for generating a composite image on a display composed of multiple superimposed screens in which each screen has selected image characteristics said apparatus comprising:
- a microprogram storage means that contains a plurality of microprogram, each microprogram being associated with a particular screen and having a screen number code therefor;
- counter means for generating a series of initial coordinate signals, each coordinate signal being associated with a pixel position on the display;
- coordinate transformation means coupled to the counter means for transforming the initial coordinate signals into new coordinate signals for forming a given image on the display, the new coordinate signals being a function of parameters for each of the multiple screens;
- image data storage means for storing image data associated with the multiple screens;
- microprogram storage means that stores microprogram containing a screen number code for each of the screens; and
- said microprogram storage means being coupled to the coordinate transformation means and controlling, synchronously with the serial operation of the microprogram and in accordance with the screen number codes in the microprogram, the coordinate transformation means, whereby transformed image data portions for each screen is read out from the image memory in an order defined by the screen microprogram to thereby generate a composite image on the display.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
4-140336 |
Jun 1992 |
JPX |
|
5-151187 |
May 1993 |
JPX |
|
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/069,502, filed Jun. 1, 1993, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Mims, F. "Engineer's Notebook", Radio Shack 1980 pp. 22, 23, 69, 71. |
Tandy, "TRS-80 Color Computer Technical Reference Manual" Fort Worth, 1981 p. 26. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
69502 |
Jun 1993 |
|