Method and associated device for the display of text on a screen of a television receiver

• US 20020097338A1
• Filed: 12/06/2001
• Published: 07/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: STMicroelectronics SA (STMicroelectronics NV)
• Original Assignee: STMicroelectronics SA (STMicroelectronics NV)
• Inventors: Voyer, Pascal
• Application Number:
  US10/011,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20020097338A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/564
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/06 using colour palettes, e.g. look-up tables
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/30 Control of display attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4888 for displaying teletext characters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/641 Multi-purpose receivers, e.g. for auxiliary information H04N9/642 takes precedence

Abstract

In a method for the display of text on a screen of a television receiver, the digital data representing a received text are decoded to give, first, a list of characters to be displayed including at least one character and a color palette including at least one color, and second, a matrix of pixels associated with the list of characters to be displayed. Each element of the matrix of pixels defines the color of a corresponding point of the screen. To obtain a visual effect on at least one point of the screen, at least one color of the color palette is modified. The display method may be implemented in a television receiver.

Claims

1. A method for the display of text on a screen (39) of a television receiver (30), the text being received in the form of digital data containing information on the informational contents of the text and information on the formatting of these contents for display, the digital data received being decoded to give, firstly, a list of characters to be displayed comprising at least one character, and a color palette comprising at least one color and, secondly, a matrix of pixels associated with the list of characters to be displayed, each element of the matrix of pixels defining the color of a corresponding point of the screen (39),

wherein, to obtain a visual effect on at least one point of the screen, at least one color of the color palette is modified, and to modify one or more colors of the color palette, only one part of the color palette is exchanged with a corresponding part of a palette of effects associated with the color palette.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein, to obtain a visual effect of flashing of a point of the screen, a corresponding color of the color palette is modified repetitively at predefined time intervals.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein to obtain several visual effects on several points on the screen (39), one or more colors of the color palette are modified.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein, to obtain several visual effects at several points, several colors of the color palette are modified at different time intervals.

5. A method according to one of the claims 3 to 5, wherein the colors of the color palette are modified by blocks of colors, each block of colors being associated with its own visual effect.

6. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 6, comprising the following steps:

E1;

the reception of the text in the form of digital data,

E2;

the decoding of digital data received and the storage of;

a list of characters to be displayed comprising at least one formatted character,

a list of effect instructions comprising possibly one effect instruction, and

a color palette,

E3;

the computation of the matrix of pixels from the list of characters to be displayed and from a table of characters, each character of the list of characters to be displayed being defined in the form of a set of elements of the matrix of pixels,

E4;

the performance of a test to ascertain that the list of effect instructions comprises an effect instruction and, if the test is positive, the performance of the following steps E7 to E9;

E7;

the storage of a palette of effects,

E8;

the display of the page;

E81;

the display of the matrix of pixels as a function of the color palette,

E82;

the measurement of a predefined period,

E83;

the exchange of at least one color of the color palette with a corresponding color of the palette of effects, the steps E82, E83 being performed in parallel with the step E8,

E9;

the performance of a test to ascertain that a new page is received, then

if the test is positive, the performance of a step E1,

if the test is negative, the performance of a step E8.

7. A television receiver (30) to implement the method described here above, which comprises especially:

a decoder (33) to receive digital data representing a text to be displayed and extract, from said data, a list of characters to be displayed, a list of effect instructions and an initial color palette, and

means (38) for the display, from a color palette, of the contents of a matrix of pixels representing the list of characters to be displayed wherein the receiver also comprises;

a computation circuit (36) to compute the matrix of pixels from the list of characters to be displayed and a table of characters, and

an updating circuit (40) to modify the contents of the color palette as a function of the list of effect instructions, wherein the updating circuit (40) comprises;

storage means to store a palette of effects as a function of the effect instructions, and

exchange means to exchange at least one color of the color palette with a corresponding color of the palette of effects.