Method for displaying single monitor applications on multiple monitors driven by a personal computer

• US 20050050554A1
• Filed: 10/18/2004
• Published: 03/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Silicon Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: ATI Technologies ULC (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martyn, Tom C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,356,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1438 using more than one graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory

Abstract

A direct access driver solves limitations of DirectX operation under the Microsoft architecture when using multiple monitors. The direct access driver allows applications employing DirectX application program interfaces to use hardware acceleration without display errors on the monitors. Display errors can occur if multiple frame buffer addresses are returned in response to “GetFrameBufferAddress” DirectX calls. This invention returns a single address for two or more frame buffers on a display driver card by performing, without the DirectX application'"'"'s knowledge, background operations that track hardware acceleration demands from two or more graphic user interfaces and frame buffers. The background operations entail constantly changing the frame buffer pointers relative to the location of offscreen DirectX application data, while one or more DirectX applications are moved in the display space from monitor to monitor. This is analogous to accurately tracking one of many moving objects in a fast-moving shell game.

Claims

1-8. -8. (Cancelled).

9. A method of accessing multiple display frame buffers of one or more graphics adapters in a computer system, said computer system executing a software driver controlling access to said multiple frame buffers, said software driver providing a single device specific function to be used by applications for block transferring data from a source block to an identified frame buffer address, said method comprising:

receiving a request for invoking said device specific function to transfer an identified source block to an identified frame buffer address;

in response to receiving said request, determining that said identified source block is to be transferred to a plurality of said multiple frame buffers; and

for each one of said plurality of frame buffers,

a. determining a sub-block of said identified source block, and a destination block in said one of said plurality of frame buffers for said sub-block;

b. calling said single device specific function of said software driver to transfer said sub-block to said destination block in said one of said plurality of frame buffers.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each one of said source blocks and said sub-blocks is a rectangular block.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of frame buffers form a virtual destination surface, each one of said plurality of frame buffers associated with a pair of offsets specifying its starting location in said virtual destination surface.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, for each one of said destination blocks,

(i) obtaining a first set of coordinates specifying starting and ending locations of said each destination block in said virtual destination surface, and

(ii) obtaining a second set of coordinates specifying starting and ending locations of said each destination block in its corresponding frame buffer, by subtracting the offsets for its corresponding frame buffer from said first set of coordinates.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of said sub-blocks and its corresponding destination block have different shapes.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein said identified source block comprises one sub-block.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein said identified source block is completely transferred to said plurality of frame buffers.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein said source block is incompletely transferred.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining said available frame buffers.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein said identified source block is from a primary or secondary buffer of a double-buffered source surface.

19. Computer readable medium storing computer software that when loaded at a computing device, adapt said computing device to perform the method of claim 9.

20. In a computing device, comprising a processor and at least one graphics adapter and multiple frame buffers, a method of processing a request to write identified data to a single frame buffer of a display device with a device specific writing function provided by a single display driver software component, said method comprising:

receiving said request, including an identifier of said identified data;

in response to said receiving said request, invoking said writing function of said single display driver software component multiple times to write at least portions of said identified data to all of said multiple frame buffers, so as to write said data across said multiple frame buffers.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said identifier identifies an area in memory representing a rectangle.