Graphics display system and method with enhanced instruction data and processing
First Claim
1. A method for creating on a display screen of a CRT monitor, TV receiver or the like a representation of a scene comprising selected ones of a plurality of object elements, said method comprisingA. storing first memory data corresponding to said plurality of object elements;
- B. storing second memory data identifying object elements together with instructions as to the manner and location of representations of said object elements or parts thereof;
C. creating, from said second memory data, third memory data corresponding to identification and instructions with respect to selected ones of the object elements to be displayed;
D. creating, from said first memory data and in conformity with the identification and instructions of said third memory data, display data for said selected object elements;
E. causing the display data of step D to produce a display on said screen;
F. at least said steps D and E being carried out in real time relative to the scanning time of said monitor, receiver or the like.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for the storage, retrieval and manipulation of significantly large amounts of data to produce highly complex and visually pleasing graphics within the time constraint of a full motion video raster scanning system by storing memory data corresponding to each of the individual object elements to be displayed over a period of time, storing lists of identification and display instruction data with respect to those object elements, selecting desired identification and display instruction data for selected display elements appropriate to a particular instant of time and placing such selected data into an appropriate memory, and then creating, from those selected instructions and from the stored data relating to the selected object elements, display data which, in real time, produces the desired display. The initially stored identification and display instructions are preferably in the form of a linked list with the items in each list arranged in order of desired visible priority. The display instructions can be effective to select for display from a given object element only predetermined sub-elements, and data can include animation instructions linked in order of time, preferably with linking both forward and backward in time. Data processing means can be effective to modify either or both types of stored memory data while a separte data processing means is engaged in producing the display data from the selected instructions and the object elements data stored in memory.
66 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for creating on a display screen of a CRT monitor, TV receiver or the like a representation of a scene comprising selected ones of a plurality of object elements, said method comprising
A. storing first memory data corresponding to said plurality of object elements; -
B. storing second memory data identifying object elements together with instructions as to the manner and location of representations of said object elements or parts thereof; C. creating, from said second memory data, third memory data corresponding to identification and instructions with respect to selected ones of the object elements to be displayed; D. creating, from said first memory data and in conformity with the identification and instructions of said third memory data, display data for said selected object elements; E. causing the display data of step D to produce a display on said screen; F. at least said steps D and E being carried out in real time relative to the scanning time of said monitor, receiver or the like. - View Dependent Claims (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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2. A method for creating on a display screen of a CRT monitor, TV receiver or the like a representation of a scene comprising selected ones of a plurality of object elements, said method comprising
A. storing first memory data corresponding to said plurality of object elements; -
B. storing second memory data identifying object elements together with instructions as to the manner and location of representations of said object elements or parts thereof, said second memory data being stored in the form of linked lists in which the order of said data corresponds to the desired visible priority of said object elements; C. creating, from said second memory data, third memory data corresponding to identification and instructions with respect to selected ones of the object elements to be displayed; D. creating, from said first memory data and in conformity with the identification and instructions of said third memory data, display data for said selected object elements; E. causing the display data of step D to produce a display on said screen; F. at least steps D and E being carried out in real time relative to the scanning time of said monitor, reciever or the like. - View Dependent Claims (4, 25)
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13. Apparatus for creating on a display screen of a CRT monitor, TV receiver or the like a representation of a scene comprising selected ones of a plurality of object elements, said apparatus comprising
A. a pattern memory for storing data representing a plurality of object elements; -
B. a system memory for storing data identifying object elements and data comprising instructions defining the nature and location of representations of said object elements or parts thereof; C. a third memory for storing instructions as to the identify, nature and location of display of selected ones of said objecct elements; D. a buffer memory for storing data corresponding to the desired representation of at least a portion of said scene; E. first data processing means operatively connected between said system memory for transforming data therebetween; F. second data processing means operatively connected between said third memory, said pattern memory and said buffer memory for depositing in said buffer memory data from said pattern memory in response to instructions from said third memory; and G. display means for causing said data in said buffer memory to produce a display on said screen corresponding to said desired representation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26)
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Specification