Digital signal video color compression method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of compressing digital video color signals derived from a natural image and generating display signals for a color image composed of pixels derived from the compressed signals comprising the steps of:
- receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits,generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed,summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with the corresponding generated dither signal,discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal,stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed and generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel,storing generated digital output signals, andgenerating analog display driver signals representative of the color intensities of pixels to be displayed by selecting from a color lookup table stored in a digital to analog converter analog signals corresponding to the stored output signals.
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Abstract
This invention provides a method of and apparatus for compressing digital video color signals derived from a natural image and generating display signals for a color image composed of pixels derived from the compressed signals in which digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, are received; a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed is generated; a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal are summed with the corresponding generated dither signal; a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals are discarded to compress the corresponding received color signal; the compressed color signals related to a common pixel are concatenated to generate a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel; and analog display driver signals representative of the color intensities of pixels to be displayed are generated by selecting from a color lookup table stored in a digital to analog converter analog signals corresponding to the stored output signals.
34 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of compressing digital video color signals derived from a natural image and generating display signals for a color image composed of pixels derived from the compressed signals comprising the steps of:
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receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed, summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with the corresponding generated dither signal, discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal, stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed and generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel, storing generated digital output signals, and generating analog display driver signals representative of the color intensities of pixels to be displayed by selecting from a color lookup table stored in a digital to analog converter analog signals corresponding to the stored output signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 40, 42)
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17. A video subsystem for a personal computer capable of driving a display to present a compressed digital video color signal derived from a natural image and comprising:
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a digital video processor for receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, said digital video processor (a) generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed, (b) summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with a corresponding generated dither signal, (c) discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal, (d) stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed, and (e) generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel, video memory operatively connected with said digital video processor for storing output signals generated by said digital video processor, and a digital to analog converter operatively connected with said video memory and having a register storing a color lookup table of analog signal values to correspond with digital signal values. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A personal computer system capable of displaying an image derived from a digital video color signal which is in turn derived from a natural image, the system comprising:
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a housing, a planar board mounted within said housing, a microprocessor mounted on said planar board, a natural image video reception port operatively connected with said planar board for reception of video signals derived from natural images, a video subsystem operatively connected with said port and with planar board and comprising; a digital video processor for receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, said digital video processor (a) generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed, (b) summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with a corresponding generated dither signal, (c) discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal, (d) stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed, and (e) generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel, video memory operatively connected with said digital video processor for storing output signals generated by said digital video processor, and a digital to analog converter operatively connected with said video memory and having a register storing a color lookup table of analog signal values to correspond with digital signal values, and a display operatively connected with said video subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A compressed digital video color signal stored in a storage memory device of a personal computer system and representing a natural image video signal compressed in color depth intensity, the video color signal comprising digital pixel data blocks for each of a plurality of pixels to be displayed by an analog driven display, each pixel data block having a predetermined number of bits of data less than the number of bits of data necessary to digitize a corresponding pixel of the natural image video signal with full color depth intensity, the pixel data blocks having been formed by receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed, summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with the corresponding generated dither signal, discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal, stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed and generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel, storing generated digital output signals, generating analog display driver signals representative of the color intensities of pixels to be displayed by selecting from a color lookup table stored in a digital to analog converter analog signals corresponding to the stored output signals.
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41. A digital storage device bearing a compressed digital video color signal representing a natural image video signal compressed in color depth intensity, the storage device comprising:
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a digital signal storage memory device; and a compressed digital video color signal comprising digital pixel data blocks for each of a plurality of pixels to be displayed by an analog driven display, each pixel data block having a predetermined number of bits of data less than the number of bits of data necessary to digitize a corresponding pixel of the natural image video signal with full color depth intensity, the pixel data blocks having been formed by receiving digital color signals representative of color depth intensities of three colors for each pixel to be displayed, each color signal having at least four bits representing the color intensity of a corresponding color for a corresponding pixel and arranged from most to least significant bits, generating a digital dither signal for each pixel to be displayed, summing a selected number of the most significant bits of each received color signal with the corresponding generated dither signal, discarding a selected number of the least significant bits of the summed color and dither signals to compress the corresponding received color signal, stringing together the compressed color signals related to a common pixel to be displayed and generating a digital output signal having a predetermined bit length less than the summed bit lengths of the received digital color signals and representative of the depth intensities of three colors for the common pixel, storing generated digital output signals, generating analog display driver signals representative of the color intensities of pixels to be displayed by selecting from a color lookup table stored in a digital to analog converter analog signals corresponding to the stored output signals.
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Specification