Method and apparatus for providing translucent images on a computer display

• US 5,949,432 A
• Filed: 04/11/1997
• Issued: 09/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Gilley, Thomas S., Gough, Michael L., Robbins, Greg M., Hansen, Daniel J. Jr., MacDougald, Joseph J., Oswal, Abhay, Venolia, Daniel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US08/827,764
• Time in Patent Office: 879 Days
• Field of Search: 395/135, 345/113, 345/114, 345/115, 345/116, 345/435
• US Class Current: 345/629
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/10 Mixing of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of an operation, e.g. adding, on the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3611 Control of matrices with row and column drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/36 characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/39 Control of the bit-mapped memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/395 Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of the bit-mapped memory to the screen G09G5/399 takes precedence

Abstract

A method and apparatus for producing a translucent image over a base image created on the display screen of a computer system by a selected first application program, and conducting image operations either on said base image created by the selected application program with reference to the translucent image produced, or conducting image operations on said translucent image with reference to said base image of the first application program. The first application program runs on a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer system to produce a base image, and another application program referred to as the overlay program is run to produce the translucent image such that portions of the base image which are overlapped by the overlay image are at least partially visible through the translucent image. There is also a mechanism for blending the first video data and the second video data to produce a blended image on the screen assembly.

Claims

1. A method for displaying images on a display screen of a computer system, the method comprising the acts of:

displaying a base image on said display screen of said computer system; and

displaying a translucent image on said display screen which covers at least a portion of said base image, wherein said covered portions of said base image are at least partially visible through said translucent image simultaneously with said translucent image, the translucent image being always non-reactive thereby precluding user performance of image operations with the translucent image and permitting user performance of image operations with said base image without regard to the overlying translucent image.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said base image receives user inputs by a user input action through said translucent image to the extend said translucent image overlaps said base image.

3. A method as recited in claim 2 wherein said user input action is performed by a selection action in accordance with a cursor positioned on a portion of said translucent image that overlaps said base image.

4. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said selection action comprises making a keystroke on a keyboard.

5. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said selection action is made using a mouse.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said display screen comprises input tablet means responsive to screen inputs made with a pointing device.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein said base image is made active by touching said pointing device to a region of said display screen corresponding to said base image as opposed to a portion of said translucent image that overlaps said base image.

8. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein said pointing device is a stylus.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the translucent image is updated according to activity occurring within the base image.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the translucent image provides an indication of the source of the base image.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the base image is substantially larger than the translucent image such that the translucent image does not unduly detract from information provided in the base image.

12. A method for providing an input utility to a user of a pointer based computer system, the method comprising the acts of:

running a first application program on a central processing unit (CPU) of said computer system to produce a base image on said display screen;

running an input utility overlay program on said CPU to produce a translucent overlay input image that is always non-reactive and covers at least a portion of said base image such that said covered portion of said base image can be viewed through said translucent overlay input image simultaneously with said translucent overlay input image;

receiving, with the input utility overlay program pointer, generated screen inputs which contact the translucent overlay input image, the pointer generated screen inputs being intended as input data for the first application program even though entered on but without regard to said translucent overlay input image that covers at least the portion of said base image;

processing said intercepted pointer generated screen inputs in said CPU to produce processed pointer generated screen inputs; and

updating said first application program using said processed pointer generated screen inputs,

wherein a user of the first application program may utilize the input utility overlay program in order to input data into the first application program.

13. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein said overlay program creates an overlay buffer in said memory of said computer system.

14. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein an image of said display screen, including said base image, is copied into said overlay buffer.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein said overlay program produces said translucent overlay image by a blending operation.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein said translucent overlay image is produced by blending portions of said image stored in said overlay buffer with portions of a second image stored in a general system RAM wherein said portions of said second image overlap said portions of said image stored in said overlay buffer.

17. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein said overlay buffer exists in a general system random access memory (RAM) coupled with said CPU.

18. A method as recited in claim 12 further including the act of running a second application program on said CPU to produce an image intended for display on said display screen.

19. A method as recited in claim 18 wherein said second application program used to produce said image intended for display on said display screen is the same application program as said first application program.

20. A method as recited in claim 18 wherein said second application program to produce said image intended for display on said display screen is different from said first application program to produce said base image on said display screen.

21. A method as recited in claim 18 wherein said image intended for display on said display screen is directed to a general system RAM instead of said display screen.

22. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising a act of swapping at least one physical memory page of video random access memory (VRAM) with at least one physical memory page of RAM.

23. A method as recited in claim 22 wherein said act of memory swapping includes redirecting a pointer from a physical memory page of VRAM to a physical memory page of RAM.

24. A method as recited in claim 22 wherein said act of memory swapping includes redirecting a pointer from a physical memory page of RAM to a physical memory page of VRAM.

25. A method for displaying images on a display screen of a computer system, the method comprising the acts of:

displaying first and second images on said display screen of said computer system such that at least a portion of said second image overlaps at least a portion of said first image, said second image being in an opaque state such that said overlapped portion of said first image cannot be seen through said overlapping portion of said second image;

transforming said second image between said opaque state and a translucent state wherein said portion of said first image overlapped by said second image can be simultaneously viewed with said overlapping portion of said second image when said second image is in said translucent state;

blending together said first and second images using a random access memory of said computer system; and

thereafter refreshing the displaying of said first and second images on said display screen such that following said blending only said overlapping portion of said first and second images is refreshed and a remaining portion of said first and second images is not refreshed.

26. A method as recited in claim 25 wherein a transformation icon is displayed on said display screen, said activation of said icon being effective to transform said second image between said opaque state and said translucent state.

27. A method as recited in claim 26 wherein a pointing device is used to activate said icon.

28. A method as recited in claim 27, wherein said pointing device is a mouse.

29. A method as recited in claim 27 wherein said pointing device is a stylus.

30. A method as recited in claim 25 wherein said transformation of said image between an opaque state and a translucent state is accomplished through the use of keystrokes.

31. A method for providing a translucent overlay image on a screen of a computer system comprising:

displaying a base image on said screen of said computer system, said base image being produced by a first computer implemented process running on said computer system;

displaying a translucent overlay image on said screen such that portions of said base image arranged directly beneath said translucent overlay image can be viewed through said translucent overlay image simultaneously with the portions of said translucent overlay image that overlap the base image of said first computer implemented process, said translucent overlay image being produced by a second computer implemented process running on said computer system, said translucent overlay image always being translucent and non-reactive,

wherein said second computer implemented process intercepts screen inputs which contact said overlay image and processes said screen inputs, said second computer implemented process being further operable to update said first computer implemented process in accordance with said screen inputs such that said first computer implemented process always responds to the processed screen inputs as if the processed screen inputs had been input directly into said first computer implemented process without regard to the overlying image.

32. A method as recited in claim 31 further comprising creating screen inputs with a pointing device.

33. A method as recited in claim 32 further comprising selecting a stylus as said pointing device, and wherein said screen means comprises an input tablet means responsive to said stylus.

34. A method for displaying images on a display screen of a computer system, the method comprising the acts of:

running a first application program on a central processing unit (CPU) of said computer system to produce a base image on said display screen; and

running an overlay program on said CPU to produce a translucent overlay image which covers at least a portion of said base image such that said covered portion of said base image can be viewed through said translucent overlay image simultaneously with said translucent overlay image, said overlay program performing the acts of;

creating an overlay buffer in said memory of said computer system;

copying an image of said display screen into said overlay buffer; and

producing said translucent overlay image by blending portions of said image stored in said overlay buffer with portions of a second image stored in a general system RAM wherein said portions of said second image overlap said portions of said image stored in said overlay buffer.

35. A method as recited in claim 34 wherein said overlay buffer exists in a general system random access memory (RAM) coupled with said CPU.

36. A method as recited in claim 34 further comprising the act of swapping at least one physical memory page of video random access memory (VRAM) with at least one physical memory page of RAM.

37. A method as recited in claim 36 wherein said step of memory swapping includes a step of redirecting a pointer from a physical memory page of VRAM to a physical memory page of RAM.

38. A method as recited in claim 36 wherein said step of memory swapping includes a step of redirecting a pointer from a physical memory page of RAM to a physical memory page of VRAM.

39. A method as recited in claim 34 further comprising the steps of:

intercepting screen inputs which contact the translucent image;

processing said intercepted screen inputs in said CPU to produce processed screen inputs; and

updating said first application program using said processed screen inputs.

40. A method for displaying a plurality of related images on a display screen in order to present a viewer a variety of interrelated information, the method comprising the acts of:

displaying a first primary image on the display screen such that said first primary image appears as an opaque base image;

displaying a first translucent image on the display screen which overlaps at least a portion of the first primary image, wherein the overlapped portions of the first translucent image with the first primary image are displayed simultaneously as if the first translucent image was translucent and the first primary image was physically located behind the translucent image with respect to the viewer of the display screen, the first translucent image being always non-reactive such that the viewer is precluded from performing image operations with the first translucent image and permitting user performance of image operations with said first primary image without regard to the first translucent image, the first translucent image including at least one of text and graphics.

41. A method as recited in claim 40 wherein the first translucent image includes the text "TOP SECRET."

42. A method as recited in claim 40 wherein the first translucent image is substantially smaller than the first primary image.

43. A method as recited in claim 40 wherein the first translucent image is displayed for a first time period shorter than a second time period during which the first primary image is displayed.

44. A method as recited in claim 40 further comprising the act of:

displaying a second translucent image on the display screen which overlaps at least a portion of the first primary image, wherein the overlapped portions of the second translucent image with the first primary image are displayed simultaneously as if the second translucent image was translucent and the first primary image was physically located behind the second translucent image with respect to the viewer of the display screen, the second translucent image being always non-reactive such that the viewer is precluded from performing image operations with the second translucent image and permitting user performance of image operations with said first primary image without regard to the second translucent image, the second translucent image including at least one of text and graphics.

45. A method for providing an input utility to a user of a pointer based computer system, the method comprising the acts of:

running a first application program on a central processing unit (CPU) of said computer system to produce a base image on said display screen;

running an input utility overlay program on said CPU to produce a translucent overlay input image which covers at least a portion of said base image such that said covered portion of said base image can be viewed through said translucent overlay input image simultaneously with said translucent overlay input image;

displaying a translucent reference image on the display screen which overlaps at least a portion of the base image, wherein the overlapped portions of the translucent image with respect to the base image are displayed simultaneously as if the translucent reference image was translucent and the base image was physically located behind the translucent reference image with respect to the user of the display screen, the translucent reference image being always non-reactive such that the user is precluded from performing image operations with the translucent reference image and permitting user performance of image operations with the base image without regard to the translucent reference image, the translucent reference image being employed for reference with regards to the underlying base image, the translucent reference image including at least one selected from the group of text and graphics indicating a nature of certain activity within the base image;

receiving, with the input utility overlay program, pointer generated screen inputs which contact the translucent reference image, the pointer generated screen inputs being intended as input data for the first application program even though entered with respect to the translucent reference image that covers at least the portion of the base image;

processing the pointer generated screen inputs in said CPU to produce processed pointer generated screen inputs; and

updating said first application program using said processed pointer generated screen inputs,

wherein a user of the first application program may utilize the input utility overlay program in order to input data into the first application program.