Graphics display system with graphics window control mechanism
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of processing graphics images for display, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) organizing the graphics images into windows in which the graphics images appear on the screen;
b) obtaining data that describes the windows on a current display line, the data comprising a plurality of data portions, each data portion describing a corresponding window, and said data portions having a common structure suitable for storing window parameters that describe the corresponding window;
c) sorting the data portions according to the depth of the corresponding windows on the current display line;
d) providing window parameters from the data portion that corresponds to a back most window on the current display line to a direct memory access module to initiate transfer from memory of a portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window;
e) transferring the portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window from the memory;
f) blending the portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window with an existing content of a line buffer for the current display line using alpha values associated with that portion of the graphics image;
g) making the back most window to be a front most window after its portion on the current display line has been blended; and
h) repeating steps c)-g) until portions on the current display line of all graphics images have been blended.
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Abstract
A graphics integrated circuit chip is used in a set-top box for controlling a television display. The graphics chip processes analog video input, digital video input, a graphics input and an audio input simultaneously. The chip processes graphics images organized as windows. The chip obtains data that describes the windows, sorts the data according to the depth of the window on the display, transfers graphics images from memory, and blends the graphics images using alpha values associated with the graphics images.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of processing graphics images for display, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) organizing the graphics images into windows in which the graphics images appear on the screen;
b) obtaining data that describes the windows on a current display line, the data comprising a plurality of data portions, each data portion describing a corresponding window, and said data portions having a common structure suitable for storing window parameters that describe the corresponding window;
c) sorting the data portions according to the depth of the corresponding windows on the current display line;
d) providing window parameters from the data portion that corresponds to a back most window on the current display line to a direct memory access module to initiate transfer from memory of a portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window;
e) transferring the portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window from the memory;
f) blending the portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window with an existing content of a line buffer for the current display line using alpha values associated with that portion of the graphics image;
g) making the back most window to be a front most window after its portion on the current display line has been blended; and
h) repeating steps c)-g) until portions on the current display line of all graphics images have been blended. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A graphics window control data passing mechanism comprising:
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a window controller for sorting data comprising a plurality of data portions, each data portion being used to describe a corresponding one of a plurality of windows, according to the depth of the corresponding windows on a display, said data portions having a common structure suitable for storing window parameters that describe the corresponding window;
a display engine for receiving the window parameters extracted from the sorted data from the window controller and graphics images organized into the windows from memory, and for blending the graphics images using alpha values associated with the graphics images;
a plurality of line buffers; and
a direct memory access module capable of transferring the graphics images from the memory to the display engine, wherein the window parameters from the data portion that corresponds to a back most window on a current display line is provided to the direct memory access module to initiate transfer of a portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window from the memory to the display engine, wherein the portion on the current display line of the graphics image that corresponds to the back most window is blended with an existing content of a line buffer for the current display line, and wherein the back most window is made a front most window for the current display line after its portion on the current display line has been blended. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of processing graphics images for display, the method comprising:
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organizing the graphics images into windows in which the graphics images appear on the screen;
obtaining in a window controller data that describes the windows on a current display line, the data comprising a plurality of data portions, each data portion describing a corresponding window, data portions, each data portion describing a corresponding window, and said data portions having a common structure suitable for storing window parameters that describe the corresponding window;
sorting in the window controller the data portions according to the depth of the corresponding windows on the display;
transferring the graphics images from memory to a display engine; and
blending in the display engine the graphics images using alpha values associated with the graphics images, wherein transferring the graphics images comprises transferring window parameters from the window controller to a direct memory access module in an order according to the depth of the corresponding windows on the display, said window parameters comprising a window size, a window location and a location in the memory where the graphics image for the corresponding window is stored. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification