JP2594759B2 - 3D character generator with shadow - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shaded three-dimensional character generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional shaded three-dimensional character generation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-206. Referring to FIG. 4, a character pattern memory 16 for storing a character pattern in a dot matrix configuration is provided by the conventional shadowed three-dimensional character generation device.
And a shadow pattern memory 17 for storing a dot pattern shadow pattern, and a character pattern memory 1
6 and a shadow pattern memory 17 for reading desired character patterns and shadow patterns, a first drawing means for shifting the coordinates of the read desired character patterns, and a first drawing means. The obtained font pattern and the read shadow pattern are subjected to a logical operation, for example, by a logical sum to obtain a predetermined font pattern, and a desired character pattern is superimposed on the predetermined font pattern obtained by the calculating means. A central processing unit (CPU) 20 comprising a second drawing means for drawing and a main memory 1
5, etc., and generates a shaded character pattern corresponding to the character pattern read by the reading means by editing the logical pattern of the character pattern and the shadow pattern.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of editing a conventional shaded character, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each pattern in the editing operation process. 5 and FIG.
The editing operation of this shaded character will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to edit a shaded character (step 101).
The PU 20 stores a desired character pattern (FIG. 6) according to the instruction.
(See (a)) from the character pattern memory 16 and
It is stored in the main memory 15 (step 102). Next, CP
U20 overwrites the character pattern several times (four times in this example) on the main memory 15 while shifting the character pattern diagonally by one dot (step 103). By overwriting character patterns,
When an overwriting pattern as shown in FIG. 6B is obtained,
The CPU 20 reads an arbitrary shadow pattern (see FIG. 6C) having the same size as the character pattern from the shadow pattern memory 17 and stores it in the main memory 15. Next, a logical operation is performed on the overwritten pattern obtained by overwriting to obtain a pattern as shown in FIG. 6D (step 104). When a desired pattern is obtained by this calculation, the CPU 2
0 superimposes the original character pattern shown in FIG. 6A on this pattern (step 105). This allows
A shadowed character pattern as shown in FIG. 6E is generated on the main memory 15, and this shadowed character pattern is generated by the CPU.
The data is stored in the video RAM 18 under the control of 20. When the shaded character pattern is stored in the video RAM 18, the CRT control unit 14 controls the CRT 19,
The data of the shaded character pattern of the font configuration stored in the AM 18 is read, and a bit map corresponding to the shaded character pattern is displayed on the screen of the CRT 19 (step 106).

[0004]

This conventional three-dimensional character generator with shadows is realized by firmware processing by a CPU as a central processing unit, so that the processing takes a long time and the printing speed may be impaired.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for generating a shadowed three-dimensional character, wherein the number of shadow dots of a three-dimensional shadowed character can be rewritten.
The feature is that the width of the shadow can be changed by setting
A register for setting the shading dot number of the shaded three-dimensional character, a comparison circuit for comparing the shade number of dots and the number of horizontal dots, a flip-flop for controlling the shadow pattern output, rewritable manner the shadow pattern By doing
A pattern register storing the shadow pattern, wherein the pattern of the shadow pattern can be changed; a shifter for serially converting the shadow pattern read from the pattern register; and an output signal of the flip-flop serially converted. A that combines with the shadow pattern signal
An ND gate, an OR gate for combining an input video signal and the shadow pattern output from the AND gate, and a selector for switching a video signal to be output depending on whether or not to make a three-dimensional character with a shadow.

[0006]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1 showing a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, a shaded three-dimensional character generation apparatus according to this embodiment includes a register 1 for setting the number of shadow dots of a three-dimensional shadow character, A comparison circuit 2 that compares the number of dots with
A flip-flop 3 for controlling the output of the shadow pattern, a pattern register 4 for storing the shadow pattern, a shifter 5 for serially converting the shadow pattern read from the pattern register 4, and an output signal of the flip-flop 3 A that combines with the shadow pattern signal
An ND gate 6 and an OR gate 7 for combining an input video signal with a shadow pattern output from the AND gate 6
And a selector 8 for switching a video signal to be output depending on whether or not to make a shaded three-dimensional character.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a shaded three-dimensional character of this embodiment. 2 and 3 in conjunction with FIG.
The operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the number of shadow dots, which is the width of the shadow, is set in the register 1, and the shadow pattern, which is the shadow pattern, is set in the pattern register 4. When an input video signal i synchronized with the video clock signal v (in this embodiment, a video signal which becomes black at "1") is input,
“1” is set in the flip-flop 3 at the falling edge of the input video signal i. When the input video signal i becomes "0", the up counter 9 of the comparison circuit 2 counts up in synchronization with the video clock signal v. The comparator 10 compares the output of the register 1 in which the shadow dot width is set with the output of the up counter 9, and if they are the same, "0"
(Signal d) is output to reset the flip-flop 3. As a result, a signal a is obtained. The shifter 5 converts the data of the pattern register 4 into a serial signal in synchronization with the video clock signal v, and outputs a signal b. AND gate 6
Takes the logical product of the output signal a of the flip-flop 3 and the output signal b of the shifter 5, and outputs a shadow pattern signal c to be added to the input video signal i. The OR gate 7 calculates the logical sum of the input video signal i and the shadow pattern signal c, and adds a shadow pattern to the input video signal i (corresponding to the normal character in FIG. FIG.
(B) (corresponding to a shaded three-dimensional character). Selector 8
Switches between outputting the input video signal as it is as the output video signal o or outputting the video signal of the shaded three-dimensional character according to ON / OFF of the shaded three-dimensional character mode.

The comparison circuit 2 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 comprises an up-counter 9 and a comparator 10, but comprises only a down-counter and loads data of the register 1 in which the shadow dot width is set. When the input video signal i becomes "0", the countdown is performed in synchronization with the video clock signal v, and when the borrow signal is generated, the flip-flop 3 is reset.

Further, by making the number of shadow dots of the shaded three-dimensional character rewritable in the register 1, the width of the shadow can be changed. Further, by making the shadow pattern rewritable in the pattern register 4, the pattern of the shadow pattern can be changed. As described above, since the register 1 for setting the number of shadow dots and the pattern register 4 for setting the shadow pattern are programmable, three-dimensional shaded characters having various widths and patterns can be realized at high speed by a hardware circuit.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, the output signal of the flip-flop for controlling the output of the shadow pattern by comparing the number of shadow dots and the number of horizontal dots of the shadowed three-dimensional character with the serially converted shadow pattern By combining the signal combining the signal and the input video signal, the three-dimensional character generation with the shadow is realized by the hardware circuit, so that the printing speed is not impaired. Further, since the pattern of the shadow pattern and the width of the shadow can be set by the register, they can be freely changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a shaded three-dimensional character according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an editing operation of the shadowed character of the conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each pattern in the editing operation process of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 register 2 comparison circuit 3 flip-flop 4 pattern register 5 shifter 6 AND gate 7 OR gate 8 selector 9 up counter 10 comparator

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. The number of shadow dots of a three-dimensional character with shadow can be rewritten.
The feature is that the width of the shadow can be changed by making it capable
That a register for setting the shading dot number of the shaded three-dimensional character, a comparison circuit for comparing the shade number of dots and the number of horizontal dots, a flip-flop for controlling the shadow pattern output, rewritable said shadow pattern By doing
A pattern register for storing the shadow pattern described above, wherein the pattern of the shadow pattern can be changed; a shifter for serially converting the shadow pattern read from the pattern register; and an output signal of the flip-flop. AND gate for combining an input video signal with the shadow pattern output from the AND gate, and a video signal to be output depending on whether or not to make a shaded three-dimensional character A three-dimensional character generating apparatus, comprising: