JPH04102895A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To comparatively accelerate the processing of plotting on a window and to execute the efficient processing of window display by transferring image data to a frame memory and displaying it after the consecutive processing of the plotting is executed with respect to a window memory. CONSTITUTION:When the window display is executed, the image data is written in the window memory 5 first. Then, by executing the command of collective display at a proper time, the image data which is not transferred is collectively transferred to the frame memory 4 from the window memory 5 and displayed on a display 2. Thus, since the image data is transferred to the frame memory and displayed after the consecutive processing of the plotting is executed with respect to the window memory, the processing of the plotting on the window is executed comparatively at a high speed and the efficient processing of the window display is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a display device capable of displaying a plurality of windows simultaneously.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, multi-window displays have been used in displays using bitmap memory to simultaneously display a plurality of windows on one screen.

For multi-window display control, there are two methods: a hardware method that divides the screen into segments and combines them during display (display compositing), and a method that stores the original image data in the window memory and frames the image data of the necessary rectangular area. bitbIt (bit block) to be transferred to memory and displayed
transfer) method. In either method, window control is performed by a display-only control circuit (for example, "Nikkei Electronics J 1986
July 14, No. 399, pp. 115-1
(See the article "Graphics controller LSI heading towards enhanced multi-window control" on page 32).

Although the display speed of the bi Lbl method is lower than that of the hardware method, the degree of freedom in the display screen, such as the number of windows, is high.

In multi-window display using bitbl method,
Each time a command is executed or a character is input to draw image data, the image data to be displayed is drawn in the window memory, and the image data in the drawn area of the window memory is transferred to the frame memory. will be displayed.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In other words, in the bitBLL method, each time one command for image drawing is processed, one character is input (
Each time the image data is written to the window memory, the image data written to the window memory is transferred to the frame memory. For this reason, there is a large overhead in the transfer process, which is one of the factors that prevents the speed of processing from increasing.For example, when creating and displaying a graph or table, the line between the frame of the graph or table - the book In addition, the character −
In order to draw images, image data is written to the window memory each time, and the written image data is transferred from the window memory to the frame memory.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a display device that can improve the efficiency of transfer processing in window display.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a window memory for storing image data of a window, a frame memory for storing image data corresponding to a display screen, and a display of the image data stored in the frame memory. A display device that transfers image data stored in a window memory to a frame memory and displays a window on the display means,
a window management means for storing information on a drawing area of image data written in a window memory and not yet transferred to a frame memory; and a window management means storing information on a drawing area of image data that has not been transferred to the frame memory. control for storing drawing area information in the window management means, including the drawing area of the image data added and written to the window memory and the area indicated by the drawing area information already stored in the window management means; and the control means, in response to an instruction to transfer image data stored in the window memory but not yet transferred to the frame memory, to the frame memory, the control means is indicated by the drawing area information stored in the window management means. This transfers the image data on the window memory to the frame memory.

(E) When image data is written to the operation window memory, the information on the drawing area of the image data written to the window management means is stored, and the frame memory of the image data written to the window memory is immediately stored. will not be forwarded to. Furthermore, when the image data is written to the window memory, the window management control means adds information about the drawing area of the untransferred image data to the frame memory stored in the window management means and writes it to the window memory. It is updated to include the drawing area of the image data and the area indicated by the drawing area information already stored in the window management means. When a command is issued to the window management control means to transfer image data stored in the window memory but not transferred to the frame memory to the frame memory, the window memory indicated by the drawing area information stored in the window management means is The above image data is transferred to the frame memory and displayed on the display means.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the present invention;? ! FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of one embodiment of No. 1;

(1) is a control circuit that serves as a control means for controlling the entire device that has a built-in storage circuit for storing data, programs, etc., and controls data transfer between the window memory and frame memory, which will be described later, and data transfer in the window management memory. It has the function of controlling input and output.

(2) is a display that displays in bitmap format, and a panel display such as a plasma display or CRT is used, and the display control circuit (3) reads out the image data. Display control such as display time and display timing is performed.

(4) is a frame memory for storing image data corresponding to the display screen of this display (2), and (5) is a window memory for storing image data of a plurality of windows.

(6) is a window memory control circuit which receives a window size instruction from the control circuit (1) and reserves an area of the specified size in the window memory (5) as a window area. When securing a window area, the window memory control circuit (6) secures an empty area of the window memory (5) so as not to overlap with another window area, and stores position information in the window memory (5).

(7) is a window memory (5) that is controlled by the control circuit (1) and should be transferred to the frame memory (4) for display when image data is written to the window memory (5). This is a window management memory serving as a window management means for storing positional information of a drawing area. As shown in Figure 2, this window management memory (7) has already transferred the position information of the area to be transferred and the image data on the window memory (5) indicated by the position information to the frame memory (4). Flag information indicating whether or not (reset state means it has been transferred; set state means it has not been transferred)
Furthermore, identification information indicating to which group among a plurality of windows a window belongs (the same identification information is given to the same group) is stored and managed.

(8) and (9) are a keyboard and a mouse as input means, respectively, which are connected to the control circuit (1) and the display control circuit (3) via an input interface (10).

Window settings include keyboard (8) and mouse (9)
By inputting and instructing the position and size of the window on the display (2), the control circuit (1) controls the window control port (6) according to the input and stores the information on the window memory (5). This is done by securing a window area.

Now, frame memory (4) (corresponding to the display screen of display (2)) is displayed in two to three windows A and B.
, C are provided as shown in FIG. 3, and a window area is secured in the window memory (5) for each window (see FIG. 4). The image data of each window in the window memory (5) is transferred to the frame memory (4) via the display control circuit (3) under the control of the control circuit (1). ) has been reset. In addition, frame memory (4
) is read out by the display control circuit (3) and displayed on the display (2).

Further, here, window A and window B are in the same group, and the same identification information is given to the identification information of windows A and B in the window management memory (7).

The case where a figure is drawn in window A in this state will be explained.

When the keyboard (8) or the mouse (9) is operated to input a command for a figure 11°11 strokes for window 8 (for example, a command to draw a circle), the control circuit (1) changes to the window control circuit (6). The image data of the figure (circle) specified by the command is written into the window area of window A on the window memory (5) via the window memory (5) (see FIG. 5).

The control circuit (1) also includes a window management memory (7).
), the flag information of window A is in a reset state, so the position information of the drawing area of the figure (image data) drawn in window 1A (coordinates of two opposing points in the rectangular area containing the drawn image data (x 1. y 1 ), (x2
．． y2)) is stored in the area for managing window A of the window management memory. After that, the flag information is set.

Subsequently, when a graphic drawing command (for example, a triangle drawing command) is input to window A, the control circuit (1) controls the window A on the window memory (5) via the window control circuit (6). The image data of the figure (triangle) specified by the command is written in the window area of the screen (see FIG. 5).

At this time, window A in window management memory (7)
Since the flag information of window A is set in the window memory (5), the control circuit (1) sets the position information of the drawing area of the triangular image data ((x3.
y3), (x 4. y4))) and the position information of the drawing area of the previously stored image data ((xl, yl,),
(x2.y2)), and as shown in FIG. of,
The previously stored position information is stored in the window management memory (7) as an area that has not been transferred to the frame memory (4).

From then on, every time image data is written (drawn) in the window memory (5), the position information indicating the untransferred area to the frame memory (4) in the window management memory (7) is updated in the same way. I do.

When the flag information of any window in the window management memory (7) is set (in this example, the flag information of window A is set), for that window (that is, in this example, window 8 is set). ), or by specifying the group identification information in the grouped group, the window memory (5)
When a command for batch display of image data written in the memory is input by operating the keyboard (8) or mouse (9), the control circuit (1) displays the window management memory (
7), search for the specified window or the window with identification information.

When the flag information of the corresponding window is set, the frame memory indicated by the position information (
4), the untransferred image data of the rectangular area of the window memory (5) is transferred to the corresponding window area of the frame memory (4) via the window control circuit (6) and the display control circuit (3). Forward. Then the control circuit (
1) is the window management memory (7) of the window that has finished transferring the image data to the frame memory (4).
The flag information in is set to a reset state.

When the image data is transferred to the frame memory (4), the image data transferred (stored) to the frame memory (4) is read out by the display control circuit (3) and displayed on the display (2). be done.

In this embodiment, figure drawing commands and batch display commands are input by keyboard and mouse operations, but they are not limited to this.In addition to drawing figures, for example, in application programs such as creating tables and graphs, window memory After writing (drawing) the image data to the window memory and completing writing all the desired images (figures, tables, or graphs) on the window memory, execute the -finger display command to transfer the written image data from the window memory. It may also be transferred to a frame memory and displayed on a display.

(g) Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, when displaying a window, image data is written to the window memory first, and a batch display command is executed at an appropriate time. Image data that has not yet been transferred to the frame memory is transferred all at once from the window memory to the frame memory and displayed on the display.

That is, after performing a series of drawing processes on the window memory, the image data is transferred to the frame memory and displayed, so that the drawing process on the window can be performed at relatively high speed. Then, it becomes possible to perform efficient window display processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanation of a window management memory that stores information on the drawing area of image data that has not been transferred to the frame memory according to an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a window provided on the frame memory, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a window area provided on the window memory.
FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the drawing area of image data written in the window area. (1)...Control circuit (control means), (2)...Display (display means), (3)...Display control circuit, (
4)...Frame memory, (5)...Window memory, (6)...Window memory control circuit, (
7)...Window management memory (window management means), (8)...Keyboard, (9)...Mouse, (
10) Input ink face.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A window memory that stores image data of a window, a frame memory that stores image data corresponding to a display screen, and a display means that displays the image data stored in the frame memory. In a display device that transfers stored image data to a frame memory and displays a window on a display means, a window management means stores information on a drawing area of image data written to the window memory but not yet transferred to the frame memory; If the window management means stores information on the drawing area of image data that has not been transferred to the frame memory, the information on the drawing area of the image data that has been added and written to the window memory and that has already been stored in the window management means. and a control means for storing information on the drawing area including the area indicated by the information on the drawing area in the window management means, the control means storing the frame of image data stored in the window memory and not yet transferred to the frame memory. A display device characterized in that image data on a window memory indicated by drawing area information stored in window management means is transferred to a frame memory in response to a transfer command to the memory. (2) The window memory includes a plurality of window areas, and the window management means stores information on the drawing area of image data that is written to the window memory together with identification information for each window and that has not been transferred to the frame memory, and the control means is stored in the window memory together with the specified identification information, and when a command is issued to transfer image data that has not yet been transferred to the frame memory, the specified identification information is stored in the window management means for the assigned window. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the image data on the window memory indicated by the information of the drawn drawing area is transferred to the frame memory.