JPH04277821A - Character display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a memory capacity and cost even when precisely displaying characters and further to freely change the size of the character. CONSTITUTION:On a display panel, squares are set while being arranged in the shape of a matrix. A character arrangement memory 2 is provided to store data such as the character number, reference arrangement position and size of the character to be displayed on the display panel. An image memory 3 is provided to store the character number in each address corresponding to each square of the display panel according to the data from this character arrangement memory 2. A character code memory 4 is provided to store the character code of the character corresponding to each character number. According to the character number read from the image memory 3, a display control part 6 generates a display control signal DC containing information showing the font data, arrangement position and size of each character, and the respective characters are displayed on a display part 7.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to character display devices, and more particularly to character display devices such as CRT displays and printers used in personal computers and word processors.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of character display device has a display section 7a, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) as a first example.
A character code arrangement memory 8 writes and stores the character code of the character to be displayed on the display surface of the display section 7a at an address corresponding to a desired display position on the display surface of the display section 7a, and a character code arrangement memory 8 stores font data. a font memory 9 that outputs font data of a character corresponding to the character code read from the font memory 9; a character generator 10 that generates character display data using the font data from the font memory 9;
Data and character code arrangement memory 8 for character display starting from 0
a display control section 6a that outputs a character display control signal based on the character arrangement position data from the display control section 6a; and a display section 7 that displays characters on the display surface based on the display control signal from the display control section 6a.
It was configured to have a.

In this character display device, one half-width character code is written in one address of the character code arrangement memory 8, and each position on the display surface of the display section 7a and each address of the character code arrangement memory 8 are one. There is a one-to-one correspondence.

As a second example, as shown in FIG. 4, there is a layout memory 11 for writing and storing the display position and size of characters, and the position from this layout memory 11 is stored as size data and font. Some devices include a bitmap memory 12 that determines display dot positions on the display surface of the display section 7b from font data from the data output section 5a.

In this example, the bitmap memory 12 is provided with memory cells (bits) corresponding to each display dot on the display surface of the display section 7b, and "1" written in these memory cells is , the display section 7 according to the data of “0”.
The configuration is such that characters are displayed on the display surface b as shown in FIG.

[0006]

In the conventional character display device described above, in the first example, each position on the display surface of the display section 7a and each address of the character code arrangement memory 8 correspond one to one. Since the structure is such that one of the character codes for half-width characters is written to one address of the character code arrangement memory 8, there is a drawback that the character size is limited to one, and the second In the example, a bitmap memory 12 has memory cells corresponding to each display dot on the display surface of the display section 7b.
The structure is such that data for displaying characters is written into each memory cell (bit), so the size of the characters can be determined freely. There is a problem in that the memory capacity of the bitmap memory 12 increases and the cost increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a character display device that can display fine characters and change the size of the characters without increasing cost.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The character display device of the present invention has a display surface with squares arranged in a matrix, and a display section that displays characters on the display surface in accordance with a display control signal. , a character arrangement memory that stores data on character numbers, arrangement reference positions, and sizes of characters to be displayed on the display surface; and a character arrangement memory that stores data on the character numbers, arrangement reference positions, and sizes of characters to be displayed on the display surface; An image memory that stores the character number at an address corresponding to each square of the character code memory that stores the character code of the character corresponding to the character number, and outputs font data for the character code from this character code memory. and a display control unit that outputs the display control signal based on a character number from each address of the image memory and font data from the font data output unit of a character corresponding to the character number. are doing.

[0009]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

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

In this embodiment, X
- A display section 7 having a display surface with squares whose position is indicated by the Y coordinate and displaying characters on the display surface in accordance with a display control signal DC, and characters to be displayed on the display surface of this display section 7. Number (display order), X where letters are displayed
- Enter the placement reference position that indicates the coordinate closest to the origin of the Y coordinate, the character size data that indicates the size of the character in terms of the number of squares in the X and Y directions, and the character code that corresponds to the character number. An input section 2, a character arrangement memory 2 that stores character numbers, arrangement reference positions, and size data from this input section 2, and character arrangement memory 2 that stores character numbers, arrangement reference positions, and size data from this character arrangement memory 2. An image memory 3 that stores character numbers in addresses corresponding to each square on the display screen, a character code memory 4 that stores character numbers from the input section 7 and character codes of the corresponding characters, and this character code memory 4. a font data output unit 5 that outputs font data for the character code from the image memory 3;
The display control section 6 outputs a display control signal DC based on the character number from each address and the font data from the font data output section 5 of the character corresponding to the character number.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 2 is a memory map of each memory and a display diagram on the display screen for explaining the operation of this embodiment.

In order to display characters on the display screen, first set the location where the characters are to be displayed at the placement reference position closest to the origin of the X-Y coordinates (the upper left corner of the display screen) (in this case, the upper left corner of that location). position) and character size (in this case, the character's X direction, Y direction)
(the number of squares in the direction) and write them into the character arrangement memory 2 in the order in which the characters are displayed. This display order is used as a character number.

Subsequently, character numbers are written to each address on the image memory 3 in the order of the written character numbers in the character arrangement memory 2. For example, for character number (1), the placement reference position is (1, 0), the size is (1) in the X direction, and (2) in the Y direction.
Therefore, the addresses (1, 0), (1
, 1), write the character number (1). Similarly, character numbers are written in the image memory 3 for the number of characters to be displayed.

On the other hand, the character code of the character corresponding to each character number is written in the character code memory 4 in correspondence with the character number.

Next, the contents of each address in the image memory 3 are read out in order for display. Although the reading order differs depending on the display section 7, here, the reading is from the upper left to the right. There are no characters at address (0,0), so we will skip it. Next, when the address (1,0) is reached, the number indicating the character number (1) is read out. Based on the read character number, the character arrangement memory 2 is referred to to determine the arrangement reference position and character size of character number (1). Character number of character arrangement memory 2 (1)
In the case of displaying, it is written that the placement reference position is (1, 0), the size is (1) in the X direction, and (2) in the Y direction, so this address (0, 1) is written in the Y direction. to 2
It can be seen that the upper half of the double-sized text is displayed. Further, when referring to the character code for character number (1) from the character code memory 4, it is found that it is "82A0" in shift JIS code, that is, "a" in hiragana.

The font data output section 5 outputs font data corresponding to the character code "82A0" from the character code memory 4.

Based on the above information, the display control section 6 doubles the hiragana character "a" vertically, creates font data for the upper half of it, and sets the address (1) on the image memory 3.
. Display characters. Thereafter, characters on the entire display screen are displayed in the same manner.

In this example, the number of squares is 8×7.
Calculating the memory capacity when the number of dots in the square (
For example, 24 x 24 dots, 48 x 48 dots), image memory 3 is 8 x 7 = 56 bytes, character arrangement memory 2 is 3 x 6 = 18 bytes, and character code memory 4 is 2 x 6 = 12 bytes. Therefore, the total is 86 bytes.

On the other hand, in the second example explained in the prior art section, when the number of dots in the square is 24×24 dots, 24×3 (size of one character)×8×7= 4032
Byte, when 48 x 48 dots, 4 times that, 1612
It will be 8 bytes.

[0022] Also, in this embodiment, the size of 1 square is 1
Although the size of each square is set to the size of a character, it is also possible to easily change the size of one square to one-fourth or one-eighth of one character, and it is also possible to display it in an even smaller position. Even in this case, the required memory capacity is 8 x
7 x 4 + 3 x 6 + 2 x 6 = 254 bytes, and in the case of 1/8 character unit, 8 x 7 x 8 + 3 x 6 + 2 x 6 = 478 bytes, which is still much less than the conventional second example. .

As described above, in the present invention, even if the characters are displayed in fine detail, the memory capacity is small, and the size of the characters can be changed freely.

[0024]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention sets squares arranged in a matrix, each having a predetermined number of dots, on the display surface, and sets the character number and arrangement for each character displayed on the display surface. A character arrangement memory is provided to store data on reference position and size, and an image memory is provided to store character numbers at each address corresponding to each square on the display surface using the data from this character arrangement memory. A character code memory is provided to store the character code of the corresponding character, and a display control signal including font data, arrangement position, and size information of each character is generated according to the character number read from the image memory. By displaying characters on the display screen, the memory capacity is small even if the characters are displayed in detail, resulting in low cost and the ability to freely change the size of the characters.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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

2 is a diagram showing a memory map of each memory and a display screen for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a first example of a conventional character display device, a memory map of a character code memory, and a display diagram on a display screen for explaining the operation of this example.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second example of a conventional character display device.

FIG. 5 is a display diagram on a display screen for explaining the operation of the character display device shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a, 1b Input section 2 Character arrangement memory 3 Image memory 4 Character code memory 5, 5a Photo data output section 6, 6a, 6b Display control section 7, 7a, 7b Display section 8 Character code arrangement memory 9 Font memory 10 Character generator 11 Placement memory 12 Bitmap memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A display section having a display surface with squares arranged in a matrix and displaying characters on the display surface according to a display control signal, and character numbers of the characters displayed on the display surface. , a character arrangement memory that stores data on the arrangement reference position and size, and the character number is stored at the address corresponding to each square on the display surface according to the character number, arrangement reference position and size data from this character arrangement memory. a character code memory that stores the character code of the character corresponding to the character number, a font data output section that outputs font data for the character code from the character code memory, and each of the image memories. A character display device comprising: a display control unit that outputs the display control signal based on a character number from an address and font data from the font data output unit of a character corresponding to the character number. [Claim 2] The character numbers of the data stored in the character arrangement memory are set in the display order, and the arrangement reference position is expressed by the X-Y coordinates of the square position on the display surface of the display unit.
2. The character display device according to claim 1, wherein the -Y coordinate is indicated by the coordinate closest to the origin, and the size is indicated by the number of squares in the X direction and the Y direction.