JPH0490591A - Color liquid crystal terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the separation distance between a controller and a display device by connecting one pattern generating mechanism to plural color liquid crystal display devices equipped with bit map refreshment memories by a couple of signal lines. CONSTITUTION:A microprocessor 15 stores input data in a work memory 150 in a main memory 8 temporarily and edits the input data according to a control program. Then the microprocessor while updating the contents of a screen memory 7i corresponding to a color liquid crystal display device 2i with the edited data converts code information into pattern information by the pattern generating mechanism 9 and develops the pattern information in dots in a bit map memory 12i corresponding to the display device 2i. The dot information is read out repeatedly by a readout control circuit 13 to rewrite the bit map refreshment memory 202 in the color liquid crystal display device 2i through a cable 11i. The stored dot information is read out and displayed repeatedly matching with a refreshment period that a color liquid crystal module 201 requires.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a color liquid crystal terminal device, and particularly to a color liquid crystal terminal device that can control a plurality of color liquid crystal display devices simultaneously.

[Prior Art] As a prior art related to a liquid crystal terminal device that can simultaneously control a liquid crystal display device, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-87
A technique described in Publication No. 234 and the like is known.

This type of conventional technology simultaneously controls a plurality of display devices using a single character generator, and each display device is provided with a restoration device. For this reason, this conventional technology has a limit to miniaturization of the device, and when controlling a color display device, the display device transmits signals (RGB, horizontal and vertical synchronization signals) from the display control device using five wires. It is controlled by a transmission line, and if the display and control device were separated, the distance between them could only be a few meters unless a converter was installed.

Furthermore, since a display device and a keyboard are generally used in pair, a separate transmission line for transmitting keyboard signals is also required.

Note that, as display devices using color liquid crystals, devices in which a display device and a control device are integrated, such as laptop-type personal computers and word processors, are generally well known.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned prior art does not take into account the colorization of the display device or the separation of the control device and the display device, and it is difficult to colorize the display device and separate the control device and the display device. This requires at least five pairs of signal lines between them, and there is a problem in that the distance between the devices cannot be increased beyond a certain level due to crosstalk between the lines.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, and to make it possible to increase the separation distance between the control device and the display device.
- To provide a color liquid crystal terminal device capable of controlling a plurality of color display devices without deteriorating the display screen by simply having a pair of pattern generators and a pair of connection signal lines. be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the object is to provide a set of pattern generation mechanisms to which input display data is given via a data bus of a microprocessor, and an output of the pattern generation mechanism. a plurality of bitmap memories connected to the terminal, and each of the plurality of bitmap memories and each of the plurality of color liquid crystal display devices each having a bitmap refresh memory are connected by a pair of signal lines. achieved.

[Function] When data is input to the color liquid crystal display control device from a communication line or an input device, the pattern generation mechanism generates the input data either as is or after editing with a microprocessor, for each character or arbitrary position. After converting each unit into dot information corresponding to characters or graphs,
The pattern information is expanded into the corresponding bitmap memory.

All or part of the dot information in this bitmap memory is transmitted to the corresponding bitmap refresh memory in the display device via a pair of signal lines, regardless of the display cycle of the color liquid crystal display device. Stored.

The dot information stored in this bit map refresh memory is repeatedly read out at a period corresponding to the corresponding display device composed of a color liquid crystal display medium and its control circuit, and displayed on the corresponding display device. Therefore, even if there are multiple display devices, only one pattern generation mechanism is required, and only one pair of signal lines is required between the control device and the display device. Since this can be performed using memory, there is no possibility that the repetition frequency will be lowered and flickering will occur on the display screen, and the display speed will not be lowered.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of a color liquid crystal terminal device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining signal transmission between the bitmap memory and the bitmap refresh memory, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart explaining the operation. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the structure of transmission data.

1 and 2, 1 is a color liquid crystal display control device, 2a to 2n are color liquid crystal display devices, 3a to 3n are input devices, 7a to 7n are screen memories, 9 is a pattern generation mechanism, and 10 is a memory access Control circuits 12a to 12n are bit map memories, 13 is a read control circuit, 15 is a microprocessor, 202 is a bit map refresh memory, and 203 is a refresh control circuit.

In one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, a color liquid crystal display control device 1 includes a plurality of color liquid crystal display devices 2a to be controlled,
2b, . . . 2n are connected via cables lla, llb, .

The color liquid crystal display control device 1 includes a line control unit 6 that controls data transmission and reception with a host computer 100 connected via a communication line 5, a control program, various registers, a work memory 150, and a color liquid crystal display. Screen memory 7 corresponding to the devices 2a, 2b, . . . 2n
a, 7b, . . . 7n, a main memory 8, a pattern generation mechanism 9 that converts code information into a character dot pattern such as alphanumeric characters/kana characters/kanji, or a graph pattern, the main memory 8, and the pattern A memory access control circuit 10 that controls the generation mechanism 9 and a color liquid crystal display device 2
bitmap memories 12a, 12b corresponding to the color LCDs 12a, 2b, .
, . . . 12n, a read control circuit 13 that controls reading of each bitmap memory, an input device 3a,
3b, . . . , an input control unit 14 that controls input information from 3n, an output control unit 104 that controls output information to the output device 105, and a microprocessor 15 that performs processing such as screen editing processing according to a control program. , buffer register 101, and data/address/control bus 16
It is configured with.

The color liquid crystal display devices 2a, 2b, . . . 2n are
A bitmap refresh memory 202 stores the dot information read from the corresponding bitmap memory by the readout control circuit 13 in RSG and B color tods, similar to the bitmap memory, and the bitmap refresh memory 202 a refresh control circuit 203 that performs refresh control, a color liquid crystal module 201 that performs display based on color output (RGB) signals from the bitmap refresh memory 202, and input devices 3a, 3b, . . . 3n such as a keyboard. It is configured with.

In an embodiment of the invention configured as described above,
Input information from the host computer 100 is input to the line control section 6 via the communication line 5. In addition, the input control unit 14 controls each color liquid crystal display device 2a, 2b,...
...input devices 3a, 3b, ....3n in 2n
are sequentially polled, and when an input device having input information is selected, the input information is taken into the input side # section 14.

When input information data is input to the line control section 6 or the input control section 14, the microprocessor I5 determines whether the data is data that does not require editing processing and is to be displayed on the screen character by character. Identify what data you need.

In this way, the microprocessor 15 identifies whether editing processing of input data is required or not by displaying the input data one after another on the corresponding color liquid crystal display device or by displaying the input data one after another on the corresponding color liquid crystal display device. This is to determine if the data has been compressed for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of transmission line usage and cannot be displayed on the color liquid crystal display device as it is.

If the input data is the former, the microprocessor 15 controls the corresponding color liquid crystal display 2 according to the input data.
j (1=a, b, . . . n), and at the same time, the pattern generation mechanism 9 converts the code information into pattern information and displays the corresponding color liquid crystal display device 21. The pattern information is expanded into dots in the bitmap memory 121 corresponding to the pattern.

If the input data is the latter, microprocessor 1
5 stores the input data in the work memory 150 in the main memory 8, and executes editing processing on the input data according to the control program. After that, the microprocessor updates the contents of the screen memory 71 corresponding to the corresponding color liquid crystal display device 21 with the edited data, and at the same time causes the pattern generation mechanism 9 to convert the code information into pattern information, so that the corresponding color liquid crystal display device 21
The pattern information is expanded into dots in the bitmap memory 12i corresponding to the pattern.

As described above, the dot information developed in the bitmap memory 12i is repeatedly read out by the readout control circuit 13 and sent to the bitmap refresh memory 20 in the color liquid crystal display device 2 via the cable 111.
Written to 2.

The dot information stored in the bitmap refresh memory 202 is read repeatedly in accordance with the refresh cycle required by the color liquid crystal module 201, and is displayed as characters or graphs on the display screen.

As mentioned above, embodiments of the present invention include a bitmap refresh memory 20 within each color liquid crystal display.
2, and the dot information is supplied from the memory 202 to the color liquid crystal module 201. Therefore, synchronization signals (horizontal and vertical synchronization) for the dot information to be supplied to the color liquid crystal module 201 are generated within the color liquid crystal display device 21. This eliminates the need to provide a signal line for synchronization between the color liquid crystal display device 21 and the color liquid crystal display control device 1.

Next, the operation of transmitting R, G, and B color information through the cable 11 using a pair of signal lines will be described with reference to FIG.

The bitmap memory 12i is R for expressing color.
, G, and B dots, and dot information is written by the pattern generation mechanism 9. This R,G
, B are simultaneously read out by the reading control circuit 13 and serially sent to the bitmap refresh memory 202 of the color liquid crystal display device 21 in the order of R, G, and B. The bitmap refresh memory 202 separates the dot information that is serially sent in the order of R, G, and B, and stores each dot in the bitmap refresh memory composed of R, G, and B, respectively. write to memory.

In this way, the bitmap pre-refresh memory 20
The R, G, and B dot information stored in the LCD panel 2 is read by the refresh display control circuit 203 at the refresh cycle of the color liquid crystal module 201, and is applied to the color liquid crystal module to display color characters or characters on the display screen. Displayed as a graph.

Next, according to the timing chart shown in FIG.
Timing to write to 12n, bitmap memory 1.2
The timing of writing to the bit map refresh memory 202 corresponding to a-12n and the timing of reading it and displaying it on the color liquid crystal module 201 will be explained.

In the embodiment of the present invention, writing from the pattern generation mechanism 9 to the bitmap memory 12i, transmission to the signal line 111, writing to the bitmap refresh memory 202, and display on the liquid crystal module 201 are performed in units of one line. done synchronously.

That is, as shown in FIG.
When one line of data is written to the bitmap memory 12i, this data is read out before writing of the next line of data begins, and the next line of data is written to the bitmap memory 12i. At the same time, it is sent out to cable 11i by a pair of signal lines.

The data sent on this cable 111 is immediately written to the bitmap refresh memory 202, and the data written to this memory 202 is read out before the next line of data is sent, and Displayed on the LCD module in line cycles.

In order to perform the above-mentioned synchronous operation, the control device 1
The access time to the bitmap memory 12i in the display device 21 and the bitmap refresh memory 2゜2 in the display device 21 are set to be the same, and the transmission time between them is set to three times this access time, so that time sharing is performed on the signal line. So, R,
The dot data of G and B may be transmitted.

In the above, in order to simplify the explanation, it was assumed that the display time of the color liquid crystal module 201, that is, the display cycle of one line, is synchronized with all other related operation times.
The present invention provides a bitmap memory 12 in a display control device 1.
The bitmap refresh memory 202 in the display device 2a and the transmission between them may be performed asynchronously, or the unit of dot data may be one screen. good.

Next, the configuration of data transmitted on the pair of signal lines 11 will be explained with reference to FIG.

The dot data sent from the bitmap memory 121 is given a start marker to synchronize the reception sampling in the bitmap refresh memory 202 in the color liquid crystal display gM21 on the receiving side, and is sent in units of one line to the cable. 111. Then, between one line of dot data and the next start marker, one bit of keyboard data or polling data is transmitted between the input control section 14 and the input device 3a in the color liquid crystal display device. Ru.

The structure of the data transmitted on the signal line described above is based on dot data for one screen, and between these data,
Keyboard or polling data may also be transmitted.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the information displayed on the display device changes from text display to graph display to color display, and as the display content becomes more advanced, the pattern generation mechanism becomes more complicated and expensive. Just prepare one set, and
Just by providing one pair of signal line cables, it is possible to increase the separation distance between the control device and the display device, and moreover, it is possible to perform display control on multiple color liquid crystal display devices without deteriorating the display screen. can.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the separation distance between the control device and the display device can be increased, and multiple color display devices can be controlled without deteriorating the display screen. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining signal transmission between the bitmap memory and the bitmap refresh memory, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart explaining the operation. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the structure of transmission data. 1...Color liquid crystal display control device, 2a to 2n.
...Color liquid crystal display device, 3a to 3n...
・Input device, 7a-7n...Screen memo 1c9・
...Pattern generation mechanism, 1o...Memory access control circuit, 12a-12n...Bitmap memory, 13...Reading control circuit, 15
...Microprocessor, 202...
Bitmap pre-refresh memory, 2゜3...
Refresh control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a color liquid crystal terminal device comprising a plurality of color liquid crystal display devices and a color liquid crystal display control device for controlling the display devices, at least one set of color liquid crystal display devices is provided in the color liquid crystal display control device. a pattern generation mechanism, and a plurality of bitmap memories corresponding to each of the plurality of color liquid crystal display devices, the color liquid crystal display device is provided with a bitmap refresh memory corresponding to the bitmap memory, and the color liquid crystal display device is provided with a bitmap refresh memory corresponding to the bitmap memory; A color liquid crystal terminal device, characterized in that a liquid crystal display device and the color liquid crystal display control device are connected by a pair of signal lines. 2. The input data is expanded into dots by the pattern generation mechanism and stored in the corresponding bitmap memory, and the dot information in the bitmap memory is transmitted to the bitmap refresh memory in the corresponding color liquid crystal display device through a pair of signal lines. The color liquid crystal terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the dot information in the bitmap refresh memory is repeatedly read out at a period corresponding to the color liquid crystal display device and displayed on the color liquid crystal display device. . 3. The dot read cycle of the bitmap memory, the dot storage cycle in the bitmap refresh memory, and the dot read cycle of the bitmap refresh memory are made different, and these memories are operated asynchronously. A color liquid crystal terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: 4. Match the dot read cycle of the bitmap memory, the dot storage cycle in the bitmap refresh memory, and the dot read cycle of the bitmap refresh memory, and operate these memories synchronously. A color liquid crystal terminal device according to claim 1 or 2. 5. According to one of claims 1 to 4, input data from a keyboard provided in the color liquid crystal display device is transmitted using the pair of signal lines. Color LCD terminal device.