Patent ID: 6377262
Filing Date: 2002-04-23
Classification: G06F,G06T,G09G

Abstract:
In a processing device associated with a display device, wherein the display device has a plurality of pixels each having a plurality of pixel subcomponents and wherein each pixel sub-component within a particular pixel has a color that is different from the other pixel sub-components of the particular pixel, a method of displaying a character such that a selected feature of the character has a width rendered with pixel sub-component precision, while maintaining an advance width of the character having a value that is an integer multiple of the width of the pixels, the method comprising the steps of:obtaining existing image data representing a character having a selected feature, the character having a coarse advance width that is associated with the character when the character is displayed using a full pixel precision rendering process in which the widths of character features of the character are integer multiples of the width of the pixels; adjusting a width of the selected feature of the character to pixel sub-component precision; and based on the image data, displaying the character on the display device using a pixel sub-component precision rendering process wherein: the selected feature is rendered with pixel sub-component precision, such that the said adjusted width of the selected feature is different from the width of the selected feature that would be displayed if the selected feature were to be displayed using the full pixel precision rendering process and is not an integer multiple of the width the pixels; and the displayed advance width of the character has a value that is an integer multiple of the width of the pixels and is equal to the coarse advance width, such that the displayed advance width of the character obtained using the pixel sub-component precision rendering process is the same as the coarse advance width that would be obtained if the character were to be rendered using the full pixel precision rendering process.