Image information control apparatus and display system

Abstract: An image information control apparatus includes a. first means for recognizing scanning of a position of image information, b. a first memory unit for, when the first means recognizes scanning of the position of image information, detecting and storing an address accessed to an image information storage memory, the access being started by the recognition in units of lines in a scanning direction, c. a second memory unit for storing a line address detected and stored for the first time, d. second means for comparing contents of the first means for recognizing scanning of the position of image information with contents of the second memory unit, e. third means for interrupting the function of the first means on the basis of the comparison result of the second means, and f. fourth means for interrupting the function of the first means when drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information, is ended.

Description: Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display system and, more particularly, to an image information control apparatus for use in a display system using a ferroelectric liquid crystal having a memory function. Related Background Art The screen size and the resolution of a liquid crystal display system required in a personal computer (PC) or a workstation (WS) have been increased year by year, and the system is required to have compatibility with a conventional PC or WS. A high-resolution graphic display "GSP34010 (tradename)" available from Texas Instruments which is a graphic processor widely used for general purposes provides a high-resolution graphic environment such as a Microsoft Windows (MS/Windows), a Presentation Manager (OS/2 available from Microsoft Corporation), or an X-Windows (a public domain licensed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology for use under a Unix environment) to users via GSP graphic software such as "DGIS (tradename)" available from Graphics Software System or "TIGA (tradename)" available from Texas Instruments. Such GSP graphic software basically accesses a common VRAM (image information storage memory) because hardware of a GAP is commonly used. This function of hardware is a typical example of access to a VRAM of a one-frame buffer type. Therefore, VRAM access programming about mouse font display to be described below is a common method for the above-mentioned software and a typical example of a mouse font display method in VRAM access of a one-frame buffer type. However, each of the above methods is invented for a display such as a CRT which is non-interlace-driven at a predetermined period, another means is further required for a device such as an FLCD (ferroelectric liquid crystal device) having a memory effect using both full-screen refresh multi-interlace scanning and partial write non-interlace driving. The present invention aims at applying this means to the FLCD without changing the GSP graphic software. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display system and, more particularly, a ferroelectric liquid crystal display system having improved compatibility with a CRT display system. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image information control system having improved compatibility with a CRT display system. According to the present invention there is provided an image information control apparatus and a display system, respectively, according to any one of the annexed claims 1 to 11 and 12, respectively. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a view for explaining mouse processing used in the present invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention; Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention; Fig. 4 is a view showing a routine of the mouse processing used in the present invention; Fig. 5 is a view for explaining another mouse processing used in the present invention; Fig. 6 is a view for explaining mouse processing used in the present invention; Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention; Figs. 8A to 8C are views for explaining ORG processing used in the present invention; Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention; Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a display state used in the present invention; Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention; Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing a controller used in the present invention (according to claims 2 and 3); Fig. 13 is a timing chart showing a controller of the present invention; Fig. 14 is a schematic view showing signals and data used in the present invention; and Figs. 15, 16, and 17 are views schematically showing states of a VRAM and a display screen. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. 1 shows drawing processing according to "DGIS (tradename) ver. 2.0". The drawing processing routine shown in Fig. 1 is executed in the following order. 1 ○ DPYINT interrupt is generated when display scanning reaches: DPYINT = Y - Δy. 2 ○ A background of a mouse area is read out once during Δy. 3 ○ The mouse area is written twice. 4 ○ A drawing program waits until VCOUNT = Δy + h. 5 ○ A mouse font in a VRAM is erased (the background is copied once). Means for executing partial writing in accordance with the above procedures will be described below. 1 ○ A gate 21 is turned on upon generation of DPYINT. ON condition: IE x DIE x DIP = ON IE...bit 21 of ST (status) register DIP...bit 10 of INTENB register DIP...bit 10 of INTPEND register Actually, a higher priority interrupt must be taken into consideration. Therefore, Necessary condition: When a vector address of DPYINT is loaded in a program counter (PC) of a GSP, a gate of a mouse circuit is turned on. PC = [DPYINT] → "ON" 2 ○ A VRAM 22 is accessed. 3 ○ The first address is stored in a register 23. This start address register 23 stores the start of an address for partial writing. 4 ○ The content (first address) of the register 23 is compared with VCOUNT-VEBLNK by a comparator 24. 5 ○ If the comparison result indicates "coincidence", the gate 21 is turned off. Alternatively, 6 ○ If the interrupt routine is finished, the gate 21 is turned off. The function of 6 ○ is provided because although an interrupt routine is evoked by DPYINT, the routine is not always a mouse routine. The interrupt routine evoked by DPYINT is sometimes used as not a mouse routine but a timer routine. When the routine is used as a timer, no VRAM access from an application is present. At this time, only the end of the interrupt routine can be detected. Therefore, if no access from a host side to a VRAM is present, the interrupt routine from DPYINT is determined to be a timer routine. This is necessary for an FLCD H/W interface. Relationship between partial writing and GSP When the gate 21 shown in Fig. 2 is turned off, data is transferred to an FLCD 25. Assume that the FLCD is currently executing partial writing in response to an external sync signal and CRT refresh is continued in the GSP. I. When a program is to monitor VCOUNT (with respect to "access inhibition to VRAM : stop program of GSP"), monitoring may not be correctly performed after the VRAM access is inhibited because the VCOUNT performs count-up even while the VRAM access is inhibited. (Scanning of the FLCD is asynchronous with that of the CRT, and scanning times are different.) II. While mouse partial writing is performed (with respect to "VCOUNT and mouse partial writing external synchronization"), generation of the next DPYINT must be inhibited. Therefore, external synchronization between 2 ○ VCOUNT and mouse partial writing is essential. In this specification, "synchronous partial writing" means that a program and FLCD scanning are synchronized with each other such that other programs wait until drawing scanning on the FLCD is finished. Erasure of mouse font on FLCD An original DGIS or TIGA for a CRT will be described below. After a mouse font is written in the VRAM, the VCOUNT is monitored, and the mouse font is erased from the VRAM when scanning of a display reaches the end of the font. However, scanning of the FLCD is different from that of the CRT. That is, since the CRT is of a non-interlace type while the FLCD is of a multi-interlace type, the original DGIS or TIGA cannot be used in the FLCD. If the original is used in the FLCD, a rapid moving mouse appears as a font disconnected into slits by a multi-interlace. Therefore, the hardware block diagram described above is improved as shown in Fig. 3. A main improvement is that a register 31 is added after the register 23 for storing an address accessed for the first time. The flow of a sequence is also improved. Sequence: 1 ○ The DPYINT turns on the gate 21 and sets an accessed flag. 2 ○ An address accessed for the first time is compared with [VCOUNT-VEBLKN] by a comparator 24. 3 ○ If the comparison result indicates "coincidence", the gate 21 is turned off. 4 ○ Ordinary mouse partial writing is started, and HSYNC from the FLCD is counted. In a case of B ○ ("="), a mouse is standing or horizontally moved. 5 ○ After the partial writing, the first address and the count value are stored as current data in a register represented by A ○. 6 ○ The flow is escaped from the mouse routine. In a case of © ("≠"), the mouse is assumed to move somewhere. In this case, the following two methods are available. One is: 5-a. After partial rewriting, access from the HOST side to the VRAM is inhibited by H/W, and the VCOUNT is stopped. 6-a. Partial rewriting corresponding to data of A ○ is started. The other is: 5-b. An overlapped area is calculated as follows. e0 and e1 shown in Fig. 4 are determined by: e0 = S0 + count 0 e1 = s1 + count 1 Calculations Overlapping condition: |s0 - s1| + |e0 - e1| < |count0 + count1| (|s0 - s1| + |s0 - s1| + count0 - count1| < |count0 + count1|) Separation condition: |s0 - s1| + |e0 - e1| > |count0 + count1| (|s0 - s| + |s0 - s1 + count0 - count1| > |count0 + count1|) ∵ whenever the sequence comes to this condition, (s0, count0) ≠ (s1, count1). 6 ○-i) If overlapping occurs, partial rewriting is started as follows; case I ... s0 - s1 < 0 start ... s0 count ... |s0 - s1| case II ... s0 - s1 > 0 start ... s1 + count1 count ... |e0 - e1| = |s0 - s1 + count0 - count1| In the present invention as described above, an access area has [count] and [VCOUNT] routines from [start]. 6 ○-ii) If areas are separated, partial rewriting has (s0, count1] and [VCOUNT] stop routines. 7 ○ After the partial rewriting is finished, the first address and the count value are stored as current data in a register represented by A ○. 8 ○ The VCOUNT which is kept stopped is released, and the flow is escaped from the mouse routine. Fig. 5 shows drawing processing such as "TIGA ver. 1.0 (tradename)" in which two DPYINTs use mouse processes. In a CRT, the first DPYINT is used in the same manner as the DGIS except for deletion of a font from a VRAM. The second DPYINT is used in font deletion on the VRAM. Therefore, the following processing is applied in the FLCD H/W interface. 1 ○ [DPYINT] - [VEBLNK] is compared with an address accessed for the first time (there is no "="). 2 ○-i) If the comparison result is "< 0" (i.e., if the DPYINT is located above the first address), the same processing (including the deletion process) as shown in Fig. 1 is executed. 2 ○-ii) If the comparison result is "> 0", (i.e., if the DPYINT is located below the first address), the flow is escaped from the routine without doing anything. The VRAM is sometimes filled from the bottom to the top with PIXBLT (a specific microcode of the GSP for accessing an area continuous with respect to the X-Y space in the VRAM ). For example, a case in which a mouse font is filled from the lower to upper portions as shown in Fig. 6 will be described below. In this case, the mouse process waits until scanning of the FLCD comes to the first address and starts partial writing. In an actual operation, however, a program in the GSP such as the DGIS or TIGA starts the next processing. Although the mouse font disappears from the VRAM, the interface circuit transfers the partial write data to the FLCD. Partial writing cannot be performed from the lower to upper portions for the following reason. The VCOUNT is set in a position closest to the DPYINT, i.e., set in an upper portion which is the last accessed address. However, a gate "OFF" timing is set at the first accessed address. Therefore, a comparison result indicating "coincidence" is never obtained in the comparator, and the gate is not turned off. Therefore, partial writing is not started. To solve this problem and to provide an "ORG" function of the GSP, hardware shown in Fig. 7 is prepared. Referring to Fig. 7, a start address 1 2 ○ has a function of comparing the last address with the current address 1 ○ at a timing of accessing the VRAM. Case I : 1 ○ < 2 ○ → start address 1 = 1 ○ (leave) Case II : 1 ○ > 2 ○ → start address 1 = 1 ○ → 2 ○ (replace) The hardware shown in Fig. 7 is designed to compare the start address with [VCOUNT - VEBLNK] at a timing of HSYNC when it completely compares all of data. For this function, this register has a function of performing comparison with [VCOUNT - VEBLNK]. In the present invention, this determination can be performed in accordance with the content of an ORG bit shown in Figs. 8A to 8C. In the GSP, however, only the ORG bit is not always used to access the VRAM in the opposite direction, i.e., from the lower portion. Another control bit is used to access (to perform a filling function for) a VRAM such as a PIXBLT. For example, the ninth bit PBV of a CONTROL register of the GSP controls the vertical direction of pixel processing of a PIXBLT instruction. That is, the H/W interface must have the above functions for performing determination by itself. Figs. 8A and 8B show display states obtained when ORG = 0 and ORG = 1,, respectively. Fig. 8C shows a manner in which when the ORG bit is inverted, a reference point of relative addressing is inverted although a process is not changed at all. Standing mouse countermeasure In high-order multi-interlace FLCD refresh, the number of times of mouse partial writing caused by DPYINT interrupt generated for each field period becomes larger than the number of access times in a peripheral refresh portion. For this reason, a contrast difference is produced between the mouse partial writing area and the refresh area and becomes visible as a crosstalk. A circuit shown in Fig. 9 is proposed to prevent this phenomenon. In addition to the functions of the circuits shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 7, the circuit shown in Fig. 9 has a function of monitoring changes in mouse coordinates and font size and determining in accordance with the monitor result whether a mouse font is to be left in a VRAM. Also, this circuit controls an exclusive flag of the circuit. When a mouse is standing, this circuit basically permits mouse partial writing only once but does not perform further mouse partial writing even if DPYINT interrupt is generated. In this case, a care must be paid for the last half function of the circuit shown in Fig. 9. In mouse display control caused by the original (CRT) DPYINT interrupt, a mouse font is deleted from the VRAM after the mouse is displayed. However, according to this circuit, refresh is performed without performing partial writing when the mouse is standing. since no mouse font is present in the VRAM, the mouse is deleted from the display by this refresh. Therefore, another means must be added to the original mouse display control. An algorithm of an additional control unit for solving this problem will be described below (see the lower portion of Fig. 9). The standing mouse countermeasure circuit for mouse partial writing shown in Fig. 9 checks changes in two-dimensional coordinates and font size of a mouse. In this case, a. If the coordinates and the font size of the mouse are equal to each other, (1) If an exclusive flag is already set. 1 ○ No mouse partial writing is performed, and the flow returns to refresh if no ordinary partial write request is present (return of control). (2) If the exclusive flag is not set. 1 ○ An area of a mouse position is stored (storage of a background), 2 ○ A mouse font is written in a VRAM, 3 ○ The exclusive flag is set, and 4 ○ Control is returned. b. If the coordinates and the font size of the mouse are not equal to each other, (1) If the exclusive flag is already set. 1 ○ To delete the mouse font on the VRAM, the background stored in item a. (2)1 ○ above is written in the VRAM, 2 ○ The exclusive flag is cleared, and 3 ○ Control is returned. (2) If the exclusive flag is not set. 1 ○ Control is returned (the standing mouse countermeasure circuit does not execute anything). When the mouse is standing, a mouse font which is not originally set in the VRAM is basically left therein. To the above standing mouse circuit shown in Fig. 9, a circuit which operates while taking a standing mouse in a scroll screen into consideration is preferably added. Fig. 10 shows a standing mouse in a scroll screen. In this case, even when the standing mouse countermeasure circuit shown in Fig. 9 normally operates, ordinary partial writing is not determined. Therefore, a mouse font is left on the VRAM to cause the mouse to scroll together with the scroll screen. For this reason, the exclusive flag shown in Fig. 9 must be monitored by the ordinary partial writing circuit. If the flag is already set, the mouse font in the VRAM is deleted and the flow transits to ordinary partial write control before an ordinary partial write operation is performed. Referring to Fig. 10, an FLCD 101 includes a scroll screen 102 which moves in a scroll direction 103 and a mouse font 104. Fig. 11 shows another preferable embodiment of the present invention. A circuit shown in Fig. 11 executes partial writing by the following routine. 1 ○ A drawing content accessed to a VRAM in an order of 1 ○ → 2 ○ → 3 ○ is detected by an external register as line access in a display scanning direction. In this embodiment, data corresponding to a detected y-line address is set to be "1". 2 ○ Register data according to access information in an arbitrary sampling period to the register is externally transferred after another arbitrary sampling period. 3 ○ Another circuit calculates start and end addresses (area) of the accessed y-line from the transferred register data. 4 ○ A calculation result is transferred to a memory for storage. 5 ○ a. If a flag is not set, partial rewriting is started in accordance with the content of the memory. 5 ○ b. If the flag is already set, a mouse font is deleted from the VRAM before execution of ordinary partial rewriting. Fig. 12 is an internal block diagram showing a graphic processor used in the present invention, in which a broken line portion indicates a refresh control signal generating unit and a partial write control signal generating unit independent of each other. Control is performed such that HSYNC is used as an input signal from the device side in the unit for partial write and is used as an output signal for the device side in the unit for refresh. For this reason, the former unit is called an "internal synchronizing circuit", and the latter unit is called an "external synchronizing circuit". A timing program for the HSYNC or other signals can be controlled by setting values of video timing registers shown in Fig. 12. In this embodiment, since HSYNC of the "external synchronizing circuit" is controlled in external synchronization with a device, a VCOUNT for counting the HSYNC is controlled by a timing from the device. During refresh, the "internal synchronizing circuit" automatically outputs the HSYNC in accordance with a programmed register value, the VCOUNT performs counting asynchronous with the device. In each of the above-mentioned cases requiring synchronization, however, at the same time the mouse partial writing is started, the VCOUNT on the refresh side performs count with synchronization/rock with respect to the VCOUNT on the "external synchronizing circuit" side. The VCOUNT, the HCOUNT, the horizontal and vertical timing registers, the DPYINT, the ORG, the IE, the DIE, the DIP, the LAD, the RAS , the CAS , the PIXBLT, the PC, the IRET, and the vector address described above have the following functions. 1) VCOUNT The VCOUNT is a 16-bit counter incremented for each HSYNC . (The VCOUNT is incremented by the same clock edge at which the HCOUNT is internally reset to "0", thereby counting scan lines on a video display.) 2) HCOUNT The HCOUNT is a 16-bit counter which is incremented by the trailing edge of a video input clock to count the number of video clocks for every horizontal scan line. In an internal synchronization mode, the HCOUNT is reset to "0" at the trailing edge of the subsequent video clock when HCOUNT = HTOTAL. In an external synchronization mode, the HCOUNT is reset to "0" when the HSYNC is rendered "LOW". 3) Horizontal and vertical timing registers The horizontal and vertical timing registers are shown in Fig. 14. Horizontal timing registers HCOUNT A register for counting video clocks for each horizontal scan line. HESYNC A register for designating a timing at which the HSYNC signal is ended. HEBLNK A register for designating a timing at which a horizontal blanking period is ended. HSBLNK A register for designating a timing at which a the horizontal blanking period is started. HTOTAL A register for designating a total number of video clocks permitted for each horizontal scan line. Vertical timing registers VCOUNT A register for counting horizontal scan lines on a screen display. VESYNC A register for designating a timing at which the VSYNC signal is ended. VEBLNK A register for designating a timing at which a vertical blanking period is ended. VSBLNK A register for designating a timing at which the vertical blanking period is started. VTOTAL A register for designating the value of the VCOUNT at a timing at which the VSYNC signal is started. 4) DPYINT The DPYINT is a register for designating a timing at which display interrupt is requested. The content of the DPYINT is compared with that of the VCOUNT register. If VCOUNT = DPYINT, the display interrupt is requested to the GSP. The DPYINT is used to synchronize software with refresh of a screen. 5) ORG The ORG is bit 10 of a DPYCTL register (including several parameters for controlling a shift register transfer cycle for using a VRAM and a video timing signal). The ORG controls the origin of a screen coordinate system. ORG = 0 The origin of X and Y coordinates is present at the upper left corner of a screen. ORG = 1 The origin of X and Y coordinates is present at the lower left corner of a screen. 6) IE The IE is bit 21 of a status register (32-bit register for representing the state of a processor). Interrupt Enable Bit. IE = 0 All interrupts inhibited IE = 1 Permitted by interrupt mask 7) DIE The DIE is bit 10 of an INTENB register (including an interrupt mask for selecting inhibition/permission of three internal interrupt requests and two external interrupt requests). DIE = 0 Display interrupt inhibited DIE = 1 Display interrupt permitted 8) DIP The DIP is bit 10 of an INTPEND register (indicating an interrupt request which is currently pending). The DIP represents a pending state of display interrupt and is set to "1" when DPYINT = VCOUNT. DIP = 0 No display interrupt request present DIP = 1 Display interrupt request generated 9) LAD The LAD is a local address/data bus. The LAD directly supplies multiplexed row, column, and data addresses required to drive a DRAM and a VRAM. 10) RAS The RAS is a local row address strobe. 11) CAS The CAS is a local column address strobe. 12) PIXBLT The PIXBLT is a drawing instruction of the GSP. The PIXBLT expands a source pixel array into a destination pixel array or transfers or processes it. 13) PC The PC is a program counter. The PC is an exclusive 32-bit register indicating an instruction word to be executed next. 14) IRET The IRET is a return instruction from the interrupt routine. 15) Vector address The vector address is an address for a routine branched when interrupt is generated. 1. Necessity of special H/W for mouse According to the present invention, the mouse display algorithm in the DGIS or the TIGA is interrupt processing synchronized with refresh on a screen, unlike other drawing operations. A mouse is displayed using display interrupt in a VRAM only when required and is deleted from the VRAM when mouse display interrupt processing is ended. By adopting this algorithm, smooth mouse display not adversely affected by other drawing operations can be realized by using the GSP. However, since this algorithm is based on a 60-Hz non-interlace of a CRT, a special partial write H/W for an FLCD is necessary. In addition, since the mouse is deleted from the VRAM after the interrupt processing, a partial write H/W different synchronized with display interrupt unlike other drawing operations is required. 2. Necessity of deletion of mouse font from FLCD According to the present invention, 60-Hz non-interlace scanning is performed on a CRT. Therefore, if a mouse font is deleted from a VRAM when display interrupt processing is ended, the immediately preceding mouse font can be deleted from a CRT screen in the subsequent display interrupt by only developing a mouse font in a VRAM at a new position and scanning it (see Fig. 15). However, multi-interlace scanning is performed in an FLCD. Therefore, if scanning of a mouse font at a new position is merely performed in the subsequent interrupt, a portion of the immediately preceding mouse font subjected to the multi-interlace scanning remains as a deleted font (see Fig. 16). For this reason, partial writing must be performed to delete a mouse font in the FLCD (see Fig. 17). In order to perform deletion, 1 ○ a mouse font is left in a VRAM until the deletion is finished, or 2 ○ a mouse font is deleted from a VRAM and partial writing for deletion is prevented from being executed on a portion in which the mouse is scanned (because the mouse font is already deleted by scanning for mouse display). Fig. 15 schematically shows flow charts of drawing processing in a VRAM and a display state on a CRT display screen. Fig. 16 schematically shows flow charts of drawing processing on a VRAM and a display state on an FLCD display screen, in which deletion of mouse display is omitted. Fig. 17 schematically shows flow charts in which deletion of mouse display is executed in the flow chart shown in Fig. 2. Referring to Fig. 17, a time elapses in an order of processing steps 1 ○ to .

Claims: An image information control apparatus comprising: a. first means for recognizing scanning of a position of image information; b. a first memory unit for, when said first means recognizes scanning of the position of image information, detecting and storing an address accessed to an image information storage memory, the access being started by the recognition in units of lines in a scanning direction; c. a second memory unit for storing a line address detected and stored for the first time; d. second means for comparing contents of said first means for recognizing scanning of the position of image information with contents of said second memory unit; e. third means for interrupting the function of said first means on the basis of the comparison result of said second means; and f. fourth means for interrupting the function of said first means when drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information, is ended. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means, having internal and external synchronizing circuits, for independently operating said internal and external synchronizing circuits. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for automatically generating a scan line control signal of a matrix electrode and an image information transfer control signal by a combination of programmable parameters; and means for operating the two types of control signals independently of each other. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein counting of scanning times of matrix electrode scan lines in the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information, is controlled by a sync signal of a device. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein counting of scanning times of matrix electrode scan lines in the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information, is controlled by a sync signal of a device, and the counting is synchronized with an operation of means for automatically generating a matrix electrode scan line control signal and an image information transfer control signal by a combination of programmable parameters. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third memory unit for storing the number of lines detected upon access to said image information storage memory before the interruption of said first means in accordance with contents of said second memory unit and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information. An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising comparing means for comparing contents of said third memory unit with the number of lines detected upon access to said image information storage memory until the interruption of said first means in accordance with contents of said third memory unit, the contents of said second memory unit upon interruption of the function of said first means, and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning a position of image information. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein after partial writing corresponding to the contents of said first memory unit is executed in accordance with the comparison result of said comparing means, a. the number of lines detected upon access to said image information storage memory until the interruption of said first means is stored in said third memory unit in accordance with the contents of said second memory unit and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on a display device, and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on a display device is ended, or b. access from the drawing processing to said image information storage memory is inhibited, counting of scanning times of scan lines of a device is interrupted, and partial writing corresponding to the contents of said third memory is executed, or presence/absence of overlapping of access data in the scanning direction is detected in accordance with the number lines detected upon access to said image information storage memory until the interruption of said first means in accordance with the contents of said second memory unit upon interruption of the function of said first means and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on a display device, and the contents of said third memory unit, calculation of a partial write area corresponding to the detection result is performed, and partial writing is executed while the counting of scanning times of scan lines on said device is interrupted, and the number of lines detected upon access to said image information storage memory until the interruption of said first means in accordance with the contents of said second memory unit and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on said display device is stored in said third memory, the interruption of counting of scanning times of scan lines on said device is released, and the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on said display device, is ended. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus has a function of, when line addresses are stored in said second memory unit, comparing sizes of the addresses in an order of access, and selecting a line address to be stored in accordance with the comparison result. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a comparing unit for, when a line address detected and stored for the first time is to be stored in said second memory unit, comparing two-dimensional coordinates detected and stored for the first time with an area accessed until the drawing processing, control of which is started by scanning the position of image information on said display device, is ended, and comparing two-dimensional coordinates detected and stored previously with an area accessed until the drawing processing is ended. An apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a fourth memory controlled in accordance with the comparison result of said comparing unit, wherein image information to a VRAM corresponding to the position of image information on said display device is controlled in accordance with a state of said fourth memory. A display system comprising a display panel and an image information control apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 11.

Inventors: INOUE HIROSHI, INOUE, HIROSHI, INOUE, HIROSHI, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G06F3
IPC codes: G06F3, G02F1, G09G3