Patent ID: 7250983

Claim:
A system for combining images from a first video source and a second video source on a display device, the system comprising: a frame buffer for storing image data; a first circuit that is capable of converting first image data from the first video source into digital data storing the first image data from the first video source in the frame buffer, converting second image data from the second video source into a multi-bit digital signal and encoding a fast blank signal as a value of one or more bits into the second image data to form encoded image data, and storing the encoded image data in the frame buffer; a second circuit that reads the first image data and the encoded image data from the frame buffer, and that decodes the encoded image data to separate the fast blank signal and the second image data; and a third circuit that uses the fast blank signal to selectively transmit the first image data and the second image data to the display device, effective to cause the display device to display an image from the second video source overlaid onto an image from the first video source.