Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
470 words
A display controller capable of selectively driving one of first and second display units, the first display unit having a display screen comprised of a scanning-type screen which provides M rows of N columns of display positions thereon, the second display unit having a display screen constituted by upper and lower scanning-type screens each of which provides P rows of Q columns of display positions thereon, the display controller being further connected to memory means having a plurality of addresses each for storing display data relating to an image to be displayed in a respective one of the display positions of the selected display unit, said display controller comprising: (a) display unit designating means for designating one of the first and second display units, said designation means outputting a first designation signal when the first display unit is selected, and outputting a second designation signal when the second display unit is selected; (b) timing signal generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating synchronization signals to be supplied to the first display unit for scanning the screen thereof, said timing signal generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal to generate synchronization signals to be supplied to the second display unit for scanning the upper and lower screens thereof; (c) address data generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating a first series of address data representative of the addresses of the memory means to sequentially output said generated address data to the memory means in accordance with the scanning of the display screen of the first display unit, said address data generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal for generating a second series of address data representative of those of the addresses of the memory means corresponding to the upper screen and a third series of address data representative of those of the addresses of the memory means corresponding to the lower screen, said address data generating means alternately outputting each of said second series of address data and each of said third series of address data to the memory means in accordance with the scannings of the upper and lower screens; and (d) display signal generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating a first display signal to be supplied to the first display unit based on data read from the memory means in accordance with said first series of address data, said display signal generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal to generate second and third display signals to be supplied to the second display unit based on data read from the memory means in accordance with said second and third series of address data, said second and third display signals being used to display images on the upper and lower screens, respectively.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
470 words
A display controller capable of selectively driving one of first and second display units, the first display unit having a display screen comprised of a scanning-type screen which provides M rows of N columns of display positions thereon, the second display unit having a display screen constituted by upper and lower scanning-type screens each of which provides P rows of Q columns of display positions thereon, the display controller being further connected to memory means having a plurality of addresses each for storing display data relating to an image to be displayed in a respective one of the display positions of the selected display unit, said display controller comprising: (a) display unit designating means for designating one of the first and second display units, said designation means outputting a first designation signal when the first display unit is selected, and outputting a second designation signal when the second display unit is selected; (b) timing signal generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating synchronization signals to be supplied to the first display unit for scanning the screen thereof, said timing signal generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal to generate synchronization signals to be supplied to the second display unit for scanning the upper and lower screens thereof; (c) address data generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating a first series of address data representative of the addresses of the memory means to sequentially output said generated address data to the memory means in accordance with the scanning of the display screen of the first display unit, said address data generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal for generating a second series of address data representative of those of the addresses of the memory means corresponding to the upper screen and a third series of address data representative of those of the addresses of the memory means corresponding to the lower screen, said address data generating means alternately outputting each of said second series of address data and each of said third series of address data to the memory means in accordance with the scannings of the upper and lower screens; and (d) display signal generating means responsive to said first designation signal for generating a first display signal to be supplied to the first display unit based on data read from the memory means in accordance with said first series of address data, said display signal generating means being further responsive to said second designation signal to generate second and third display signals to be supplied to the second display unit based on data read from the memory means in accordance with said second and third series of address data, said second and third display signals being used to display images on the upper and lower screens, respectively.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A display controller according to claim 1, wherein the first display unit is a CRT display unit and the second display unit is a liquid crystal display unit.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
58 words
A display controller according to claim 2, wherein each of the addresses of the memory means indicated by said second series of address data is disposed apart from a respective one of the addresses of the memory means indicated by said third series of address data by the number of addresses determined in accordance with "P x Q".
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
314 words
A display controller according to claim 3 further comprising counter means operable in synchronism with said synchronization signals generated by said timing signal generating means for outputting data "V" representative of the row of the display position currently scanned on the display screen of the designated display unit, and wherein said address data generating means comprises: calculation means responsive to said first designation signal for calculating "N x V", said calculation means being further responsive to said second designation signal to calculate "Q x V" and "Q x V + P x Q"; first address register means responsive to said first designation signal for being loaded with said "N x V" before beginning of each of horizontal scanning of the display screen of the first display unit, said first address register means being further responsive to said second designation means for being loaded with said "Q x V" before beginning of each of horizontal scanning of the display screen of the second display unit; second address register means responsive to said second designation signal for being loaded with said "Q x V + P x Q" before beginning of each of the horizontal scanning of the display screen of the second display unit; means responsive to said first designation signal for incrementing the contents of said first address register means in accordance with the horizontal scanning of the display screen of the first display unit and outputting the contents of said first address register means as said first series of address data; and means responsive to said second designation signal for incrementing the contents of both of said first and second address register means in accordance with the horizontal scannings of the upper and lower screens of the second display unit and alternately outputting the contents of said first and second address register means as said second and third series of address data, respectively.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
138 words
A display controller according to claim 4, wherein each of the display data stored in the memory means comprises a character code representative of a character to be displayed in the corresponding display position and a pair of color codes for respectively designating foreground and background colors of said character, and wherein said display signal generating means comprises: character generator means responsive to each of the character codes read from the memory means for generating a bit pattern of a character represented by the corresponding character code; selector means for selectively outputting color codes read from the memory means with said character code in accordance with said bit pattern; and first conversion means for converting each of the color codes outputted from said selector means into corresponding color component signals to be outputted as said first display signal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
88 words
A display controller according to claim 5, wherein said display signal generating means further comprises second conversion means responsive to said second designation signal for converting said color component signals outputted from said first conversion means into a corresponding luminance signal, and a signal distribution means for outputting those of the luminance signals corresponding to the display positions on the upper screen as said second display signal and outputting those of the luminance signals corresponding to the display positions on the lower screen as said third display signal.