Method and apparatus for generating a traveling display

Claim 2

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments, comprising: a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroKe increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overflow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; and means responsive to the outputs from said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 3

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of lines of information displayed on said display device; wherein only a selected one or more of the lines of said display are traveling, the remaining lines being stationary; and wherein said means for controlling includes means for utilizing the outputs of said counters to control the stroke and bit at which display of said first character begins only for traveling lines of the display.

Claim 4

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for applying characters to the display is operative during each refresh cycle of the display device; and wherein the incrementing of the display by said number of predetermined fractional stroke increments occurs for each refresh cycle.

Claim 5

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 including a memory for storing said characters which are successively applied to the display, said memory also functioning as a buffer memory for characters awaiting display; and wherein said control means includes means for determining the number of characters awaiting display which are stored in said buffer memory, and means responsive to the number of characters determined for determining said number of predetermined fractional stroke increments.

Claim 6

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 wherein a line of characters to be displayed may contain characters of two different types, characters of one type being displayed a fraction of a line below characters of the other type; and including a memory for storing the characters of a line to be displayed in successive address positions, the characters of one type having a predetermined identifier stored with them in said memory; means operative when said memory is being read out for detecting the character type from the stored identifier; and means for utilizing said character type identification to control the character position on the display.

Claim 7

A circuit as claimed in claim 5 wherein said memory is read out twice for each line containing characters of different types; and wherein said means for controlling character position includes means for applying to the display only characters of one type during a first read out for display on a given line and for applying to the display only characters of the other type during the second read out for display a fraction of a line below the characters of the one type.

Claim 8

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said display is a CRT having a writing beam; and including means operative at the end of each display line for initiating a retrace of the CRT writing beam; means for inhibiting the intensifying of said writing beam for a predetermined time period after the initiating of said retrace in response to said means for initiating a retrace; and wherein said means for controlling is operative to control both the stroke and bit of the stroke of the last of said successive characters at which said means for initiating a retrace is operated.

Claim 9

A circuit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said display travels in one-third stroke increments; and wherein said first counter is a three state counter.

Claim 10

in a cyclically refreshed cathode ray tube (CRT) display device of the type in which the CRT writing beam traverses a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively intensifying the writing beam for M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments comprising: a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overlfow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; means operative at the end of each display line for initiating a retrace of the CRT writing beam; means for inhibiting the intensifying of said writing beam for a predetermined time period after the initiating of said retrace in response to said means for initiating a retrace; and means responsive at least in part to said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of the stroke of the last of said successive characters at which said means for initiating a retrace is operated.

Claim 11

in a cyclically refreshed cathode ray tube (CRT) display device of the type in which the CRT writing beam traverses a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively intensifying the writing beam for M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments comprising: a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overlfow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; means operative at the end of each display line for initiating a retrace of the CRT writing beam; means for inhibiting the intensifying of said writing beam for a predetermined time period after the initiating of said retrace in response to said means for initiating a retrace; and means responsive at least in part to said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of the stroke of the last of said successive characters at which said means for initiating a retrace is operated.

Claim 12

A circuit as claimed in claim 9 wherein said display travels in one-third stroke increments; and wherein said first counter is a three state counter.

Claim 13

In a cyclically refreshed display device adapted for displaying at least one line of characters which line may contain characters of two different types, a circuit for controlling the display so that characters of one type are displayed a fraction of a line below characters of the other type comprising: a memory for storing the characters of the line to be displayed in successive address positions, the characters of one type having a predetermined identifier stored with them in the memory; means for successively reading out the contents of said memory; means for detecting said predetermined identifier in the characters read out from said memory; means responsive to the detection of said identifier for permitting only characters of a first type to be applied to said display during a first read out of said memory to refresh the display along a given line; and means responsive to said identifier detection means for applying only characters of said second type during a second read out of said memory to refresh the display along a line a fraction of a line below said given line.

Claim 14

In a cyclically refreshed display device adapted for displaying at least one line of characters which line may contain characters of two different types, a circuit for controlling the display so that characters of one type are displayed a fraction of a line below characters of the other type comprising: a memory for storing the characters of the line to be displayed in successive address positions, the characters of one type having a predetermined identifier stored with them in the memory; means for successively reading out the contents of said memory; means for detecting said predetermined identifier in the characters read out from said memory; means responsive to the detection of said identifier for permitting only characters of a first type to be applied to said display during a first read out of said memory to refresh the display along a given line; and means responsive to said identifier detection means for applying only characters of said second type during a second read out of said memory to refresh the display along a line a fraction of a line below said given line.

Claim 15

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a method for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments, comprising the steps of: determining the number of fractional stroke increments by which the display is to be incremented and producing a control signal manifesting such number; incrementing a first counter in response to said control signal, each unit increment of said first counter corresponding to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; incrementing a second counter in response to an overflow from said first counter, each unit increment of said second counter corresponding to a full stroke increment of the display; applying successive characters for display on said display device; and utilizing outputs from said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of the stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 16

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a method for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments, comprising the steps of: determining the number of fractional stroke increments by which the display is to be incremented and producing a control signal manifesting such number; incrementing a first counter in response to said control signal, each unit increment of said first counter corresponding to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; incrementing a second counter in response to an overflow from said first counter, each unit increment of said second counter corresponding to a full stroke increment of the display; applying successive characters for display on said display device; and utilizing outputs from said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of the stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 17

A method as claimed iN claim 12 wherein said display is a CRT having a writing beam; and including the steps of initiating a retrace of the CRT writing beam at the end of each display line; inhibiting the intensifying of said beam for a predetermined time period after the initiating of each said retrace; and wherein said controlling step includes the step of controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which each retrace is initiated.

Claim 18

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of slanting writing strokes for each horizontal display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel horizontally in fractional stroke increments, comprising: a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overflow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; and means responsive to the outputs from said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 19

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of slanting writing strokes for each horizontal display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel horizontally in fractional stroke increments, comprising: a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overflow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; and means responsive to the outputs from said first and second counters for controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 20

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments, comprising: a random access memory for storing representations of characters to be displayed in fixed locations therein; readout control means for periodically reading from said memory representations of characters to be displayed; a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overflow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; and means responsive to the outputs from said first and second counters and connected to said readout control means for controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 21

In a cyclically refreshed display device of the type which generates a plurality of writing strokes for each display line, information characters being displayed by selectively changing the visible state of M bits on each of N strokes for each character, a circuit for causing the display to travel in fractional stroke increments, comprising: a random access memory for storing representations of characters to be displayed in fixed locations therein; readout control means for periodically reading from said memory representations of characters to be displayed; a first counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a predetermined fractional stroke increment of the display; a second counter, each unit increment of which corresponds to a full stroke increment of the display, said second counter being connected to be incremented in response to an overflow from said first counter; control means for determining the number of predetermined fractional stroke increments which the display is to be incremented and for producing a control signal manifesting such number; means responsive to said control signal for incrementing said first counter by said number; means for applying successive characters for display on said display device; and means responsive to the outputs from said first and second counters and connected to said readout control means for controlling both the stroke and bit of said stroke at which display of the first of said successive characters begins.

Claim 22

A circuit as claimed in claim 15 including input means for receiving input data to be displayed, a buffer register for temporarily storing said input data, said random access memory being connected to receive data from said buffer register, signal producing means connected to said buffer register and operative to produce a signal manifesting the quantity of data stored therein, and means connecting said signal producing means with said control means, whereby said control means is responsive to the quantity of data stored in said buffer register.