Display control system

Claim 2

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (132) for driving a first display unit (46 (45)) using a specific display element; second display control means (131) for driving a second display unit (47) using a display element differ­ent from that of said first display unit; determining means (211 and 212) for determining the use of said first display unit; means (136) for supplying power to said first and second display units; and means (213) for cutting off power to be supplied to said first display unit when the non-use of said first display unit is determined by said determining means.

Claim 3

The system according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising means (Fig. 4 SM and C10) for gen­erating any of or combination of a first signal indicat­ing whether or not said second display unit is in use, a second signal indicating enable or disable state of said first and second display control means, a third signal indicating enable or disable state of said first display unit, and a fourth signal indicating whether or not said first display unit is in use; and wherein said determin­ing means further includes means for determining the non-use state of said first display unit according to any of or combination of the first through fourth signals.

Claim 4

The system according to claim 2, characterized by further comprising: means (Figs. 6 and 7) for setting a display auto off mode in which the supplement of power to said first display unit is cut off to be enabled or disabled when no data is input during a predetermined period of time; and means (Fig. 8) for disabling the third signal when no data is input during the predetermined period of time while the display auto off mode is set to be enabled.

Claim 5

The system according to claim 2, characterized in that said first display unit has a panel cover which can freely be opened and closed; said system further comprises: means (SM) for detecting open or closed condition of said panel cover; means (C10 and 211) for detecting if said first display unit is connected to said display control system; and means (212) for outputting a fourth signal indicat­ing that said first display unit is in use when said panel cover remains open and said first display unit is connected to said display control system.

Claim 6

The system according to claim 2, characterized in that said first display unit comprises a flat panel display at least including a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display (PDP), and a color panel, wherein said system further comprises: means (11) for detecting which one of said LCD, PDP, or color panel is connected to said display control system; and means (215) for holding the detected data.

Claim 7

The system according to claim 5, characterized in that said means for detecting which one of said LCD, PDP, or color panel, is connected to said display con­trol system further comprises means (11) for detecting that none of the flat panel displays is connected to said display control system.

Claim 8

The system according to claim 1, characterized in that said means for cutting off the power to be sup­plied to said first display unit includes means (136) for cutting off logic driving power to be supplied to said first display unit.

Claim 9

The system according to claim 1, characterized in that said first display unit is a flat panel display, and said means for cutting off power to be supplied to said first display unit comprises means (136) for cut­ting off power for obtaining panel-illuminating voltage to be supplied to said flat panel display.

Claim 10

The system according to claim 8, characterized in that said flat panel display is a liquid crystal display.

Claim 11

The system according to claim 8, characterized in that said flat panel display is a plasma display.

Claim 12

The system according to claim 8, characterized in that said flat panel display is a color panel.

Claim 13

The system according to claim 9, characterized in that said LCD incorporates a back light, and said panel illuminating voltage is a voltage for driving electroluminescence.

Claim 14

The system according to claim 10, characterized in that the panel illuminating voltage is a discharge voltage.

Claim 15

The system according to claim 5, characterized in that said detection means comprises a connector (C10), and wherein specified pins indicating types of said flat panel display are assigned to said connector (C10).

Claim 16

The system according to claim 2, characterized in that said means for generating the first through fourth signals generates said first through fourth sig­nals based on data set in a setup process.

Claim 17

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (131) including a display data conversion table (DAC), for driving a first display unit using a specified display element; second display control means (132) for driving a second display unit (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; means (201 through 205) for storing set data relat­ing to the drive of said first display unit; means (CLK-GEN) for supplying a drive clock to said display data conversion table; and means (208) for inhibiting supply of the drive clock to said display data conversion table of said first display control means when the set data indicates a specific state.

Claim 18

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (131) including a display data conversion table (DAC), for driving a first display unit using a specified display element; second display control means (132) for driving a second display unit (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; means (201 through 205) for storing set data relat­ing to the drive of said first display unit; means (CLK-GEN) for supplying a drive clock to said display data conversion table; and means (208) for inhibiting supply of the drive clock to said display data conversion table of said first display control means when the set data indicates a specific state.

Claim 19

The system according to claim 16, characterized in that the set data includes at least a first signal indicating either enable or disable condition of said first and second display control means and a second sig­nal indicating either enable or disable condition of said display data conversion table, and wherein said means for inhibiting the supplement of the drive clock inhibits the supplement of the drive clock to said dis­play data conversion table except that when said first and second display control means are in the enable con­dition and when said display data conversion table is enabled.

Claim 20

The system according to claim 17, characterized by further comprising means (Figs. 6 and 7) for setting an display auto off mode in which the supplement of power to said first display unit is cut off to be enabled or disabled; and wherein said means for inhibit­ing the supplement of the drive clock further comprises means for disabling the second signal when no data is input during the predetermined period of time while the display auto off mode is enabled.

Claim 21

The system according to claim 16, characterized in that said first display unit is a CRT display, and said second display unit is a flat-panel display.

Claim 22

The system according to claim 19, characterized in that said flat panel display is a liquid crystal dis­play (LCD).

Claim 23

The system according to claim 19, characterized in that said flat panel display is a plasma display (PDP).

Claim 24

The system according to claim 19, characterized in that said flat panel display is a color panel.

Claim 25

The system according to claim 16, characterized in that said display data conversion table is a CRT palette.

Claim 26

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (134) including a digital/analog (D/A) converter, for driving a first dis­play unit (47) using a specific display element; means (201 through 205) for storing set data relat­ing to the drive of said first display unit; a second display units (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; means (207) for supplying power to said digital-­analog (D/A) converter; and means (206) for cutting off current of display signal output from said D/A converter of said first dis­play control means when the set data indicates a speci­fied state.

Claim 27

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (134) including a digital/analog (D/A) converter, for driving a first dis­play unit (47) using a specific display element; means (201 through 205) for storing set data relat­ing to the drive of said first display unit; a second display units (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; means (207) for supplying power to said digital-­analog (D/A) converter; and means (206) for cutting off current of display signal output from said D/A converter of said first dis­play control means when the set data indicates a speci­fied state.

Claim 28

The system according to claim 24, characterized in that the set data includes at least a first signal indicating either "enable" or "disable" condition of said first and second display control means and a second signal indicating either "enable" or "disable" condition of said display data conversion table, and wherein said means for cutting off the current cuts off the current of display signal output from said D/A converter except when said first and second display control means are enabled and when said display data conversion table is enabled.

Claim 29

The system according to claim 24, characterized in that said current is reference current.

Claim 30

The system according to claim 24, characterized by further comprising means for setting a display auto off mode in which the supplement of power to said first display unit is cut off to be enabled or disabled; and wherein said inhibiting means includes means for dis­abling the second signal when no data is input during the predetermined period of time while the display auto off mode is enabled.

Claim 31

The system according to claim 24, characterized in that said digital-analog (D/A) converters are respec­tively provided for three primary colors of red, green and blue.

Claim 32

The system according to claim 24, characterized in that said first display unit is a CRT display, and said second display unit is a flat panel display.

Claim 33

The system according to claim 29, characterized in that said flat panel display is a liquid crystal dis­play (LCD).

Claim 34

The system according to claim 29, characterized in that said flat panel display is a plasma display.

Claim 35

The system according to claim 29, characterized in that said flat panel display is a color panel.

Claim 36

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (132) for driving a first display unit (45) using a specific display element; second display control means (131) for driving a second display unit 47 using a display element different from that of said first display unit; determining means (211, 212, and 213) for determin­ing the use of said first display unit; means (209) for supplying a display drive signal to said first display unit; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal of said first display control means to a non-driven level when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use.

Claim 37

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (132) for driving a first display unit (45) using a specific display element; second display control means (131) for driving a second display unit 47 using a display element different from that of said first display unit; determining means (211, 212, and 213) for determin­ing the use of said first display unit; means (209) for supplying a display drive signal to said first display unit; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal of said first display control means to a non-driven level when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use.

Claim 38

The system according to claim 33, characterized in that said first display unit is a liquid crystal display, and said second display unit is a plasma display; and wherein, using the signal indicating the use of said plasma display as an input condition, said identifying means operates said locking means to lock driving signal of said first display control means driv­ing said LCD to the non-driven level, when signal indi­cates the use of said plasma display.

Claim 39

The system according to claim 33, characterized in that said first display unit is a liquid crystal display, and said second display unit is a CRT display; and wherein said display control system further com­prises means for generating any of or combination of a first signal indicating whether said second display unit is in use or not, a second signal indicating either enable or disable condition of said first and second display control means, a third signal indicating either enable or disable condition of said first display unit, and a fourth signal indicating whether said first dis­play unit is in use or not, and wherein said locking means includes means for locking display drive signal of said first display control means to the non-driven level based on any of or combination of the first through fourth signals.

Claim 40

The system according to claim 33, characterized in that said first display unit is a liquid crystal dis­play (LCD), and wherein said first display control means includes a display memory, and wherein the display drive signal is composed of any of or combination of a row address strobe signal, a column address strobe signal, a write enable upper signal, a write enable lower signal, a data transfer signal, a serial clock, and a memory address.

Claim 41

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (132) including a dis­play memory (135a, 135b) for driving a first display unit (46 (45)) using a specific display element; second display control means (131) for driving a second display unit (47) using a display element dif­ferent from that of said first display unit; determining means (211, 212, and 213) for determin­ing the use of said first display unit; means for supplying display drive signal to said display memory; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal to be supplied to said display memory to a no-­driven level when said determining means determines the use of said first display unit.

Claim 42

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (132) including a dis­play memory (135a, 135b) for driving a first display unit (46 (45)) using a specific display element; second display control means (131) for driving a second display unit (47) using a display element dif­ferent from that of said first display unit; determining means (211, 212, and 213) for determin­ing the use of said first display unit; means for supplying display drive signal to said display memory; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal to be supplied to said display memory to a no-­driven level when said determining means determines the use of said first display unit.

Claim 43

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (131) including a dis­play data conversion table (DAC) and a digital/analog (D/A) converter, for driving a first display unit (47) using a specific display element; second display control means (132) for driving a second display unit (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; determining means (211 and 212) for determining the use of said first display unit; means (34) for supplying power to said first and second display units; means (213) for cutting off power to be supplied to said first display unit when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use; means (201 through 205) for storing set data related to the driving of said first display unit; means (CLK-GEN) for supplying clock pulse to said display data conversion table; means (207) for supplying power to said digital/­analog (D/A) converter; means (209) for supplying display drive signal to said first display unit; means for cutting off power supply to said D/A converter and the supplement of the clock pulse to said display data conversion table when said set data indi­cates a specific condition; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal of said first display control means to a non-driven level when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use.

Claim 44

A display control system characterized by comprising: first display control means (131) including a dis­play data conversion table (DAC) and a digital/analog (D/A) converter, for driving a first display unit (47) using a specific display element; second display control means (132) for driving a second display unit (46 (45)) using a display element different from that of said first display unit; determining means (211 and 212) for determining the use of said first display unit; means (34) for supplying power to said first and second display units; means (213) for cutting off power to be supplied to said first display unit when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use; means (201 through 205) for storing set data related to the driving of said first display unit; means (CLK-GEN) for supplying clock pulse to said display data conversion table; means (207) for supplying power to said digital/­analog (D/A) converter; means (209) for supplying display drive signal to said first display unit; means for cutting off power supply to said D/A converter and the supplement of the clock pulse to said display data conversion table when said set data indi­cates a specific condition; and means (210 and 214) for locking display drive sig­nal of said first display control means to a non-driven level when said determining means determines that said first display unit is not in use.

Claim 45

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit and a CRT dis­play unit, comprising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said flat panel display unit; and b) cutting off the supplement of power to said flat panel display unit when said flat panel display unit is not in use.

Claim 46

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit and a CRT dis­play unit, comprising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said flat panel display unit; and b) cutting off the supplement of power to said flat panel display unit when said flat panel display unit is not in use.

Claim 47

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit and a CRT dis­play unit including a CRT palette and a D/A converter, comprising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said CRT display unit; and b) cutting off reference current of display signal output from said D/A converter and the supplement of clock signals to said CRT palette while said CRT display is not in use.

Claim 48

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit and a CRT dis­play unit including a CRT palette and a D/A converter, comprising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said CRT display unit; and b) cutting off reference current of display signal output from said D/A converter and the supplement of clock signals to said CRT palette while said CRT display is not in use.

Claim 49

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit displaying the content of a display memory and a CRT display unit, com­prising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said flat panel display unit; and b) locking a drive signal to be supplied to said display memory to inoperative level when said flat panel display unit is not in use.

Claim 50

A display control method for a display system at least having a flat panel display unit displaying the content of a display memory and a CRT display unit, com­prising the steps of: a) detecting a non-use condition of said flat panel display unit; and b) locking a drive signal to be supplied to said display memory to inoperative level when said flat panel display unit is not in use.