Flat panel display attribute generator

Claim 2

An attribute generator for a flat panel .[.liquid crystal.]. system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, the attribute generator comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; and a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said received raster code bits forming most significant address bits and combining with said received character code forming least significant address bits, said combined address bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font .[.having a predetermined matrix of a predetermined number of rows and columns of pixels representing said character.]., .Iadd.and .Iaddend.said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory.

Claim 3

.[.The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1,.]. .Iadd.An attribute generator for a flat panel system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory; and .Iaddend. wherein said microprocessor produces a double high attribute and a top and bottom attribute, said attributes being stored in said attribute memory, said character cell generating memory receives a top and bottom attribute bit from said attribute memory as the most significant bit of said address in response to said double high attribute, said character cell generating memory producing a top character cell having a pixel pattern correlative to a character font half duplicated along each row, and bottom character cell having a pixel pattern correlative to a bottom character font half duplicated along each row.

Claim 4

.[.The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1,.]. .Iadd.An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory; and .Iaddend. wherein said microprocessor further produces a double wide attribute stored by said attribute memory, further comprising: a router coupled to said character cell generating memory and receiving therefrom said character font, said router separating said received character font into a left and right half in response to the presence of said double wide attribute; and a double wide logic circuit coupled to said router and receiving said left and right character font halves, producing a first character cell having a pixel pattern correlative to said left character font half duplicated along each column, and a second character cell having a pixel pattern correlative to said right character font half duplicated along each column.

Claim 5

.[.The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1,.]. wherein said microprocessor produces an underline attribute, said attribute being stored in said attribute memory, further comprising underline logic circuitry coupled to said character cell generator memory and receiving said character font, said underline logic circuitry manipulating said pixels in a last row of .[.said.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.matrix .Iadd.of a number of rows and columns of pixels representing said character, .Iaddend.to effect underlining in response to said underline attribute being received from said attribute memory.

Claim 6

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 4, wherein said underline logic circuitry inverts said pixels in said last row of said matrix.

Claim 7

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said underline logic circuitry inverts said pixels in said last row of a bottom matrix in a double high character.

Claim 8

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said underline logic circuitry inverts said pixels in said last rows of both the left and right half matrices in a double wide character.

Claim 9

.[.The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1,.]. .Iadd.An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory; and .Iaddend. wherein said microprocessor produces an intensify attribute, said attribute being stored in said attribute memory, further comprising an intensify logic circuit coupled to said character cell generator memory and receiving said character font, said intensify logic circuit causing said controller to display pixels in .[.said.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.matrix .Iadd.of a number of rows and columns of pixels representing said character, .Iaddend.to be turned on at a higher refresh rate in response to said intensify attribute being received from said attribute memory.

Claim 10

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said microprocessor produces an inverse attribute, said attribute being stored in said attribute memory, further comprising an inverse logic coupled to said character cell generator memory and receiving said character font, said inverse logic circuit inverting every pixel in .[.said.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.matrix .Iadd.of a number of rows and columns of pixels representing said character, .Iaddend.in response to said inverse attribute being received from said attribute memory.

Claim 11

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said microprocessor produces a field mode attribute, said attribute being stored in said attribute memory, further comprising a field mode logic circuit coupled to said character cell generator memory and receiving said character font, said field mode logic circuit causing an attribute to modify more than one character. .Iadd.

Claim 12

The flat panel attribute generator, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said flat panel display system is a flat panel liquid crystal display system..Iaddend..Iadd.12. An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; and a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said received raster code bits forming least significant address bits and combining with said received character code forming most significant address bits, said combined address bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory..Iaddend..Iadd.13. An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; and a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and receiving said character code from said character generating circuit, said received raster code bits forming one of most significant address bits and least significant address bits and combining with said received character code forming the other of said most significant address bits and least significant address bits, said combined address bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response

Claim 13

to said attribute codes from said attribute memory..Iaddend..Iadd.14. An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; and a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and character code from said character generating circuit combined in a single word, said combined bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory..Iaddend.

Claim 14

to said attribute codes from said attribute memory..Iaddend..Iadd.14. An attribute generator for a flat panel display system, said flat panel display system capable of displaying pixels representative of characters on a flat panel and having a character generating circuit for generating a plurality of character codes representing a plurality of characters displayable by said flat panel, and further having a flat panel controller coupled to said flat panel, comprising: a microprocessor producing an attribute code having a predetermined number of bits, said attribute code indicative of the manner in which a character is to be displayed on said flat panel; an attribute memory coupled to said microprocessor, said attribute memory being adapted for receiving said attribute code from said microprocessor and storing said received attribute code; a raster generating circuit for generating a raster code indicative of a pixel pattern representative of said character to be displayed; and a character cell generator memory coupled to said raster generating circuit and said character generating circuit, said character cell generator memory operable for receiving a predetermined number of bits of said raster code from said raster generating circuit and character code from said character generating circuit combined in a single word, said combined bits accessing said character cell generator memory for retrieving a character font, and said pixels being further modified for display on said flat panel in response to said attribute codes from said attribute memory..Iaddend.