WO1985004976A1

WO1985004976A1 - Cathode ray tube display system

Info

Publication number: WO1985004976A1
Application number: PCT/US1985/000505
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chin-Cheng Yang; Shinsaku Fujikawa; Masashi Utsumi
Original assignee: Ncr Corporation
Priority date: 1984-04-19
Filing date: 1985-03-27
Publication date: 1985-11-07
Also published as: EP0180593B1; DE3573037D1; EP0180593A1

Abstract

A cathode ray tube display system includes a refresh memory (14) storing data to be displayed and normally accessed by CRT controller (12), but in response to a request signal, accessible by a microprocessor (10). In response to such a request signal, a control unit (32) switches a multiplexer (16) to pass address signals from the microprocessor (10) to the refresh memory (14) and further provides an inhibit signal to a parallel-to-serial convertor (26) in the CRT video drive to prevent any data read out from the memory (14) from being displayed. The CRT has a long persistance time such that flashing or flickering of the display is avoided.

Description

- i -

CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY SYSTEM

Technical Field

This invention relates to cathode ray tube display systems of the kind including: a cathode ray tube adapted to display images on the screen thereof; memory means adapted to store data to be displayed; processing means adapted to access said memory means; a cathode ray tube controller adapted to access said memory means to refresh images displayed on said screen; and video signal generating means adapted to generate a video signal for display on said screen.

Background Art

In a conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, it is generally known that it is necessary to repeatedly refresh the screen on the CRT, normally on the order of 50-60 times per second, in order to maintain the displayed state and in the manner wherein a controller sequentially reads out all addresses in a refresh memory. In addition, it is also necessary to access the refresh memory from a central processing unit (CPU) for any modification of the screen-displayed content and for other purposes.

A cathode ray tube display system of the kind specified is known from U.S. Patent Specification No. 4,379,293. The known system includes a CRT controller connected to a processor and having a refresh address generator to refresh the display on the cathode ray tube, an update address generator to update information in the refresh memory, and a control circuit for connecting the update address generator and the refresh address generator to address the memory so that only one of the generators has control of the refresh memory at a time. The known system has the disadvantage of being complex in construction and hence expensive to manufacture. Disclosure of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a cathode ray tube display system of the kind specified, characterized by control means effective to permit said controller to read out data from said memory means and, in response to a request signal from said processing means, to enable said processing means to access said memory means and to provide an inhibit signal effective to inhibit said signal generating means from providing said video signal for a predetermined period of time.

It will be appreciated that a cathode ray tube display system according to the invention has the advantage of being relatively simple in construction. A further advantage is that the system has the capability of obviating any flashing or flickering on the screen which could occur during processor access to the refresh memory. Still another advantage is that timing difficulties are alleviated. For example, synchronization between reference clocks for the processor and the cathode ray tube controller and any consequent need for high speed circuit elements is avoided.

In brief summary of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preferred embodiment utilizes a cathode ray tube having a long persistence light emission time and constructed in such a manner that the CRT controller monopolizes the refresh memory to sequentially read out addresses therefrom unless access to the memory is requested by the central processing unit (CPU) . Data which is read out from the refresh memory by the CRT controller is stored in a latch circuit and a character generator produces a display pattern signal which is based on such data. The display pattern signal is converted into serial data by a parallel-to-serial converter and is sent to the long persisting CRT as a video signal for controlling electron beams. The control unit in the system of the preferred embodiment is constructed so as to generate and send out various control signals such as a select signal for switching an appropriate address bus when the access to the memory is requested by the CPU, a gate control signal for connecting and switching a data bus, and a video inhibit signal. When the CPU requests access to the refresh memory, the control unit sends the select signal to a multiplexer to switch the address bus from the CRT controller to the CPU and also sends the gate control signal to the gate to connect a data line of the memory with the data bus of the CPU. At the same time, the control unit sends a read or write signal to the refresh memory to permit the access to the memory from the CPU. The data stored in the latch when the CPU accesses the memory is not the data to be displayed on the CRT at that time, but is the data based on the access from the CPU so that sending a video signal which is generated in form as based on this data to the long persisting CRT would cause a flash to appear on the CRT screen. In order to avoid the flashing, the control unit sends the video inhibit signal for a predetermined period of time after the access is requested by the CPU to inhibit the video signal from being sent out from the parallel-to-serial converter. Thus, a portion of the screen will not flicker owing to the visual persistence effect of the long persisting CRT even though the sending out of the video signal is inhibited for the predetermined period of time.

Brief Description of the Drawings

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the diagrammatic structure of a system according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a logic diagram of the control unit of Fig. 1 and showing the relationship between the control unit and the peripheral elements thereof;

Fig. 3 is a logic diagram of a modification in which the sending time of the display inhibit signal is prolonged; and

Fig. 4 is a timing diagram showing the various operation timings of the embodiment of Fig. 2.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the diagrammatic structure of an embodiment of the present invention wherein 10 is a central processing unit or CPU using an SCLK as the reference clock signal, 12 is a cathode ray tube or CRT controller using a CCL as the reference clock signal, 14 is a CRT refresh memory for storing data required for the CRT screen display and 16 is a multiplexer for switching an address bus 18 from the CPU 10 and an address bus 20 from the controller 12 so as to connect either one of the buses to the memory 14. A latch circuit 22 is controlled by the reference clock CCLK to latch the data on a data line of the memory 14. A character generator CG 24 sends a pattern signal of a character to be displayed in accordance with the data in the latch circuit 22, and a parallel-to-serial converter 26 converts the parallel display pattern signal sent from the charac¬ ter generator 24 into a serial signal to send it to a CRT 30 as the video signal. A long persisting CRT 30 uses fluorescent paint such as P-39 or the like to provide a CRT screen of long persistence time. A control unit 32 sends various control signals such as a select signal 33, a gate control signal 35, and a video inhibit signal DISPLAY INHIBIT according to the request from the CPU 10 to access the memory 14. A gate circuit 34 is provided between and connects a data bus 36 of the CPU and a data bus 38 of the memory 14. The CRT controller 12 sequentially reads out the content of the refresh memory 14 while always counting up addresses one by one in accordance with the reference clock CCLK to refresh the display on the screen of the CRT 30. In the case wherein an access to the memory 14 is requested by the CPU 10, the control unit 32 sends the select signal to the multi¬ plexer 16 to switch the address line to the address bus 18, sends the gate control signal to the gate circuit 34 to connect the data bus 36 and the data line 38 together and to access the memory 14 simulta¬ neously therewith. The data on the data line 38 which is sent at that particular time is a read data in response to the request of the CPU 10 or is a write data sent from the CPU and is not the data intended for the CRT 30 display. However, the latch circuit 22 unconditionally latches the data on the data line 38 in accordance with the reference clock CCLK and the character generator 24 produces a display pattern signal based on the latch data in the latch and sends it to the parallel-to-serial converter 26. Then, if the converter 26 converts the display pattern signal into a serial signal and sends it to the CRT 30 as the video signal, a character which should not be displayed will be instantaneously displayed and thereby cause the flash to generate or appear on the CRT screen.

The DISPLAY INHIBIT signal is adapted to inhibit the sending out of the video signal for the predetermined period of time until a correct display pattern signal comes out, thereby preventing flashing on the screen. In the present invention, the long persisting CRT 30 is used so that a preferable display state can be maintained without flicker on the screen, owing to the visual persistence effect of the long- persisting CRT, even though the sending out of the video signal is stopped or delayed for the predeter¬ mined period of time. The control unit 32 is now described in detail with reference to Fig. 2 which is a diagrammat¬ ic block diagram illustrating the relationship between the control unit and the associated peripheral circuit elements. As seen in Fig. 2, a memory request signal

MREQ and a read signal RD or a write signal WR, the latter two signals being inverted through a gate 42, are input into an AND gate 44, the output of which is connected to a flip-flop 46, to the gate circuit 34, and to the multiplexer 16. The read signal RD is input into the gate circuit 34 and is inverted by an inverter 48 to be input into a NOR gate 50 together with the output from the AND gate 44 and then to be supplied to the refresh memory 14. The write signal WR is directly supplied to the refresh memory 14.

The output of the flip-flop 46 is connected to the input of a flip-flop 52 through an AND gate 54, and the output of the flip-flop 52 is connected to the parallel-to-serial converter 26 as a DISPLAY INHIBIT signal. The reference clock CCLK signal of the con¬ troller 12 is input through an inverter 56 to the clock inputs of the flip-flops 46 and 52. The refer¬ ence clock signal CCLK is also provided to the latch circuit 22 through an inverter 58.

When the CPU 10 requests to access the refresh memory 14, that is, when signals MREQ and~RD or WR signals go to the low level, the output from the gate 44 also goes to the low level which output is then sent to the multiplexer 16 and the gate circuit 34 as means for generating the select signal 33 and the gate control signal 35, whereby the switching of the address buses 18 and 20 and the connection between the data buses 36 and 38 are accomplished. Additionally, the RD signal is also being input into the gate 34 by which its connecting direction is switched in such a manner that the data from the memory 14 is sent to the CPU 10 in the read mode while the data from the CPU is written into the memory 14 in the write mode. At the same time, the RD or WR signal is sent to the refresh memory 14 thereby to read the data from or write the data into the memory.

When the output from the AND, gate 44 is at the low level, the flip-flop 46 is directly reset by reason of which the flip-flop 52 is also reset at the next fall of the reference clock signal CCLK. When the flip-flop 52 is reset, the low output is sent to the parallel-to-serial converter 26 as the DISPLAY INHIBIT or video inhibit signal to inhibit the video signal from being sent to the CRT 30. The flip-flops 46 and 52 are sequentially set at each falling of the CCLK signal after the output from the AND gate 44 goes to the high level. In other words, the flip-flop 52 is set at the second falling edge of the CCLK signal after the output from the AND gate 44 goes to the high level and, hence, the video inhibit signal is not sent out.

Although in this embodiment, the duration of the DISPLAY INHIBIT signal corresponds to that of two reference clock CCLK signals, the duration and the time of sending the video inhibit signal can be freely changed depending on the access time of the character generator 24 and the parallel-to-serial converter 26 and the necessity or requirement of the Chinese or like character display. For example, in order to display one Chinese character, it is necessary to continuously access the refresh memory 14 two times and, in relation thereto, it is necessary to send the video inhibit signal for a relatively longer time. Accordingly, and as illustrated in Fig. 3, it is also possible to send the video inhibit signal for a period of time corresponding to the period required for sending out four reference clock CCLK signals; for example, by additionally providing two flip-flops 62 and 64 along with associated AND gates 66 and 68 at the front stage of the AND gate 54 and of the flip- flop 52.

Fig. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating various operation timings of the embodiment in Fig. 2. The controller 12 accesses the refresh memory 14 by sequentially counting up addresses in accordance with the reference clock CCLK signal. As shown in Fig. 4, when the memory request MREQ signal (d) and then the read RD signal or write ^"WR signal (e) are sent from the CPU 10, the select signal (g) is immediately sent to the multiplexer 16 to^" switch the address buses 18 and 20. Since the address data is already sent on the address bus 18 of the CPU 10 as shown by Fig. 4(c), the memory read or memory write signal (f) is immedi¬ ately sent out. In Fig. 4 (h) is shown the access address of the refresh memory 14 and (i) is the ad¬ dress of the data to be latched into the latch circuit 22. Since the data on the data line 38 is latched into the latch circuit 22 at the next falling of the CCLK signal, the latched data of the latch circuit and the now-existing access data on the data line 38 are offset from each other for one cycle. Since the display pattern signal that is produced is based on the latched data of the latch circuit 22, the video signal is sent to the long persisting CRT 30, delayed by one cycle after the CPU 10 has accessed the memory. As shown by (h) , the access from the CPU 10 is per¬ formed or accomplished in a manner that is unrelated to the reference clock CCLK signal so that incomplete memory access [see addresses 2 and 3 in Fig. 4(h)] is performed or accomplished before and after the access address (the shaded portion) of the CPU 10. Since the access time of the data read out by this incom¬ plete access is short, the data of the next read-out address 3 in Fig. 4(i) is latched to the latch circuit 22 in spite of whether or not the data is correctly read out. Thus, as shown by Fig. 4(j), the video inhibit signal is being sent out during the time of access of data of the CPU 10 and during the time that data of the address 3 are being latched into the latch circuit 22, thereby inhibiting the sending out of the video signal from the parallel-to-serial converter 26 during that time.

It is seen in previous arrangements that, in order to process the access request of the CPU 10 without delay, the high and low periods of the refer¬ ence clock corresponding to the CCLK signal as shown in Fig. 4(a) ^"were respectively assigned as the access periods from the CPU 10 and the CRT controller 12 so that it was necessary to access at a half cycle of the CCLK signal and, hence, the high-speed elements were needed.

In the present embodiment, the CRT controller 12 reads out the addresses from the refresh memory 14 in a monopolizing manner when the access to the memory is not requested by the CPU 10, and the controller gives a priority to the CPU when the access is re¬ quested by the CPU and sends the video inhibit signal during that time whereby the full one cycle of the reference clock CCLK signal is assigned as the access time of the memory so that the present invention can provide the CRT display device in an arrangement capable of processing the access request of the CPU without delay even when elements of relatively low speed are used. Additionally, the flashing on the screen due to the generation of an incorrect video signal can be avoided and a preferable display state can be maintained by generating the video inhibit signal for inhibiting the sending out of the video signal based on the access data of the CPU 10 and by utilizing the visual persistence effect of the long persisting CRT 30. Further, it is not necessary to synchronize the reference clock SCLK signal of the CPU 10 with the reference clock CCLK signal of the CRT - lϋ -

controller 12 so that the CRT 30 display device of a simpler construction can be provided. Moreover, the CRT 30 display device is composed of a simpler structure by using low speed elements so that a lower- priced CRT display device can be provided.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A cathode ray tube display system, including: a cathode ray tube (30) adapted to display images on the screen thereof; memory means (14) adapted to store data to be displayed; processing means (10) adapted to access said memory means (14); a cathode ray tube controller (12) adapted to access said memory means (14) to refresh images displayed on said screen; and video signal generating means (24, 26) adapted to generate a video signal for display on said screen, characterized by control means (32) effective to permit said controller (32) to read out data from said memory means (14) and, in response to a request signal from said processing means (10) , to enable said processing means (10) to access said memory means (14) and to provide an inhibit signal effective to inhibit said signal generating means (24, 26) from providing said video signal for a predetermined period of time.

2. A display system according to claim 1, characterized in that said cathode ray tube (30) has a persistence time sufficiently long, in dependence on said predetermined period of time, as to prevent flashing or flickering of the display on said screen.

3. A display system according to claim 2, characterized in that said signal generating means includes a character generator (24) coupled to parallel-to-serial converting means (26) adapted to provide said video signal and arranged to receive said inhibit signal.

4. A display system according to claim 3, characterized by a multiplexer (16) adapted to receive address signals from said processing means (10) and from said cathode ray tube controller (12) and having an output coupled to said memory means (14) , said multiplexer (16) being responsive to a switching signal provided by said control means (32) .

5. A display system according to claim 4, characterized by gating means (34) located in a data bus path (36) between said processing means (10) and said memory means (14) and responsive to a gating signal provided by said control means (32) .

6. A display system according to claim 5, characterized in that said processing means includes a microprocessor (10) .

7. A display system according to claim 6, characterized by latching means (22) coupled between said memory means (14) and said character generator (24) and adapted to latch data read out from said memory means (14) .