Graphics display system

[54] GRAPHICS DISPLAY SYSTEM

[75] Inventors: Stephen Maine; Duncan Harrower, both of Fort Salonga; Abraham Mammen, Levittown, all of N.Y.

[73] Assignee: Computer Graphics Laboratories, Inc., New York, N.Y.

[21] Appl. No.: 537,972

[22] Filed: Sep. 30, 1983

[51] Int. Cl.4 G09G 1/16

[52] U.S. CI.: 340/747; 340/724;

340/750

[58] Field of Search 340/703, 726, 724, 723,

340/747, 750

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

3,833,760 9/1974 Tickle 340/747

4,075,620 2/1978 Passavant .

4.189.743 2/1980 Schure et a! 340/725

4.189.744 2/1980 Stern 340/725

4,209,832 6/1980 Gilham et al 340/747

4,232,311 11/1980 Agneta 340/703

4,317,114 2/1982 Walker 340/747

4,384,338 5/1983 Bennett 340/729

4,404,554 9/1983 Tweedy, Jr. et al 340/726

4,412,294 10/1983 Watts et al 340/726

4,437,093 3/1984 Bradley 340/726

4,439,760 3/1984 Fleming 340/747

4,459,677 7/1984 Porter et al 340/750

4,554,538 11/1985 Bieneman 340/747

4,555,775 11/1985 Pike 340/747

4,611,202 9/1986 DeNitto et al 340/724

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

67302 12/1982 European Pat. Off. . 60117327 11/1983 Japan .

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Microcomputer Displays, Graphics & Animation; Artwick

Prentice-Hall; 1985; pp. 280-287.

Computer Recreations, Dewdney, Scientific American,

Jul., 1986; pp. 16, 18, 22-24 and 120.

"Computer Graphics", Electronic Design, 1/20/83, p.

75.

"Computer Graphics—Better Graphics Opens New

Windows on CEA Stations", M. Schindler, Electronic
Design, 1/20/83, pp. 77-82, 84, 86.
"Computer Graphics—Silicon Support For Video Dis-
plays Grows Smarter", D. Bursky, Electronic Design,
1/20/83, pp. 93-98.

"Computer Graphics—Graphics Standards Are
Emerging, Slowly but Surely", C. Bailey, Electronic
Design, 1/20/83, pp. 103-108, 110.
"Computer Graphics—Dedicated VLSI Chip Lightens
Graphics Display Design Load", G. DePalma et al.,
Electronic Design, 1/20/83, pp. 131-136, 138, 139.
"Computer Graphics—/xP Architecture Suits Bit—
Mapped Graphics", P. Chu et al., Electronic Design,
1/20/83, pp. 143-148, 150, 152.

"Computer-Graphics—CRT Controller Chip Displays
High Quality Attributes", B. Cayton et al., Electronic
Design, 1/20/83, pp. 157-163.

"Computer Graphics—Graphics Frees Itself from Device Dependence", B. Perry, Electronic Design, 1/20/83, pp. 167-173.

"Computer Graphics—Focus on Graphics Terminals:
VLSI Raises Performance", C. Warren, Electronic
Design, 1/20/83, pp. 183, 184, 188-190, 192.

Primary Examiner—Marshall M. Curtis
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Martin M. Novack

[57] ABSTRACT

A system for the storage, retrieval and manipulation of data for producing a display, in which inter alia, color availability is in the form of appropriately pre-selected palettes, three-dimensional or planar objects are composed of patterns or elements which are individually stored, the display image is made up in buffers which alternate as construction and display buffers by data accessed in memory by lists linking them in ascending order of visible priority, the data then being written into the buffers, the nature of the data storage varying in predetermined fashion for different types of objects, all so that highly complex and visually pleasing graphics can be displayed and manipulated within the time constraint of a full motion video raster scanning system.

29 Claims, 31 Drawing Figures