High speed video frame buffer

Patent 6278645 Issued on August 21, 2001. Estimated Expiration Date:

August 5, 2018. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

Patent References

Graphics system with shadow ram update to the color map
Patent #: 5170468
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Patent #: 5517253
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Inventors

Assignee

3DLabs Inc., Ltd.

Application

No. 129293 filed on 08/05/1998

US Classes:

365/230.01, ADDRESSING348/555, For receiving more than one format at will (e.g., NTSC/PAL)365/230.03Plural blocks or banks

Examiners

Primary: Fears, Terrell W.

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Groover & Associates, Groover; Robert, Formby; Betty

Foreign Patent References

0 279 229 EP. 08/21/1988
WO 89/06031 WO. 06/21/1989

International Class

G09G 001/16

Abstract

A device for storing pixel information for displaying a graphics image on a display includes a frame buffer and a processor. The information includes an intensity value and a value associated with each of a plurality of additional planes for each pixel. The frame buffer memory has a series of consecutive addresses for storing information to be output to the display. The frame buffer may be subdivided into a plurality of blocks, where each block corresponds to a region of the display having a plurality of contiguous pixels. The processor places the pixel information within the frame buffer memory so that in a given block there are placed at a first collection of consecutive addresses the intensity values for each of the pixels in the block.