International Business Machines Corporation

Patrick E Mantey

Glen G Langdon, Jr

Richard G Casey

Robin Williams

A method and means for creating the display illusion of 'roughness' or 'texture' in color patterns suitable for an raster scanned display surface by assigning different color values to pels (picture elements) in adjacent positions and then replicating the patterns automatically using the recurrent and sequential accessing of a concordance table. The real color of each pel of a textured pattern is a joint function of a color number stored in a refresh buffer driving the display surface for any given display matrix array pel position and the value of a predetermined subset of address bits which describe that pel position. The use of preselected pel position address bits for regulating texture is shown as applied to video lookup tables and refresh buffers as a singlelevel control and additionally to two or more video lookup tables for achieving a pattern hierarchy.

Method and means for texture display in raster scanned color graphic

There is disclosed a method and means for increasing the positional accuracy of operator controlled cursors engaged in the digitized encoding of graphic information such as line drawings. The method steps comprise those of digitizing the instantaneous contact position between the cursor and the data entry surface as reference coordinates; detecting any segment of a colored object upon the surface within a predetermined area about the cursor; ascertaining the location within the area of the centroid or the like of the detected segment; and digitizing said ascertained location as a displacement from the reference coordinates. Apparatus for practicing the method comprises an independently actuable cursor formed from a position encoder and an image scanner, the scanner generating a Boolean coded array of points counterpart to a preselected surface area. The scanned array is first buffered and then used to actuate an operator viewable LED display of the scanned array on one hand and said array is sent to a CPU on the other hand. In turn, the CPU calculates the coordinates of the centroid of that array area of contiguous points having the same designated Boolean (color) 0 or 1 value. Signals representing the calculated coordinates generated by the CPU then cause the LED display to differentially indicate the calculated centroid location to the operator such as by way of a flashing display element.

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Patrick E Mantey