The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 05, 1995
Filed:
Jun. 14, 1993
David Pinedo, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Byron Alcorn, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Desi Rhoden, Boulder, CO (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for use in a computer graphics system for the storage and retrieval of pixel information is described. The computer graphics system includes a screen display. The method and apparatus are implemented in a frame buffer, wherein the frame buffer memory is divided into a first memory section for storage of the pixel information and second and third memory sections. A clipping member provides clipping information for use in the display of the pixel information in a first region of the display screen. The clipping information is stored in the second memory section. A display mode member provides display mode information for use in the display of the pixel information in a second region of the display screen. The display mode information is stored in the third memory section. The clipping information and the display information are stored in the frame buffer memory separate from one another. The frame buffer memory preferably includes an array of VRAM devices. In such an embodiment, the second memory section is contained in a first VRAM device and the third memory section is contained in a second VRAM device. The clipping information and the display mode information are stored in physically separate VRAM devices for a given pixel. The clipping information and display information are preliminarily stored in a pixel cache and transferred to the second and third sections in response to a control signal from a controller.