Remote display monitor system

Abstract

A monitor is remotely coupled to a source of display data for real-time display of the data thereon. The display is real-time in that the received data is converted to pixel values and is displayed by the remote monitor almost instantaneously except for some minor data hand-off and transmission delays. The remote monitor can be any kind of conventional text and/or graphics display device, e.g. a cathode ray tube device, but preferably is a flat panel, digital display. Preferably the system couples to a pre-existing data bus, e.g. an ISA, EISA, VLB or PCI bus, and an interface circuit communicates with the source of the display information, such as a processor on the bus. Digital pixel values are stored in a local frame buffer. A transmit controller transmits the stored pixel values over a preferably serial, optical transmission medium, to a remote circuit which stores them in a remote frame buffer. A remote processor controls the communication of pixel values from the remote frame buffer to the remote monitor. In some embodiments, the remote processor has data ports, e.g. a keyboard, pointing device and/or a serial port, and can be used to process operator inputs to perform functions such as pan and zoom on the display data. Also data input at the remote monitor can be sent back to the bus interface circuit via a second transmission medium, preferably optical and serial.