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:
Aug. 05, 1997
Filed:
May. 17, 1993
Randolph W Spurlock, Roundrock, TX (US);
Compaq Computer Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A computer system and method of operating the same to setup a graphics display driver and device are disclosed. The disk storage of the computer system contains a monitor file that specifies various video modes operable by a number of monitor types and models, and also contains a mode file that specifies the video modes operable by a number of graphics controllers. The mode file also contains the video parameters for each of the available video modes. During a setup routine, the computer system determines the monitor and graphics controller that are installed, and for each available driver program, selects a video mode compatible with each; if more than one video mode is compatible, the computer system may select the best video mode. Upon selection of the video mode, and upon installation of the driver, the computer system reads the video parameters from the mode file for the selected mode, such video parameters stored in an interpretive language, and executes the program in order to program the graphics controller according to the video parameters. This arrangement eliminates the need to maintain the video parameters in the driver executable, and thus facilitates configuration and maintenance of the computer system.