JPS6112434B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention supplies information signals to each unit element of a target device having a plurality of unit elements, such as a memory device necessary to simultaneously address and emit light in multiple rows in a light-emitting display device in which light-emitting elements are arranged in a matrix. The present invention relates to a method of converting input/output order of a storage device suitable for use in a storage device. Conventionally, in matrix type light emitting display devices such as gas discharge type display devices in which discharge cells are arranged in a matrix, a multi-row simultaneous addressing light emission method has been used for the purpose of improving luminous efficiency and luminous output. In the address light emitting method, discharge cells arranged in a matrix are divided into blocks of the same number of rows, each block is treated like an independent display device, and each row of the multiple blocks is sequentially addressed and emitted at the same time. In order to increase the effective luminance brightness by increasing the emission period of each row by a multiple equal to the number of blocks, and for simultaneous addressing of such blocks, it is customary to display, for example, a standard television picture signal. In this case, sequential image signals are written in the storage device sequentially, the order of the scanning lines of the written image signals is changed, and the image signals corresponding to each row of multiple blocks are simultaneously read out and applied to each corresponding row at the same time. We are trying to supply
Conventionally, various methods have been considered for changing the order of scanning lines during writing and reading in a storage device, but in general, the storage device has a storage capacity for two fields of image signals, and one scanning line Using two memory blocks configured so that they can be addressed separately, one field's worth of sequential scanning line image signals are being sequentially written to one memory block, while the previous one is being written to one memory block. The image signal for one preceding field from the other memory block is read out simultaneously for multiple scanning lines by changing the order of the scanning lines, and for the next field, the relationship between writing and reading is reversed, and the image signal is read out for each field. Then, writing and reading were performed alternately in the memory block for two fields. However, this method requires storage capacity for two fields on the storage device,
The period for writing to and reading from each storage address is one frame period, which not only necessitates an increase in the capacity of the storage device, but also has the drawback of lowering its utilization efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and to provide information signals to a target device having a plurality of unit elements, such as when simultaneously supplying information signals to each block of a light emitting display device divided into a plurality of blocks. To provide an input/output order conversion method for a storage device configured to efficiently use a relatively small storage capacity and suitable for supplying information signals to a plurality of unit elements in parallel by changing the order of the input/output signals. It is in. That is, the method for converting the input/output order of the storage device of the present invention provides at least m·
An input element group in which n unit storage elements are repeatedly arranged periodically in the same order is sequentially input into a storage device having at least m·n unit storage areas and stored once, and then The m·n unit storage elements are divided into m blocks each, and one unit storage element for each block is repeatedly output from the storage device almost simultaneously, and the input element group is divided into n blocks. In the input/output order conversion method for a storage device that forms an output element group in which the unit storage elements are arranged in an order different from the arrangement order, m=n ^p where p is a natural number between the natural numbers m and n. It is characterized by maintaining relationships. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, using the gas discharge display device shown in FIG. 1 as an example, the structure and operation of a conventional storage device for supplying image signals to be displayed on the display device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. . In the gas discharge display device shown in FIG. 1a,
m/n cathode strips 5 are arranged horizontally between the front glass 1 and the back glass 2, and display anodes 3 and auxiliary anodes 4 are arranged vertically across the cathode strips 5. A gas discharge cell serving as a pixel is constructed at the intersection of the electrodes, and the structure of the discharge cell is as shown in FIG. A phosphor 6 is attached to the wall of the discharge cell.
An auxiliary anode 4 is disposed between each discharge cell to assist the movement of discharge between each discharge cell. However, in the display device shown in the first figure, m.
The n cathodes 5 are divided into n blocks of m each, 4 blocks in the illustrated example, and a drive system as shown in FIG. 2 is constructed for these display blocks 1 to 4. In the display drive system shown in the second figure, drive systems 8, 8', . . . are provided for each display block 9, 9', . After writing, the scanning line order of the image signals is changed and read out, and simultaneously supplied to each drive system 8, 8', etc. in parallel, and these image signals are sent in parallel to the display anode 3 for each block. to drive each block simultaneously. On the other hand, sequential vertical scanning signals are applied to the m cathodes 5 of each display block 9, 9', . . . from vertical scanning circuits 10, 10', . Since each block is scanned in the vertical direction and images are displayed simultaneously for each block, each display block 9, 9', . . .
In..., the display gas discharge is maintained for a period of n times, or in the example shown, four times as long as in the case where the display device is driven by sequential image signals all at once, resulting in an image that is approximately four times brighter. can be displayed. However, the order of the scanning lines of the image signals sequentially written in the storage device 7 is changed and read out, and the image signals of the scanning lines corresponding to the m cathodes belonging to the four display blocks are transferred to the respective display blocks 9, 9, and 9. 9', . . ., as shown in FIG.
1, m+1, 2m+1, corresponding to the row-th scanning line
The 3m+1st scanning line signal is read out, and then the 2nd, m+2, 2m+2, 3m+2nd scanning line signals corresponding to the second scanning line of each block 1 to 4 are read out, and so on. line signal m
If the storage device 7 is provided with unit storage units for m/n lines, each unit storage unit will be read out with the order changed every other book. Since reading is required, the usage efficiency of the storage device is significantly reduced. The input/output order conversion method for a storage device of the present invention improves the conventional deterioration in storage capacity utilization efficiency, and its configuration and operating principle are compared with the conventional example shown in FIG. This will be explained with reference to the diagram. That is, in the conventional storage device shown in FIG. 4, the storage devices 11 and 12 are divided into two blocks A and B by dividing a unit storage section of the same number as the number of scanning lines for one frame of the image signal, that is, two fields. While one field of the input image signal is sequentially written into one storage device 11, the image signal of the previous one field written into the other storage device 12 is driven by a synchronization signal. control device 13
Under the control of switch _S2 , the data is read out in the permuted order as described above, and is supplied to each display block via switch _S3 . For the next one field's worth of image signals, switch _S3 is switched to operate the storage devices 11 and 12 in the opposite relationship to that described above. Write and read data alternately. Therefore, for each unit storage section in each storage device, writing and reading are performed once for two fields, that is, one frame. On the other hand, in the storage device according to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
Letting the number of scanning lines for the field be m・n, m・n
unit storage units are provided in the storage device 14, one of which is
For m·n unit storage units 1 to m·n for fields, input switch _S4 is sequentially switched to store the first one.
The image signals are written for each successive scanning line in the field, and in the next field, the output switches _S5 are turned on in a desired order suitable for supplying to each unit circuit of the target device, such as each block of a gas discharge display device. At the same time, the output switch _S6 is switched and the image signals are temporarily stored in memory blocks (1) to (n) corresponding to each unit circuit of the target device in the buffer memory 16. , and are output continuously over a desired display period. Simultaneously with reading out the signals in any desired order, image signals for each scanning line are sequentially written into any of the unit storage sections 1 to m.n immediately after the signal reading out. Therefore, when looking at individual unit storage units, there is a period during which no writing is performed, at least the length of the vertical blanking period, between writing of the image signal of the previous field and writing of the image signal of the next field. Therefore, by using the time difference, as mentioned above, it is sufficient to write the image signal of the next field that comes sequentially into the unit storage unit of the empty space from which the image signal of the previous field was read. There is plenty of time available. Therefore, although the writing position of each scanning line signal in the image signal of the next field mentioned above, that is, the order of the unit storage units to be written in, will be disrupted, the sequential scanning line signals will all be written in some unit. Immediately after the scanning line signal of the previous field is read out, it is written into the storage section, and for each subsequent field, the same writing immediately after the reading as described above is performed one after another, and the scanning line order of the image signal is converted. will be carried out. Thus, switching of the input switch _S4 and the output switches _S5 and _S6 , which perform the conversion of the scanning line order, is performed under the control of a control device 15 driven by a synchronizing signal. Note that writing immediately after reading as described above is
If a sequential storage element such as a shift register is used as each unit storage unit, writing immediately after reading can be performed with a time difference in pixel units without considering the writing pause due to the vertical blanking period as described above. However, in a case such as a random access memory (RAM) where writing cannot be performed immediately after reading due to a pixel-by-pixel time difference, it is sufficient to use a buffer memory for one scanning line, for example. As mentioned above, when the order of unit storage units in which scanning line signals are written for each field changes, how the writing and reading order of each scanning line signal is changed is shown in FIG. As is clear from the above, in general, when the original scanning line number is x and the scanning line number x is expanded and expressed in an m-ary number, μ, ν where m>μ≧0, n>ν≧0. Using x=νm+μ+1 (1), the order f when each scanning line signal is read out is
_(x) becomes f _(x) =μn+ν+1 (2). That is, for example, when x=1, ν=
When μ=0, f _(x) =1, and the scanning line signal written first will also be read out first, and when x=m+1, ν=1, μ
= 0, f _(x) = 2, and is read out second, and when x = 2, ν = 0, μ = 1
Therefore, f _(x) =n+1, which means that the n+1th data is read out, and the order of reading matches that shown in FIG. In the input/output order conversion method of the storage device of the present invention, when the sequential scanning line signals are read out with their order changed, the readout order is clear according to the equation (2), so it can be compared with a normal logic circuit. It is clear that it is possible to easily configure a control device for controlling such a change in the readout order by combining the above and a counting circuit. It can also be controlled. However, in general, when changing the readout order, depending on the values of m and n, the readout order changes one after another, and the period until the readout order returns to the original scanning line number is longer. If some kind of control error occurs, it takes a considerable amount of time to correct the error and restore the normal reordering state, which may cause, for example, disturbances in the scanning lines on the display screen of the image display device. Furthermore, depending on the combination of the values of m and n, the configuration of the control signal for changing the read order may become extremely complicated. For example, if m = 60 and n = 4, the reading order of the scanning line signals will be changed using 240 memory blocks, and the scanning line written to and read out from the first unit storage unit will be changed. The signal is always the first scanning line signal, but the number of the scanning line signal written to and read out from the second unit storage section is 2-5-17-65.
−18−69−……, and it will take an extremely long period to return to the original number. Therefore, when changing the reading order, if p is selected to be an appropriate natural number and the relationship n ^p =m is maintained, the period in which the above-mentioned scanning line signal completes one cycle is determined for any number of scanning line signals. is only p+1 scanning line periods at most, and p
At the +1st time, the signal returns to the original scanning line signal. For example, n=4, m=4 ³ =64, i.e. p
When =3, the numbers of scanning line signals written to and read out from each unit storage section are as follows.

[Table] That is, in each unit storage unit, the scanning line signal written and read returns to the original state at the fourth time, and this is also proven mathematically. As described above, the m/n scanning line signals for one field are divided into n blocks each having m blocks, and n ^p
If the relationship =m is maintained, the cycle of reading order change becomes shorter, and the configuration of a control signal generating device that controls such order change becomes simpler. Table 1 shows examples of numerical combinations of m and n, and the total number of rows in Table 1 is mn=n ^p
+1 .

[Table] In the above explanation, the configuration and operation of a storage device used for supplying television image signals to a gas discharge display device have been described. The present invention is not limited to this example, and does not need to be limited to a series of signals such as an image signal for one scanning line, and the format of the signal does not matter whether it is analog or digital. Note that even when an image display device is used as the object of signal supply, in addition to the matrix type, a cathode ray tube display device that uses multiple beams can be used, and the display device itself The present invention can be applied to any image display device including a plurality of pixels, regardless of the presence or absence of a memory function, and is not limited to image display devices as long as the target device includes a plurality of unit elements. As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the storage capacity of the storage device used to rearrange and supply information signals to an image display device or the like in a desired order can be reduced, resulting in a compact and economical device. can do. Note that the above-mentioned idea of rearranging the order according to the present invention is not limited to only rearranging the contents of electrical signals and information; for example, in the above-mentioned example where n ^p =m, only scanning line numbers 2, 5, 17, and 65 are replaced. If specific information signals are provided, if only the storage block 2 in the configuration shown in FIG.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1A and 1B are a perspective view and a sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a gas discharge display device, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional driving mode of a gas discharge display device, and FIG. 3 is a similar mode. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional storage device used for driving the same, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the storage device of the present invention. be. 1... Front glass, 2... Back glass, 3...
Display anode, 4... Auxiliary anode, 5... Cathode, 6...
Fluorescent material, 7, 11, 12... Storage device, 8, 8'
...Drive system, 9,9'...Display block, 10,
10'...Vertical scanning circuit, 13, 15...Control device, 14...Storage device, 16...Buffer memory, _S1 to _S6 ...Switching switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 At least m·n where m and n are natural numbers
An input element group in which unit storage elements are repeatedly arranged periodically in the same order is sequentially inputted into a storage device having at least m/n unit storage areas and stored once, and then , dividing the m·n unit storage elements into m blocks each, and repeatedly outputting one unit storage element from the storage device almost simultaneously for each block,
In a storage device input/output order conversion method for forming an output element group in which the unit storage elements are arranged in an order different from the arrangement order in the input element group,
Between the natural numbers m and n, where p is a natural number, m
A method for converting the input/output order of a storage device, characterized by maintaining the relationship: = ^np . 2. In the input/output order conversion method for a storage device according to claim 1, the natural numbers m and n
x=ν using natural numbers μ and ν that have the relationships m>μ≧0 and n>ν≧0, respectively
When m+μ+1 and f _(x) = μn+ν+1, for each period of the array, the unit storage element with the arrangement order x in the input element group is replaced with the unit storage element with the arrangement order f _(x) in the output element group. A method for converting the input/output order of a storage device, characterized in that an element is input into the unit storage area immediately after being output. 3. In the input/output order conversion method for a storage device according to claim 1 or 2, the input element group is a television video signal whose unit is a scanning line period, and a line memory is the unit of memory. A method for converting the input/output order of a storage device, characterized in that the storage device used as an area is the storage device.