JPS6243194B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in terminal display devices used for displaying character data in various systems using computers, and particularly to character display devices using self-shifting gas discharge display panels. This invention relates to a new terminal display device with an added display data editing function.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various terminal display devices, in order to achieve editing functions such as partial correction or change of displayed contents, a method using a light pen has often been adopted. However, although this light pen method is effective when random addressing of the display screen is possible, it has the disadvantage that the light pen cannot be applied to display devices that do not have such an address function because they cannot be scanned. .

On the other hand, as display elements for this type of terminal display device, the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) has recently been replaced by plasma display devices that use gas discharge.
Flat matrix display elements using EL, light emitting diodes, liquid crystals, etc. are increasingly being adopted. However, in order to produce a display with the same display capacity as a CRT with these matrix display elements, it is difficult to avoid the need for complicated and expensive driving peripheral circuits. Therefore, particularly for the above-mentioned plasma display, a self-shift type gas discharge display panel has been proposed in order to simplify the peripheral circuitry.

A self-shift type gas discharge display panel is a self-shift type gas discharge display panel, as already known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-25296 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 53-8053, in which multiple lines of shift channels are arranged in parallel, each consisting of a regular arrangement of multiple groups of discharge cells. The display rows or columns are arranged in such a manner that a discharge cell for writing is arranged at one end of the display rows or columns. The electrodes defining the discharge cells of each group are commonly connected through a bus bar, and the discharge spot generated in the write discharge cell is sequentially transferred to adjacent discharge cells by switching the pulse voltage supplied through each bus bar. There is.
Therefore, the only peripheral circuits for this display panel are a write drive circuit for selectively driving write discharge cells for each shift channel and a shift drive circuit for sequentially energizing each bus bar. Although the peripheral circuitry is significantly simpler than the address circuit, it is extremely inconvenient to partially erase or change the written contents because random addressing cannot be performed.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional situation, the present invention has been developed to solve the problem of partially erasing or erasing display contents, particularly for terminal display devices using display elements that do not inherently have a random address function, such as self-shifting gas discharge display panels. The purpose is to add so-called editing functions such as correction, change, and addition. Briefly stated, the present invention is based on a character display device including a display screen consisting of a plurality of character display rows and columns, and a screen memory for storing display data corresponding to the display screen, A display for specifying a line corresponding to each character display line is provided on the side, and a selectable display for editing having a display area for one line corresponding to each character display line on the memory display screen is attached, Furthermore, data stored in the screen memory corresponding to the display content of the display line specified by the line designation display is read out to the editing display and required editing operations are performed. It is something.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. In this invention, "row" and "column" have interchangeable meanings,
The terms may be changed as necessary.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of a terminal display device according to the present invention, which generally includes a display unit 10, a drive unit 20, a control unit 30, a screen memory 40, and a keyboard unit 5.
It has 0. In this case, the display unit 10 has a self-shift type gas discharge display panel with a character display area of 7 rows x 14 columns as the main display 11, and a row as a row designation display corresponding to each display row on the left side. It has a pointer 12, and below it includes an editing display 13 having a display area for one line corresponding to each display column. Here, the editing display 13 is constructed as a gas discharge display panel integrated with the main display so as to constitute an input section for each display column of the main display 11, and has a randomly addressable configuration. . Therefore, after one line of character data to be displayed on the editing display 13 is written, the character data is vertically shifted to the desired line position by the shift operation of the main display 11. can be displayed.
Of course, this editing display is also the main display 11.
It may be configured as a monitor line that can perform an independent shift operation for the portion, or it may be configured as another display device.

The drive unit 20 includes a write drive circuit 21 for the editing display 13, a display drive circuit 22 for the main display 11, and a pointer drive circuit 23 for the row pointer 12. The control unit 30 also includes a data selector circuit 31 for separating data from the keyboard unit 50 and the CPU into character display data and operation command data, and a decoder 3 for decoding the operation command data.
2, a cursor address circuit 33, a pointer address circuit 34, a 1-line buffer memory 35, and a character generator 36. Other interface circuits, timing control circuits, mode selection circuits, and control microprocessors (not shown) are also included in the control unit 30. Depending on the configuration of the control microprocessor program, the line memory 35 may be omitted.

In the above configuration, when character data is input from the keyboard unit 50, characters associated with each keystroke operation are sequentially written from the left end area of the editing display 13 using a random addressing method. In other words, the character data signal from the keyboard unit 50 is stored at predetermined addresses in the screen memory 40 and 1-line memory 35 through the data selector circuit 31, and is further converted into a desired character pattern signal by the character generator 36 and sent to the write drive circuit 22. Select to drive. As a result, the characters keyed into the predetermined display area of the editing display 13, which has a gas discharge display panel structure integrated with the main display 11, are
It will be displayed sequentially in a 7-dot configuration. In this way, one line of character data is displayed on the editing display 1.
3, the character data on the display is scrolled up to the first line (bottom line) display area of the main display 11, and at the same time, the data corresponding to this display content is transferred to the screen memory 40. It is stored in the first line. This scroll-up operation is performed by switching the mode selection signal MSS to the display drive circuit 22 to the shift mode in accordance with the operation command signal input from the keyboard unit 50 and selected by the data selector 31, After the shift by a row has been performed, the line memory 35 is cleared and data can be input to the subsequent row. When the second line of character input to the editing display 13 is completed, the scroll-up operation is performed again, and the character data on the bottom line of the main display 11 is shifted to the second line, and the editing display is The upper data is shifted to the bottom row on the main display 11, and at the same time, the stored data in the storage areas of the first and second rows of the screen memory 40 is exchanged.

Now, in the process of writing character data for one screen into the screen memory 40 while monitoring the key-in information as described above, if a writing error is discovered in the contents of a line that has already been written, the apparatus of the present invention , the pointer shift key on the keyboard unit 50 is pressed to sequentially advance the address counter of the pointer address circuit 34 for the line pointer 12, and the pointer display is moved via the pointer drive circuit 23 to the corresponding position of the character display line to be corrected. do. At this time, the output of the pointer address circuit 34 simultaneously specifies the corresponding line in the screen memory 40, so by operating the read key on the keyboard unit 50, the stored data of the specified line is read onto the line memory 35, and then , can be redisplayed on the editing display 13. Of course, depending on the configuration of the control program, it is also possible to automatically display the contents of the corresponding lines one after another on the display 13 without using the read key as the pointer address moves. In this state, operate the cursor shift key on the keyboard unit 50 to shift the cursor on the editing display 13 to the character position to be corrected, use the erase key to erase the character, and then key in the correct character. For example, the display content on the editing display 13 and the display data of the corresponding line in the screen memory 40 can be modified at the same time.

During this time, the display of the line specified by the line pointer 12 maintains its original unmodified display content because the main display 11 is an external electrode type gas discharge display panel with a so-called memory function. be. Therefore, after performing the desired correction operation on the editing display 13 as described above, the display of the entire screen is once erased, and then the corrected contents of the screen memory 40 are sequentially rewritten line by line. A modified display screen can thereby be obtained. Such operations are performed in a predetermined program order by operating a microprocessor (not shown) included in the control unit 30 in response to command signals from the keyboard unit 50.

Further, when calibrating the contents of a data file using the terminal display device of the present invention, data for one screen at a time is stored from the main storage device (not shown) into the screen memory 40 via the CPU, and the contents are stored in one screen. Read line by line and display from editing display 13 to main display 1
1 by sequential vertical shift operations. If an error is found in the display content written in this way, the pointer display of the line pointer 12 is advanced to the position opposite the character display line to be corrected, and the content of the display line is edited from the screen memory 40. The information may be read out and redisplayed on the display 13, and the erroneously displayed portion may be corrected by using the cursor instructions in the same manner as the correction operation described above.

Note that in the above embodiments, the line pointer 12 used as a display for specifying a line may be configured simply by disposing a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode corresponding to the line of the main display 11; Preferably, the device 11 and the editing display 13 are integrated into a single self-shifting gas discharge display panel. In this case, such a gas discharge display panel is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-8053 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
53-45169, the line pointer 12 is independent of the screen portion of the main display 11. It has a separated electrode structure to enable a shift operation. Alternatively, the row pointer 12 may be constructed with an array of light emitting elements in combination with a switch responsive to a finger touch.

As is clear from the above description, in short, the terminal display device of the present invention includes a display for specifying a line on one side of the main display and a separate display for editing having a display area for one line. data corresponding to the display content of a desired row on the main display is read out from the screen memory and redisplayed on the editing display according to instructions from the row designation display, and This feature is characterized in that editing operations such as deletion, modification, and addition can be applied to the contents of a designated line. Therefore, even in a configuration where the main display uses a display element that does not have a random address function, such as a self-shifting gas discharge panel,
The editing function can be easily achieved, and it is extremely useful in providing a terminal display device for various document editing systems and word processing systems at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of a terminal display device according to the present invention. 10: Display unit, 11: Main display, 12:
Line designation display, 13: Editing display, 20: Drive unit, 21: Write drive circuit, 22:
Display drive circuit, 23: Pointer drive circuit, 30: Control unit, 31: Data selector, 32: Decoder, 33: Cursor address circuit, 34: Pointer address circuit, 35: Line memory, 36: Character generator, 4
0: Screen memory, 50: Keyboard unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A character display device having a main display having a display screen consisting of a plurality of character display rows and columns, and a screen memory storing display data corresponding to the display screen of the main display. An editing selection screen having a main body, a display device for specifying a line corresponding to each character display line on one side of the display screen, and a display area for one line corresponding to each character display column on the display screen. furthermore, data stored in the screen memory corresponding to the display content of the display line specified by the line specification display is read out to the editing display and required editing operations are performed. A terminal display device characterized by: 2. The display screen of the main display device constituting the character display device and the display area for one line of the editing display device,
2. The terminal display device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal display device is constructed with mutually continuous shift channels on a single self-shifting gas discharge display panel. 3. The display for specifying the line is comprised of a self-shifting gas discharge display panel that is integrated with a main display that provides the display screen of the character display device, and represents the display content of each character display line. Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has an electrode structure that can be shifted independently of the discharge spot.
Terminal display device described in section.