JPH0228155B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a device for rotating and displaying a pattern or character appearing on the screen of a raster scanning type CRT monitor or other display device. In monitors and other display devices used for game consoles, training simulators, graphic displays, etc., changes in the color or brightness of semiconductor light-emitting elements and lamps arranged in a grid, or of pixels set on a CRT screen. Various patterns or characters are expressed by this. Therefore, in these display devices,
In order to achieve the purpose of each display, desired patterns, etc. appearing on those screens can be moved, rotated, enlarged or reduced at any time, and furthermore, these operations can be combined to create higher-order movements or transformations. It is necessary to do so. Among these operations, parallel movement can be performed using a relatively simple circuit, but in order to smoothly rotate a large pattern, a considerable amount of calculation must be performed within a short period of time, so a sophisticated calculation circuit is required. It was needed. In particular, it has been difficult to simultaneously perform this rotation and enlargement and reduction of the pattern using a simple circuit. Furthermore, various circuits have been proposed in the past, but in the conventionally known simple circuits for pattern rotation, the number and relative positions of pixels that make up the pattern are not completely preserved during rotation, and There was also the problem that the pattern could be unsightly deformed, making it unusable when, for example, the pattern needed to be held still at a position rotated several tens of degrees. Such restrictions are a particularly serious problem in game machines that cannot employ high-speed arithmetic circuits due to cost considerations, and are also a major hindrance in terms of game configuration. The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned viewpoints, and its purpose is to enable a pattern to be freely rotated using a simple circuit without damaging its shape, and to expand the pattern. The object of the present invention is to provide a novel pattern rotation circuit that can also perform reduction and reduction at the same time. The gist of the present invention is to divide pixels arranged in a grid on a screen into a plurality of pixel groups constituting concentric rings centered on a point designated as the center of rotation. , the pattern is rotated by sequentially cyclically transitioning the color tone or brightness of pixels belonging to each ring to adjacent pixels within the same ring at a frequency proportional to the radius of the ring. Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the division state of a pixel group divided into a large number of annular groups, and FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a pattern rotation circuit according to the present invention applied to a video display device. A circuit diagram showing,
FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the mutual relationship of timing pulses. In Figures 1 to 3, 1 is a screen;
2, 2 are pixels drawn as mutually circumscribed circles with the same radius, and 3, 3 are concentric circles centered on the designated point. In FIG. 1, the pixels 2, 2 are arranged in a rectangular grid, the center of rotation O is the center point of one specific pixel, and the radius R of the concentric circles 3, 3 is the pixel. It is an even number multiple of the radius r, that is, an integral multiple of the pixel diameter. In FIG. 2, pixels 2, 2 are arranged in a rectangular grid like in FIG. 1, but the rotation center O is the center point of four adjacent pixels, and The radius R is an odd number multiple of the pixel radius r. FIG. 3 shows the state when the pixels 2, 2 are arranged in a trigonal lattice shape, with concentric circles 3,
The radius of 3 is an even number times the pixel radius r. The number of pixels belonging to each ring group in each of these methods is shown in Table 1.

[Table] From these figures, the rules for dividing pixels into groups will be readily understood. That is, all pixels covered by one circle belong to the group corresponding to that circle. Since the radius difference between concentric circles is equal to the diameter d of a pixel, every pixel is always crossed by one concentric circle, and cannot be crossed by multiple concentric circles, unless it touches two concentric circles at the same time. You won't be disappointed. Furthermore, pixels that touch two circles at the same time are allocated so that the pixel groups before and after the pixels form a complete ring. The pixels belonging to each of these rings are numbered according to their order on the ring. The numbering method is free, but if the display device is of a raster scanning type, the first scanned pixel among the pixels belonging to the group is used as the starting point,
It is recommended to number them in clockwise order. All color or brightness data regarding these pixels is recorded in a known screen memory, and the data in the screen memory is controlled by the CPU (Central Processing Unit), and each pixel on the screen The color or brightness of the screen is controlled via a known interface based on the data recorded in the screen memory. Next, FIG. 4 will be explained. What is shown in FIG. 4 is the main part of the circuit of a game machine that has a path for rotating the patterns belonging to concentric rings C1 to C5 in FIG.
is a CPU (central control unit), 5 is a PROM (programmable read-only memory) that records game programs, etc., 6 is a pattern memory that records data such as the shape and color of the pattern to be used, and 7 is a player. 8 is a screen RAM; 9 is a video interface for organizing and outputting video signals; 10 is a gaming console operated by a game console;
is a video monitor, 11 is a timing pulse oscillator, 12 is an address converter, 13, 14, 1
5, 16 and 17 are interfaces, 18, 1
9, 20, 21 and 22 are circular registers. The data of the pattern displayed on the screen of the video monitor 10 is recorded in the screen RAM 8, and the required data is taken out to the video interface 9 for each scanned line.
The signal is output as a video signal in synchronization with the scanning of the video monitor 10 and sent to the video monitor 10. When the area to be rotated and the center of rotation are designated on the screen of the video monitor 10, the pixels forming the pattern within that area are reclassified according to the distance from the center of rotation. That is, among the above pixels, the pixels having substantially the same distance from the rotation center are grouped, and each group has the rotation center as its center, and each radius is an integral multiple of 1/2 of the distance d between the pixel centers. Each pixel is divided into groups such that a pixel ring is formed. Furthermore, each group is numbered according to the order of the radius of the corresponding circle, and the pixels within each group are numbered according to the order on the corresponding circle, and the number is determined by the group number and the pixel number within the group. An address converter 12 performs mutual conversion between the circular code of each pixel and the screen memory address predetermined corresponding to each pixel.
The pixels in the region to be rotated are stored in the circular registers 18 to 22 via the interfaces 13 to 17 according to the circular code, i.e., the group number and the pixel number within the group.
sent to. The number of digits of the circular registers 18 to 22 is equal to the number of pixels belonging to the rings C1 to C5. Further, the timing pulse oscillator 11 is designed to generate timing pulses of a number equal to the number of pixels belonging to each group within the time period for one rotation of the pattern, as shown in FIG. 5 P1 to P5. ing. The timing pulses generated from the timing pulse oscillator 11 are transmitted through the circulating registers 18 to 2.
2 and shift the data. When the circular registers 18 to 22 are shifted by the timing pulses, the data is transferred to the screen via the corresponding interfaces 13 to 17 and the address converter 12.
Returned to RAM8. In other words, the pattern data to be rotated is
The circular registers 18 to 22 corresponding to the circular code designated by the address converter 12 are loaded, and when the circular code is loaded into the circular registers 18 to 22 and the circular registers 18 to 22 are shifted by the timing pulse, the address The data in the screen ROM 8 corresponding to the address designated via the converter 12 is corrected. When the pattern rotates once within time T, the timing pulse oscillator 11 generates the fifth pulse within that time T.
As shown in FIGS. P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , P ₄ and P ₅ , a number of timing pulses equal to the number of pixels are generated and input into the circular registers 18-22. Within time T, there are 8 timing pulses _P1 , 12 timing pulses _P2 , _P3 , _P4 and
16, 32, and 28 _P5 's are generated, respectively, and input to the circulation registers 18 to 22 provided corresponding to the respective sections, and the recorded data is shifted. Each time the respective circulation registers 18 to 22 are shifted by the timing pulse, the interfaces 13 to 17 corresponding to the circulation registers 18 to 22 correct the data in the screen ROM 8 via the address converter 12. Therefore, the pattern is rotated. If the circulation registers 18 to 22 are capable of shifting in both forward and reverse directions, the pattern can be rotated or swung in both left and right directions. Since the present invention is constructed as described above, according to the present invention, a pattern can be freely rotated with a simple circuit without damaging its shape, and the pattern can also be enlarged or reduced at the same time. As a result, it is possible to construct game machines that are rich in variety and have high commercial value. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and, for example, the method of dividing pixels and the method of arranging pixels can be freely changed within the scope of the purpose of the present invention. , the present invention encompasses all of them.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the division state of a pixel group divided into a large number of annular groups, and FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a pattern rotation circuit according to the present invention applied to a video display device. A circuit diagram showing,
FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the mutual relationship of timing pulses. 1...screen, 2...pixel, 4...CPU, 5...
PROM, 6... Pattern memory, 7... Game console, 8... Screen ROM, 9... Video interface, 10... Video monitor, 11... Timing pulse oscillator, 12... Address converter, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17... Interface, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22... circular register.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A screen that forms a screen by changing the color or brightness of pixels arranged in a grid, a screen memory that records data of pixels that make up the screen on the screen, and a screen memory that records data of pixels that make up the screen on the screen. A method for rotating a pattern displayed on the screen of a display device comprising an arithmetic device for controlling data; . (a) The process of specifying the location of the center of rotation, the radius of the area to be rotated, and the speed and direction of rotation. (b) Divide the pixels in the area to be rotated into multiple groups based on the distance from the rotation center, form a ring centered on the rotation center with the pixels belonging to each group, and calculate the order of the ring and each circle. The process of giving each pixel a circular code according to the order of the pixels on the ring. (c) generating a predetermined number of timing pulses for each group at a pulse rate equal to the number of pixels belonging to each group per time required to rotate the pattern once; (d) Loading data of pixels belonging to each group into a circular register provided corresponding to each group according to each circular code. (e) Shifting and circulating the data in the circulation registers using respective timing pulses. (f) Correcting the screen memory record with the shifted data of said circular register. (g) Altering the color or brightness of pixels on the screen with the corrected screen memory data. 2. A screen that displays a pattern by changing the brightness or color of pixels arranged in a grid, a screen memory that records data of the pixels that make up the screen on the screen, and an arithmetic unit that controls the data in the screen memory. The above-mentioned pattern rotation device comprises the steps described in (h) to (m) below. (h) A memory for recording data indicating the position of the center of rotation, the radius of the area to be rotated, and the speed and direction of rotation. (i) The pixels on the screen are divided by the distance D from the center of rotation O, and the pixels having substantially the same distance D from the center of rotation O are made into one group, and each group has its own radius centered around the center of rotation O. Each pixel is divided into groups so that a pixel ring is formed where d is an integer multiple of the distance d between pixel centers, and each group is divided into groups according to the order of the radius of the corresponding circle. Each pixel within is numbered according to the corresponding order on the ring, and the ring code of each pixel is determined by the group number and the pixel number within the group,
A code conversion circuit that performs mutual conversion between each pixel and a predetermined screen memory address. (j) A timing pulse generator that is provided corresponding to each pixel group and generates a number of timing pulses equal to the number of pixels belonging to each group within the time that the pattern rotates once. (k) Provided corresponding to each pixel group, having a number of digits according to the number of pixels belonging to each group, shifted by the timing pulse generated by the corresponding timing pulse generator, and circulating the recorded data. circular register. (l) An interface that reads pixel data within a specified area from the screen memory and loads it into the circular register according to a circular code specified by the code conversion circuit. (m) Read the data in the above circular register,
A circuit that corrects data in the screen memory corresponding to the address specified by the code conversion circuit.