Display control chip, method of operating the same, and display system including the same

Abstract

The present application relates to a display control chip, an operating method thereof, and a display system including the same. The display control chip includes a first memory and an operation circuit. The first memory is configured to store a plurality of character images, and the plurality of character images correspond to a plurality of characters in a character encoding format, respectively. The operation circuit is coupled to the first memory and configured to receive first update data generated by encoding input data using the character encoding format, and to update text data in a second memory using the first update data. When the operation circuit reads the text data in the second memory, the operation circuit is configured to search for a plurality of target images corresponding to the text data from the plurality of character images, and to output first display data according to the plurality of target images, and the first display data is configured to generate a first display screen including the plurality of target images.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an on-screen display (OSD) technology, and particularly to a display control chip, operating method, and display system capable of customizing OSD information. Background Technology

[0002] On-screen display (OSD) information is built into the display device's firmware, allowing the device to display OSD information even without a video signal source. OSD information is typically used as a control menu for the display device, allowing users to configure its functions. However, the OSD information of traditional display devices cannot be modified after manufacturing, thus limiting the device's application scenarios. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This disclosure provides an operation method applicable to a display control chip. The display control chip includes a first memory. The first memory is used to store multiple character images, and the multiple character images respectively correspond to multiple characters in a character encoding format. The operation method includes the following steps: receiving first update data generated by encoding input data according to the character encoding format; updating text data in a second memory using the first update data; converting the text data into multiple target images according to the multiple character images; and outputting first display data according to the multiple target images, wherein the first display data is used to generate a first display screen including the multiple target images.

[0004] This disclosure provides a display control chip including a first memory and a processing circuit. The first memory stores multiple character images, each character image corresponding to multiple characters in a character encoding format. The processing circuit is coupled to the first memory and is used to receive first update data generated from input data encoded according to the character encoding format, and to update text data in a second memory using the first update data. When the processing circuit reads text data from the second memory, the processing circuit is used to: search for multiple target images corresponding to the text data from the multiple character images; and output first display data based on the multiple target images, wherein the first display data is used to generate a first display screen containing the multiple target images.

[0005] This disclosure provides a display system including an input device and a display control chip. The input device is used to receive input data and to encode the input data according to a character encoding format to generate first update data. The display control chip is used to communicate with the input device to receive text data and includes a first memory. The first memory is used to store a plurality of character images, and the plurality of character images respectively correspond to a plurality of characters in the character encoding format. The display system further includes a second memory and a display circuit. The second memory is used to store the text data. The display control chip is coupled to the second memory and the display circuit and is used to update the text data using the first update data. When the display control chip reads the text data in the second memory, the display control chip is used to: search for a plurality of target images corresponding to the text data from the plurality of character images; and output first display data to the display circuit according to the plurality of target images to control the display circuit to display a first display screen containing the plurality of target images.

[0006] One of the advantages of the aforementioned display control chip, operating method, and display system is that it can store customized information for a long time and display this information repeatedly. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This is a simplified functional block diagram of a display system according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0008] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of an operation method according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0009] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of image overlay according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0010] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of an operation method according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0011] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of image overlay according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0012] Figure 6 This is a simplified functional block diagram of a display system according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0013] Symbol Explanation

[0014] 100, 600: Display system

[0015] 110: Input device

[0016] 120, 620: Control circuit

[0017] 122: Display control chip

[0018] 124: Operational Circuit

[0019] 126, 128: Memory

[0020] 130: Display circuit

[0021] 200, 400: Operating Instructions

[0022] S210, S220, S230, S240: Steps

[0023] S410, S420, S430, S440, S450: Steps

[0024] 622: Timing Circuit

[0025] Cm0~Cmn: Character Image

[0026] Tm0~Tm9: Target image

[0027] Bm: Background Image

[0028] D_Pic: Display screen

[0029] UDa, UDb: Update data

[0030] DDa: Display data

[0031] TD: Text Data

[0032] G1~G3: Groups

[0033] I_OSDa, I_OSDb: OSD information

[0034] F_title, F_date, F_time: Fields Detailed Implementation

[0035] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or method flows.

[0036] Figure 1This is a simplified functional block diagram of a display system 100 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The display system 100 includes an input device 110, a control circuit 120, and a display circuit 130. The control circuit 120 is coupled between the input device 110 and the display circuit 130. The input device 110 and the control circuit 120 can be coupled to each other via various suitable wired or wireless transmission methods, such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART), wired networks, etc. The control circuit 120 is used to receive update data UDA from the input device 110 and to output display data DDA to the display circuit 130 based on the update data UDA, so as to control the on-screen display (OSD) information of the display circuit 130. In some embodiments, the control circuit 120 can also receive video data from an external video source (not shown, such as a graphics card), and the control circuit 120 is used to generate display data DDA simultaneously based on the update data UDA and the video data.

[0037] In some embodiments, the display circuit 130 includes a display panel, a data driving circuit, a scanning driving circuit, and a timing control circuit. The control circuit 120 and the display circuit 130 may be integrated into the same display device, such as a television, computer screen, or electronic signage.

[0038] The display control chip 122 of the control circuit 120 includes an arithmetic circuit 124 and a memory 126. The arithmetic circuit 124 can access the memory 126, which is used to store multiple character images Cm0 to Cmn, and the character images Cm0 to Cmn respectively correspond to multiple characters in a character encoding format.

[0039] In one embodiment, the aforementioned character encoding format is Unicode. Therefore, character image Cm67 represents the image of the letter "C", character image Cm97 represents the image of the letter "a", and so on. In another embodiment, the aforementioned character encoding format is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII).

[0040] The arithmetic circuit 124 can also access another memory 128 in the control circuit 120. The memory 128 is used to store text data TD, which may contain one or more character strings. The arithmetic circuit 124 is used to update the text data TD using update data UDa. The arithmetic circuit 124 is also used to read the text data TD and control the OSD information displayed by the display circuit 130 based on the text data TD. In some embodiments, the memory 128 is a non-volatile memory, such as an electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or flash memory.

[0041] In some embodiments, the display control chip 122 and the memory 128 are different circuits disposed on the same circuit board. In other embodiments, the memory 128 is a pluggable memory device (e.g., a USB flash drive) and is electrically connected to the display control chip 122 in a pluggable manner.

[0042] For ease of explanation, Unicode is used as the character encoding format in several embodiments of the operation method of the display control chip 122 described below, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will understand, based on the teachings of this disclosure, that other suitable character encoding formats (e.g., ASCII) are also applicable to the operation methods described below.

[0043] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of an operation method 200 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Operation method 200 is applicable to... Figure 1 The display control chip 122. In step S210, the arithmetic circuit 124 is used to receive update data UDa from the input device 110. The input device 110 is used to encode an input data in the aforementioned character encoding format to generate update data UDa.

[0044] For example, input device 110 can receive input data from the user through an input interface (not shown, such as a keyboard, touch screen, or microphone). For example, when the user wants to use display circuit 130 as an electronic bulletin board, the user can input the text "Call Brian" as input data into input device 110. Then, input device 110 can convert the input data "Call Brian" into a Unicode string and transmit this Unicode string as update data UDA to arithmetic circuit 124. Before transmission, input device 110 can further encode the update data UDA using UTF-8 encoding format to compress its size. In other words, when the input data is "Call Brian", the update data UDA can contain 8 bytes, as shown in Table 1 below.

[0045] Table 1

[0046]

[0047] In some embodiments, the input device 110 may not need to include an input interface, and the input data may be generated by the input device 110 itself. For example, the input device 110 may be a measuring instrument such as a lux meter or a decibel meter, and the input device 110 may use the measured values ​​as input data.

[0048] Next, in step S220, the arithmetic circuit 124 updates the text data TD in the memory 128 using update data UDa. For example, the text data TD may contain a Unicode string, and the arithmetic circuit 124 replaces the Unicode string of the text data TD with the Unicode string of the update data UDa. Therefore, after step S220, the text data TD contains the string "Call Brian".

[0049] Please also refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of image overlay according to an embodiment of this disclosure. In step S230, the arithmetic circuit 124 reads the text data TD from the memory 128 and converts the text data TD into characters based on the character images Cm0 to Cmn in the memory 126. Figure 3 The processing circuit 124 retrieves multiple target images Tm0 to Tm9 from the character images Cm0 to Cmn for each character in the string "Call Brian" of the text data TD. Specifically, the processing circuit 124 searches for a corresponding character image in the character images Cm0 to Cmn for each character in the string "Call Brian", and uses the searched corresponding character image as the target image for that character. For example, the processing circuit 124 uses character image Cm67 (i.e., the image of the letter "C") as the first target image Tm0 of the string "Call Brian"; and uses character image Cm97 (i.e., the image of the letter "a") as the second target image Tm1 of the string "Call Brian", and so on. In other words, the arrangement order of the target images Tm0 to Tm9 corresponds to the character arrangement order of the string of text data TD.

[0050] In step S240, the arithmetic circuit 124 outputs display data DDA to the display circuit 130 based on multiple target images to control the OSD information of the display circuit 130. For example, as Figure 3 As shown, the arithmetic circuit 124 is used to overlay the target images Tm0 to Tm9 onto the background image Bm, and generate display data DDA based on the overlay result. Figure 3 The display screen D_Pic is generated by the display circuit 130 based on the display data DDa, and the content of the display screen D_Pic is the new image generated by superimposing the target image Tm0 to Tm9 and the background image Bm. In other words, the display screen D_Pic simultaneously contains the target image Tm0 to Tm9 and the background image Bm, and the target image Tm0 to Tm9 form the OSD information I_OSDa in the display screen D_Pic.

[0051] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 124 receives video data from an external video source (not shown, such as a display card) in step S240 and obtains a background image Bm from the video data. In some embodiments without an external video source, the background image Bm may be stored in memory 126 or 128.

[0052] In some other embodiments, in step S240, the processing circuit 124 first determines whether video data has been received from an external video source. If yes, the processing circuit 124 obtains the background image Bm from the video data. If no, the processing circuit 124 reads the background image Bm from the memory 126 or 128.

[0053] In some embodiments, steps S210 to S220 may be repeated to correct the updated character string in the text data TD until the arithmetic circuit 124 receives an instruction from the input device 110 indicating the end of updating the text data TD. Then, the arithmetic circuit 124 executes steps S230 to S240.

[0054] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of an operation method 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the operation method 400 is applicable to a display control chip 122. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of image overlay according to an embodiment of this disclosure. In the following... Figure 4 and Figure 5 In one embodiment, the text data TD in memory 128 contains multiple strings (e.g., three, but this disclosure is not limited thereto). In one embodiment, the multiple strings in the text data TD are shown in Table 2 below. The multiple strings in the text data TD are referred to by different numbers below, but this is only for convenience of explanation and is not intended to limit the storage format of the multiple strings in the text data TD.

[0055] Table 2

[0056] string Meeting 03 / 15 13：30

[0057] Step S410 is similar to the aforementioned step S210, except that the update data UDa contains not only the string but also update target information. The user can specify a specific string in the text data TD that they wish to update to the processing circuit 124 using the update target information. For example, the user can input the text "04 / 20" into the input device 110 and specify the string number "02" in the text data TD to be updated. Therefore, the update data UDa will contain the string "04 / 20" and the update target information corresponding to the number "02".

[0058] In step S420, the arithmetic circuit 124 first determines the string specified by the target information to be updated. Then, in step S430, the arithmetic circuit 124 replaces the specified string (i.e., the string numbered "02") with the string in the update data UDa. Therefore, after step S430, the text data TD is as shown in Table 3 below.

[0059] Table 3

[0060] string Meeting 04 / 20 13：30

[0061] Please refer to this as well. Figure 5 In step S440, the arithmetic circuit 124 converts multiple character strings in the text data TD into multiple target images of groups G1 to G3 based on the character images Cm0 to Cmn. For example, the arithmetic circuit 124 can perform a similar operation to the aforementioned step S230 on each character string in the text data TD to obtain multiple target images corresponding to that character string. For the sake of brevity, this will not be repeated here.

[0062] Step S450 is similar to the aforementioned step S240, that is, the processing circuit 124 overlays the target images in groups G1 to G3 onto the background image Bm to generate display data DDA. The difference between step S450 and S240 is that in step S450, the processing circuit 124 uses groups G1 to G3 to form... Figure 5 The OSD information I_OSDb has three fields: F_title, F_date, and F_time. In summary, through operation method 400, the user can update the content of specific fields in the OSD information I_OSDb.

[0063] In some embodiments, steps S410 to S430 may be repeated to update different strings in the text data TD or correct updated strings until the arithmetic circuit 124 receives an instruction from the input device 110 indicating the end of updating the text data TD. Then, the arithmetic circuit 124 executes steps S440 to S450.

[0064] In some embodiments, during the process of the arithmetic circuit 124 receiving update data UDa and updating text data TD (i.e., during the execution of steps S210-S220 or S410-S430), the arithmetic circuit 124 may read a preset image from the memory 126 and generate display data based on the preset image to control the display circuit 130 to provide a display screen containing the preset image. The preset image is used to notify the user that the arithmetic circuit 124 is receiving update data UDa. For example, the preset image may contain text such as "string being transmitted". In other embodiments, when the arithmetic circuit 124 completes updating the text data TD (i.e., completes the execution of steps S220 or S430), the arithmetic circuit 124 may read another preset image from the memory 126 and control the display circuit 130 to provide a display screen containing the other preset image. The other preset image is used to notify the user that the arithmetic circuit 124 has completed updating the text data TD. For example, the other preset image may contain text such as "string modification successful".

[0065] Figure 6 This is a simplified functional block diagram of a display system 600 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The display system 600 includes an input device 110, a control circuit 620, and a display circuit 130. The display system 600 is similar to... Figure 1 The display system 100 is used, so the following description only covers the differences between the two. The control circuit 620 includes a display control chip 122, a memory 128, and a timing circuit 622. The timing circuit 622 is used to calculate the operating time of the display circuit 130. The operating time is, for example, the total time that the display circuit 130 is lit up over a fixed time length (e.g., a day or a week).

[0066] The timing circuit 622 can convert the running time into a string (e.g., the string "screen usage time is 3 hours and 20 minutes"), and encode the string using the same character encoding format as the display control chip 122, so as to output update data UDb to the arithmetic circuit 124. The arithmetic circuit 124 can update the text data TD in the memory 128 using the update data UDb in a manner similar to the aforementioned steps S220 or S420 to S430. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0067] As can be seen from the above, Figure 1 The display system 100 and Figure 6The display system 600 can store customized information for an extended period. Even if the display device, comprised of the control circuit 120 (or control circuit 620) and display circuit 130, is powered off, the display device can still display the information previously stored by the user upon the next startup. Therefore, the display systems 100 and 600 offer high flexibility and are suitable for various scenarios requiring modification of OSD information. For example, company administrators can push announcements to various display devices within the local area network via the network's main control computer. Alternatively, users of the display device can use OSD information to mark pending tasks on the display.

[0068] Certain terms are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific elements. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the same element may be referred to by different names. The specification and claims do not distinguish elements by differences in name, but by differences in function. The term "comprising" as used in the specification and claims is an open-ended term and should be interpreted as "comprising but not limited to". Furthermore, "coupled" here includes any direct and indirect means of connection. Therefore, if the text describes a first element coupled to a second element, it means that the first element can be directly connected to the second element through electrical connection or signal connection methods such as wireless transmission or optical transmission, or indirectly electrically or signalally connected to the second element through other elements or connection means.

[0069] The use of "and / or" herein includes any combination of one or more of the listed items. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified in the specification, any singular term also includes the plural meaning.

[0070] The above are merely preferred embodiments of this disclosure. Various modifications and equivalent changes can be made to this disclosure without departing from its scope or concept. In summary, all modifications and equivalent changes to this disclosure made within the scope of the following claims are within the scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An operating method applicable to a display control chip, wherein the display control chip includes a first memory for storing a plurality of character images, and the plurality of character images respectively correspond to a plurality of characters in a character encoding format, the operating method comprising: An input device receives input data and encodes the input data according to the character encoding format to generate a first update data; The display control chip receives the first update data from the input device; Use the first update data to update a text data in a second memory; Based on the multiple character images, the text data is converted into multiple target images; and A first display data is output based on the plurality of target images, wherein the first display data is used to generate a first display screen containing the plurality of target images.

2. The operation method as described in claim 1, wherein outputting the first display data based on the plurality of target images includes: The plurality of target images are superimposed onto a background image to generate the first display data, wherein the background image is stored in the first memory.

3. The operation method as described in claim 1, wherein outputting the first display data based on the plurality of target images includes: Receive a background image from an external video source; and The multiple target images are overlaid onto the background image to generate the first display data.

4. The operation method as described in claim 1, wherein the first update data includes an update target information and a string, the text data includes multiple strings, and updating the text data using the first update data includes: Determine one of the multiple character strings corresponding to the text data specified by the update target information; and Replace one of the corresponding strings with the string of the first updated data.

5. A display control chip, comprising: A first memory for storing multiple character images, wherein each character image corresponds to multiple characters in a character encoding format; and An arithmetic circuit, coupled to the first memory and an input device, is used to receive first update data from the input device and to update text data in a second memory using the first update data. in, The first update data is generated by the input device by receiving input data and encoding the input data according to the character encoding format; When the arithmetic circuit reads the text data from the second memory, the arithmetic circuit is used to: Searching for multiple target images corresponding to the text data from the multiple character images; and A first display data is output based on the plurality of target images, wherein the first display data is used to generate a first display screen containing the plurality of target images.

6. The display control chip of claim 5, wherein the arithmetic circuit is used to overlay the plurality of target images onto a background image to generate the first display data, wherein the background image is stored in the first memory.

7. The display control chip of claim 5, wherein the computing circuit is configured to receive a background image from an external video source, and the computing circuit is configured to overlay the plurality of target images onto the background image to generate the first display data.

8. The display control chip as described in claim 5, wherein the first update data includes an update target information and a string, the text data includes multiple strings, and when the arithmetic circuit uses the first update data to update the text data, the arithmetic circuit is used to: Determine one of the multiple character strings corresponding to the text data specified by the update target information; and Replace one of the corresponding strings with the string of the first updated data.

9. A display system comprising: An input device is configured to receive input data and to encode the input data according to a character encoding format to generate a first update data; A display control chip is used to communicate with the input device to receive the first update data, and includes a first memory, wherein the first memory is used to store multiple character images, and the multiple character images respectively correspond to multiple characters in the character encoding format; A second memory for storing text data; and A display circuit, The display control chip is coupled to the second memory and the display circuit, and is used to update the text data using the first update data. When the display control chip reads the text data from the second memory, the display control chip is used to: Searching for multiple target images corresponding to the text data from the multiple character images; and The display circuit outputs first display data based on the plurality of target images to control the display circuit to display a first display screen containing the plurality of target images.

10. The display system of claim 9, wherein the first update data includes an update target information and a string, the text data includes multiple strings, and when the display control chip uses the first update data to update the text data, the display control chip is configured to: Determine one of the multiple character strings corresponding to the text data specified by the update target information; and Replace one of the corresponding strings with the string of the first updated data.

Images