An information display system which comprises a plurality of sets of terminal equipment, each set including a CRT for indicating a menu having a plurality of selection branches, monitoring picture tubes for displaying a motion picture, and/or a still picture, and input terminals for inputting data to start the operation of selection of a menu. The motion picture or the still picture is displayed on the monitoring picture tubes according to the selected menu for presenting desired information desired by the user of the system.
An image display device displays an identical image based on display data output from a display control circuit on its own display panel and an external display unit connected to the device through an interface. The device can erase and freeze an image on the external display unit in an erase mode and a freeze mode, respectively, while the display panel displays different images. In order to do so, this device has a frame memory circuit for storing and outputting display data received from the display control circuit toward the external display unit and a disable circuit for stopping data received from the frame memory circuit from being output and instead outputting monochromatic or single-color data to the external display unit. The frame memory circuit inhibits data stored in its memory from being rewritten during the freeze mode. The disable circuit outputs the monochromatic data in the erase mode. During the freeze mode and the erase mode, the display panel can display a freeze sign and an erase sign, respectively, along with an image, by means of a sign pattern generator and a synthesize circuit. The sign pattern generator, the synthesize circuit, the frame memory circuit and the disable circuit are controlled by a control circuit which is also controlled by a CPU.
A multi-channel video graphics display system is provided which utilizes a single graphics controller and associated graphics processor to supply independent video graphic information to a plurality of independent display terminals.
A method for specifying and executing independent, multi-media tasks along a synchronizing time-line, preferably in the form of a spreadsheet matrix with the event elements making up the rows and the time periods the columns. The media include various pieces of hardware such as touch screens, voice synthesizers, video disk players, and the like. In designing a presentation, the author types into the matrix indications of which piece of hardware will be operating and for what specified period of time during the presentation. This information is also accessible to all other events in the presentation thereby allowing complex multi-media presentations to be designed by a user who is relatively unsophisticated in using computers.
A video display controller capable of providing video control information for either a flat panel or a CRT display. The controller includes a plurality of main circuits, alternate circuits, select circuits, and a circuit for identifying the display device used in the system. Each main circuit receives information from the processor and generates main video information compatible with a CRT. Each alternate circuit receives information from the processor and generates alternate video information compatible with a flat panel display. Each select circuit receives main and alternate video information and outputs main video information when the display device is a CRT display and the alternate video information when the display device is a flat panel display. In one embodiment, the alternate circuits are programmable registers. In another embodiment, tables are used to program the alternate registers to provide compatibility for a number of possible display devices.
A video input device senses a visual portion of a presentation and produces video signal information corresponding to the visual portion. A user interface is provided for inputting presentation identification information relating to a presentation. The audio signal information, video signal information and presentation identification information are stored as a presentation set. The system further includes a presentation management portion in communication with the presentation capture portion. The presentation management portion includes a character recognition device for generating text character information from the presentation set video signal information and adding the text character information to the set. The presentation set is stored in a database that includes a database indexing system for generating an index of text character information from the presentation set, and a database search program for searching the index for selected information contained therein. The presentation playback portion includes an input query system for formulating and directing search requests to the database search program. An output display device displays search results following a search request. Based on the search results, users can selectively replay a presentation set from the database.
