Method and apparatus for packing data

A computing system adapted to process digital motion video signals, the system comprising:

• a memory to store a first M×N-bit data consisting of a first set of M packed N-bit data elements, and a second M×N-bit data consisting of a second set of M packed N-bit data elements;
• a processor coupled with the memory to access the first and second M×N-bit data and to produce a third set of 2M packed N/2-bit results in response to an instruction having a first format, said first format operable to identify a first source corresponding to the first M×N-bit data and a second source corresponding to the second M×N-bit data, the third set of 2M packed N/2-bit results corresponding to 2M optionally saturated N/2-bit elements from the first and second sets of M packed N-bit data elements;
• a bus coupled with the processor to transmit an input signal to the processor and to transmit an output signal from the processor;
• an interface to couple the bus with one or more video devices, said one or more video devices selected from a group consisting of a video digitizing device, a video capture device, a network cable, and a video recording device;
• and
• an optical disk drive coupled with the bus, the optical disk drive to receive an optical disk capable of storing digital motion video data.

A computing system adapted to process digital still images, the system comprising:

• a memory to store a first M×N-bit data consisting of a first set of M packed N-bit data elements, and a second M×N-bit data consisting of a second set of M packed N-bit data elements;
• a processor coupled with the memory to access the first and second M×N-bit data and to produce a third set of 2M packed N/2-bit results in response to an instruction having a first format, said first format operable to identify a first source corresponding to the first M×N-bit data and a second source corresponding to the second M×N-bit data, the third set of 2M packed N/2-bit results corresponding to 2M optionally saturated N/2-bit elements from the first and second sets of M packed N-bit data elements;
• a bus coupled with the processor to transmit an input signal to the processor and to transmit an output signal from the processor;
• an interface to couple the bus with one or more graphics devices, said one or more graphics devices selected from a group consisting of a graphics rendering device, a pen, a still-image capture device, a hard copy device, and a touch screen display device;
• and
• a disk drive coupled with the bus, the disk drive to receive a removable disk, the removable disk selected from a second group consisting of an optical disk capable of storing digital still image data and a magnetic disk.