Overscan user interface
AssigneexSides Corporation
InventorsD. David Nason, Thomas C. O'Rourke, J. Scott Campbell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for creating and accessing a graphical user interface in the overscan area outside the area of the display normally visible to users of the common operating systems. This normal display area is generally known as the “desktop”. The desktop serves as the graphical user interface to the operating system. The desktop displays images representing documents and applications available to the user (icons). The desktop is restricted in the common environments to a predetermined set of resolutions (e.g., 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768) as defined by VGA and SuperVGA standards. Displayable borders outside this area are the overscan.
Claims39
A method in a computer system for enabling the display of an image on a video display system in an area outside of a first display area controlled by a computer operating system, the computer operating system presenting a user interface that occupies a portion of the first display area, the video display system having a total displayable area of which the first display area is a part, comprising:
- modifying the total displayable area of the video display system to include a second display area by adjusting the parameters of the video display system to increase the number of displayable pixels in at least one dimension of the displayable area to less than or equal to the maximum number of pixels that can be effectively displayed by the video display system;
- locating additional video display memory to correspond to the additional displayable pixels of the second display area, thereby creating an increased amount of video display memory that is addressable;
- writing the image to the video display memory, such that at least a portion of the image is written to the additional video display memory;
- and
- transferring the video display memory contents to the video display system to display the image in conjunction with the user interface.
A device for enabling the display of an image on a video display system in an area outside of a first display area controlled by a computer operating system, the computer operating system presenting a user interface that occupies a portion of the first display area, the video display system having a total displayable area of which the first display area is a part, comprising:
- a parameter adjustment facility that creates a second display area by adjusting the parameters of the video display system to increase the number of displayable pixels in at least one dimension of the displayable area to less than or equal to the maximum number of pixels that can be effectively displayed by the video display system;
- a memory locator that locates additional video display memory to correspond to the additional displayable pixels of the second display area, thereby creating an increased amount of addressable video memory;
- a memory write mechanism that writes the image to the video display memory, such that at least a portion of the image is written to the additional video display memory;
- and
- a memory transfer mechanism that transfers the video display memory contents to the video display system to display the image in conjunction with the user interface.
A computer readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor to display an image on a video display system in an area outside of a first display area controlled by a computer operating system, the computer operating system presenting a user interface that occupies at least a portion of the first display area, the video display system having a total displayable area of which the first display area is a part, by:
- creating a second display area by adjusting the parameters of the video display system to increase the number of displayable pixels in at least one dimension of the displayable area, to less than or equal to the maximum number of pixels that can be effectively displayed by the video display system;
- locating additional video display memory to correspond to the additional displayable pixels of the second display area, thereby creating an increased amount of video display memory that is addressable;
- writing the image to the video display memory, such that at least a portion of the image is written to the additional video display memory;
- and
- transferring the video display memory contents to the video display system to display the image in conjunction with the user interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.