Graphics data compression method and system
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorJames R. Peterson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Graphics data representing color values of pixels are compressed into a data structure. Each pixel has a color value that results from the combination of a luma component and chroma components. The number of bits representing the luma and chroma components of a pixel are reduced to less than eight bits, and the luma components of at least four pixels and at least two chroma components are combined into a data structure r bits in length. The number of bits of the data structure is derived from r=2s, where s is an integer greater than or equal to five.
Claims42
A data structure representing graphics data stored in a memory of a computer system, comprising:
- first, second, third, and fourth luma fields five bits in length containing data representing luma components for first, second, third, and fourth pixels, respectively;
- first and second chroma fields six bits in length containing data representing first and second chroma components, respectively, that are shared by the luma fields, the first and second luma fields precede the first and second chroma fields, and the third and fourth luma fields follow the first and second chroma fields, the data structure is r bits in length, r=2s and s is an integer greater than or equal to five.
A graphics processing system, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor to store graphics data having a data structure comprising:
- first, second, third, and fourth fields containing data representing a luma component for first, second, third, and fourth pixels, respectively;
- and
- fifth and sixth fields containing data representing first and second chroma components, respectively, shared by the first, second, third, and fourth luma components to determine a color value for each pixel, the first and second fields preceding the fifth and sixth fields, and the third and fourth fields following the fifth and sixth fields.
A computer system, comprising:
- a processor;
- a compression circuit coupled to the processor to compress graphics data representing pixels having color values defined by luma and chroma components, the compression circuit compressing the graphics data by:
- reducing the number of bits representing the luma and chroma components to less than eight bits;
- combining luma components of four pixels with first and second shared chroma components;
- and
- dithering the luma and chroma components by adding a bit shifted value provided by a dithering matrix to a respective component to produce a sum, and saturating the sum to the range of 0 to 255;
- a memory coupled to the compression circuit to store the compressed graphics data;
- and
- a graphics processing system coupled to the memory to process the compressed graphics data.
A method of compressing graphics data representing color values of pixels, each pixel having a luma component and sharing chroma components with at least one other pixel, the method comprising:
- shifting the luma components 3 bits to the right to form 5 bit luma components and shifting the first and second shared chroma components 2 bits to the right to form 6 bit chroma components;
- and
- combining first, second, third, and fourth luma components of first, second, third, and fourth pixels, respectively, with first and second chroma components into a data structure r bits in length and having respective luma and chroma fields in which the respective luma and chroma components are contained, r=2s and s is an integer greater than or equal to five, the first and second luma fields precede the first and second chroma field, and the third and fourth luma fields follow the first and second chroma components.
A method of compressing graphics data representing pixels having respective color values defined by luma and chroma components, the method comprising:
- shifting the luma components 3 bits to the right to form 5 bit luma components and shifting the first and second shared chroma components 2 bits to the right to form 6 bit chroma components;
- and
- combining luma components of four pixels with first and second shared chroma components to form a data structure r bits in length, r=2s and s is an integer greater than or equal to five.
A method of compressing graphics data representing color values of pixels, each pixel having a luma component and sharing chroma components with at least one other pixel, the method comprising:
- reducing the number of bits representing the luma and chroma components;
- and
- combining luma components of first, second, third, and fourth pixels with first and second chroma components into a data structure r bits in length and having luma fields five bits in length and chroma fields six bits in length, r=2s and s is an integer greater than or equal to five, the luma components for the first and second pixels preceding the first and second chroma components, and the luma components for the third and fourth pixels following the first and second chroma fields.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.