Method and apparatus for providing on screen display (OSD) data at a computer for display on a monitor over a transmission link

A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for providing on screen display (OSD) data at a computer for display on a monitor over a transmission link stored thereon that, when executed on the computer, cause the computer to:

• launch an OSD application that is resident on the computer;
• receive an OSD control command;
• encode the OSD control command by the OSD application;
• convert the encoded OSD control command into an authenticable OSD data packet;
• convert the authenticable OSD data packet into at least two OSD pixel patterns that are coded differently;
• and
• send the at least two OSD pixel patterns over the transmission link to the monitor for display.

A system for providing on screen display (OSD) in a computer having a processor and a memory, comprising:

• a user interface component operable using the processor to provide an OSD control command in response to a user-provided OSD input;
• an OSD application program component resident on the computer and operable using the processor to provide control signals to an OSD control command encoder component coupled to the user interface component and operable using the processor to encode the OSD control command;
• a packetizer component coupled to the OSD control command encoder component and operable using the processor to convert the encoded OSD control command into an authenticable OSD data packet;
• and
• an OSD pixel pattern generator component coupled to the packetizer and operable using the processor to convert the OSD data packet into at least two OSD pixel patterns that are coded differently and sending the at least two OSD pixel patterns over the transmission link to the monitor.