ELECTRONIC APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING DIGITAL IMAGE OR GRAPHICS DATA TO COLOR VIDEO DISPLAY FORMATS AND METHOD THEREFOR

ELECTRONIC APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING DIGITAL IMAGE OR GRAPHICS DATA TO COLOR VIDEO DISPLAY FORMATS AND METHOD THEREFOR A digital video color signal generation system for converting image or graphics data into a color video display format transforms source image or graphics data into a single data word comprising three separate groups of data bits which define the video display to be produced in terms of intensity, hue and saturation characteristics, and stores such data bit groups in respectively corresponding fields in a memory to allow independent user control of one or more of such characteristics. The data bit groups corresponding to hue and saturation are employed for simultaneously addressing storage locations in memory devices which contain digital color reference data representing symmetrically mapped combinations of hue and saturation values, which data are read-out and delivered to respectively associated multiplying digital-to-analog converters or producing red, blue and green color video signals. The group of data bits corresponding to intensity are directly converted to analog signals which are employed to control the reference voltage input of each of the multiplying digital-to-analog converters in a manner which modulates the magnitude of each of the video signals to permit varying the intensity of the resulting video display without also altering either of the hue or saturation. (Docket No. 16304)