System and method for optimizing color compression using transparency control bits

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by expressing the selected color code as a compressed code having a bit width less than the first bit width.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of the object.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein the first bit width of the color data is 8 bits and the second bit width of the control data is 2 bits, and compressing the color data further comprises compressing the 8 bits of color data for at least the particular pixels to 2 bytes.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 , wherein the selected pixel position defines a portion of the region that is a proper subset of the display area comprising pixels having color data that is not used to contribute to a color of the first object or the second object.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 , wherein the second object of the second color is merged with the first object of the first color.

Claim 11

The method of claim 6 , wherein switching the color data does not occur upon encountering a non-transparent pixel location if the second color code is equal to the first color code.

Claim 12

The method of claim 6 , wherein the selected pixel position is determined using a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels encountered and a count of repeat data associated with a number of non-transparent pixels encountered.

Claim 13

The method of claim 6 , further comprising: determining a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels encountered; and upon encountering a non-transparent pixel having color data equal to that of the transparent pixels, setting the color code associated with the arbitrary data to the color code of the non-transparent pixel, so as to achieve a longer run length.

Claim 14

The method of claim 6 , further comprising: determining a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels having a first color code encountered; and upon encountering a non-transparent pixel having a second color code that is different from the first color code, setting a run length of the first color code to include a repeat data count associated with the first color code plus a count of arbitrary data representing transparent pixels following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12 , wherein the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code is determined using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area.

Claim 16

The method of claim 12 , wherein the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code is determined using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size.

Claim 17

The method of claim 12 , wherein: the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code is determined using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size; and the color data of any arbitrary pixels remaining thereafter are set to the second color code and included in the repeat count and removed from the arbitrary count.

Claim 20

The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor compresses the color data by expressing the selected color code as a compressed code having a bit width less than the first bit width.

Claim 21

The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor compresses the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area.

Claim 22

The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor compresses the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of the object.

Claim 23

The system of claim 16 , wherein the first bit width of the color data is 8 bits and the second bit width of the control data is 2 bits, and the processor compresses the 8 bits of color data for at least the particular pixels to 2 bytes.

Claim 26

The system of claim 21 , wherein the selected pixel position defines a portion of the region that is a proper subset of the display area comprising pixels having color data that is not used to contribute to a color of the first object or the second object.

Claim 27

The system of claim 21 , wherein processor merges the second object of the second color with the first object of the first color.

Claim 28

The system of claim 21 , wherein the processor does not switch the color data upon encountering a non-transparent pixel location if the second color code is equal to the first color code.

Claim 29

The system of claim 21 , wherein the processor determines the selected pixel position using a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels encountered and a count of repeat data associated with a number of non-transparent pixels encountered.

Claim 30

The system of claim 21 , wherein the processor further: determines a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels encountered; and upon encountering a non-transparent pixel having color data equal to that of the transparent pixels, sets the color code associated with the arbitrary data to the color code of the non-transparent pixel, so as to achieve a longer run length.

Claim 31

The system of claim 21 , wherein the processor further: determines a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels having a first color code encountered; and upon encountering a non-transparent pixel having a second color code that is different from the first color code, sets a run length of the first color code to include a repeat data count associated with the first color code plus a count of arbitrary data representing transparent pixels following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code.

Claim 32

The system of claim 27 , wherein the processor further determines the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area.

Claim 33

The system of claim 27 , wherein the processor further determines the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size.

Claim 34

The system of claim 27 , wherein the processor further: determines the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size; and the color data of any arbitrary pixels remaining thereafter are set by the processor to the second color code and are included in the repeat count and removed from the arbitrary count.

Claim 35

A information bearing medium comprising processor readable instructions for compressing color data, the processor readable instructions causing a processor to perform the steps of: providing pixel data for a plurality of pixels defining a region that is a proper subset of a display area, the pixel data for each of the pixels comprising color data of a first bit width and control data of a second bit width, the first bit width being longer than the second bit width; setting the control data of particular pixels in the region that is a proper subset to a transparent setting when a particular pixel is not used to contribute to a color of an object in the region that is a proper subset of the display area; setting the color data of each of the particular pixels to a selected color code for the entire region; and compressing the color data of the particular pixels using the selected color code of the particular pixels; wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or by repeating the selected color code to an end of the object.

Claim 36

A information bearing medium comprising processor readable instructions for compressing color data, the processor readable instructions causing a processor to perform the steps of: providing pixel data for a plurality of pixels defining a region that is a proper subset of a display area, the pixel data for each of the pixels comprising color data of a first bit width and control data of a second bit width, the first bit width being longer than the second bit width; setting the control data of particular pixels in the region that is a proper subset to a transparent setting when a particular pixel is not used to contribute to a color of an object in the region that is a proper subset of the display area; setting the color data of each of the particular pixels to a selected color code for the entire region; and compressing the color data of the particular pixels using the selected color code of the particular pixels; wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by repeating the selected color code to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or by repeating the selected color code to an end of the object.

Claim 37

The medium of claim 31 , wherein compressing the color data further comprises compressing the color data by expressing the selected color code as a compressed code having a bit width less than the first bit width.

Claim 38

A information bearing medium comprising processor readable instructions for compressing color data, the processor readable instructions causing a processor to perform the steps of: providing pixel data for a plurality of pixels defining a region that is a proper subset of a display area, the pixel data for each of the pixels comprising color data of a first bit width and control data of a second bit width, the first bit width being longer than the second bit width; setting the control data of particular pixels in the region that is a proper subset of the display area to a transparent setting, the particular pixels having color data that is not used to contribute to a color of a first object or a second object in the region that is a proper subset of the display area; setting the color data of particular pixels of a first region that is a proper subset of the display area defining the first object to a first color code; setting the color data of particular pixels of a second region that is a proper subset of the display area defining the second object to a second color code; switching the color data between the first color code and the second color code at a selected pixel position between the first and second regions that are proper subsets of the display areas; and compressing the color data of the particular pixels for the first and second regions hat are proper subsets of the display area using the respective first and second color codes.

Claim 39

A information bearing medium comprising processor readable instructions for compressing color data, the processor readable instructions causing a processor to perform the steps of: providing pixel data for a plurality of pixels defining a region that is a proper subset of a display area, the pixel data for each of the pixels comprising color data of a first bit width and control data of a second bit width, the first bit width being longer than the second bit width; setting the control data of particular pixels in the region that is a proper subset of the display area to a transparent setting, the particular pixels having color data that is not used to contribute to a color of a first object or a second object in the region that is a proper subset of the display area; setting the color data of particular pixels of a first region that is a proper subset of the display area defining the first object to a first color code; setting the color data of particular pixels of a second region that is a proper subset of the display area defining the second object to a second color code; switching the color data between the first color code and the second color code at a selected pixel position between the first and second regions that are proper subsets of the display areas; and compressing the color data of the particular pixels for the first and second regions hat are proper subsets of the display area using the respective first and second color codes.

Claim 40

The medium of claim 33 , wherein the processor readable instructions causes the processor to perform the step of merging the second object with the first object of the first color.

Claim 41

The medium of claim 33 , wherein switching the color data does not occur upon encountering a non-transparent pixel location if the second color code is equal to the first color code.

Claim 42

The medium of claim 33 , wherein the selected pixel position is determined using a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels encountered and a count of repeat data associated with a number of non-transparent pixels encountered.

Claim 43

The medium of claim 33 , further comprising: determining a count of arbitrary data associated with a number of transparent pixels having a first color code encountered; and upon encountering a non-transparent pixel having a second color code that is different from the first color code, setting a run length of the first color code to include a repeat data count associated with the first color code plus a count of arbitrary data representing transparent pixels following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code.

Claim 44

The medium of claim 37 , wherein the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code is determined using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size.

Claim 45

The medium of claim 37 , wherein: the count of arbitrary data following one or more of the non-transparent pixels having the second color code is determined using runs to an end of a scan line defined through the region that is a proper subset of the display area or using multiple runs of a pre-determined maximum size; and the color data of any arbitrary pixels remaining thereafter are set to the second color code and included in the repeat count and removed from the arbitrary count.