High-quality character generating system and method for use therein

摘要

A character generation system, in which multiple operations are performed in parallel to achieve higher-speed processing, includes a circuit for converting character contour data into coordinate axis data, a circuit for generating dot data expressive of the contour from the coordinate axis data, a circuit for sorting the coordinate axis data in a prescribed sequence and a circuit for performing image drawing operations in correspondence with the sorted data. At least two of these circuits include sufficient channels to permit the performance of their designated functions in parallel. The required image drawing time is reduced by a decrease in the required number of accesses to a bit map using a polygon approach to character generation. The invention selects only the starting point and terminating point for its image drawing process out of the coordinates which form the polygon and draws a character on the bit map while generating the coordinates incremented by a predetermined value from the starting point to the terminating point. The invention also relates to a method for image drawing.