Multi-resolution video apparatus and method for displaying biological data

摘要

A method for simultaneously displaying images of different resolutions on a single raster scan video monitor begins with the step of storing lower resolution text and graphics data in a first memory. The data in the first memory is used to generate a first video frame having N1 pixels per line. A first video data stream is generated from the first memory at a first rate corresponding generally to the bandwidth of the video monitor. Higher resolution biological waveform data is stored in a second memory. The data in the second memory represents a second video frame having N2 pixels per line. If desired, the second memory can include data for stationary and scrolling high resolution images. A second video data stream is generated from the second memory at a second rate, which is faster than the first rate. The ratio of the second rate divided by the first rate is approximately equal to N2 divided by N1. The first and second video data streams are combined to produce a single combined video data stream that is displayed on the video monitor.