Abstract: A visual display system adapted for a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal display that shows the construction of a composite ideographic character. The system displays the root ideograms as they are keyed-in in an "n.times.m" pixel area and simultaneously highlights a "u.times.v" portion of the "n.times.m" pixel area in which the next operation is to take place, the next operation being either the construction of a root having dimensions equal to "u.times.v" or a further division of the "u.times.v" area.

Abstract: A computer is used to generate ideograms such as Chinese characters from an input of coded signals. The input device may be a standard ASCII keyboard having forty-four (44) keys with a shift key giving an eighty-eight (88) character input set. Combinations of two key strokes result in the ideogram being made ready for output, while certain other key strokes serve to combine one or more ideograms to generate more complex characters. The system will produce in excess of fifty thousand (50,000) characters with an average of less than four key strokes per character.