Abstract: An a-Si film is patterned into a linear shape (ribbon shape) or island shape on a glass substrate. The upper surface of the a-Si film or the lower surface of the glass substrate is irradiated and scanned with an energy beam output continuously along the time axis from a CW laser in a direction indicated by an arrow, thereby crystallizing the a-Si film. This implements a TFT in which the transistor characteristics of the TFT are made uniform at high level, and the mobility is high particularly in a peripheral circuit region to enable high-speed driving in applications to a system-on glass and the like.

Abstract: Laser beams emitted by a plurality of laser sources are divided into a plurality of sub-beams, which are irradiated onto selected portions of an amorphous semiconductor on a substrate to crystallize the amorphous semiconductor. A difference in diverging angles between the laser beams is corrected by a beam expander. The apparatus includes a sub-beam selective irradiating system including a sub-beam dividing assembly and a sub-beam focussing assembly. Also, the apparatus includes laser sources, a focussing optical system, and a combining optical system. A stage for supporting a substrate includes a plurality of first stage members, a second stage member disposed above the first stage members, and a third stage member 38C, rotatably disposed above the second stage to support an amorphous semiconductor.

Abstract: A polycrystal thin film forming method comprising the step of forming a semiconductor thin film on a substrate 14, and the step of flowing a heated gas to the semiconductor thin film while an energy beam 38 is being applied to the semiconductor thin film at a region to which the gas is being applied to thereby melt the semiconductor film, and crystallizing the semiconductor thin film in its solidification. The energy beam is applied while the high-temperature gas is being flowed, whereby the melted semiconductor thin film can have low solidification rate, whereby the polycrystal thin film can have large crystal grain diameters and can have good quality of little defects in crystal grains and little twins.

Abstract: A method and system for optimizing the processing of graphics is disclosed. The system may comprise at least one geometry processor and at least one graphics processor. A communication channel permits communication between the geometry and graphics processors. A control processor may communicate with the geometry and graphics processor through the communications channel. A method of processing graphics data in a computer system is provided to determine whether the geometry and graphics processors are being efficiently utilized. If necessary, one or more of the geometry and graphics processors are selectively assigned or unassigned to improve the efficiency of the graphics processing circuitry in performing the graphics task.

Abstract: The invention provides a flat panel display and a method of manufacturing the same in which the throughput of polycrystallization can be improved in polycrystallizing an amorphous silicon layer formed on a substrate using a low temperature polysilicon manufacturing process. Four gate bus lines are concentrated in the vicinity of a predetermined range indicated by the vertical arrow. The range resides in the vicinity of the boundary between pixels in the second row and pixels in the third row and substantially equally extend across those groups of pixels. Four each of the plurality of gate bus lines and TFT's are combined into a set in the order of row numbers, and at least the TFT's are concentrated in respective ranges X that extend substantially in the middle of respective groups of pixels each consisting of four rows.

Abstract: The invention provides an active matrix type TFT LCD in which a driving voltage of pixel TFTs is reduced. A pixel is formed with two thin film transistors, i.e., a positive-voltage-applying n-channel TFT for applying a data voltage having a positive polarity to a pixel electrode and a negative-voltage-applying p-channel TFT for applying a data voltage having a negative polarity to the pixel electrode. A source electrode of the positive-voltage-applying TFT is connected to the pixel electrode; a drain electrode of the same is connected to a data bus line for applying the positive voltage; and a gate electrode of the same is connected to a gate bus line for applying the positive voltage. A source electrode of the other TFT is also connected to the pixel electrode; a drain electrode of the same is connected to a data bus line for applying the negative voltage; and a gate electrode of the same is connected to a gate bus line for applying the negative voltage.

Abstract: To provide an image processor with which the amount of rendering can be reduced. A plurality of primitives are categorized into a first group of primitives that are to be displayed on a display and a second group of primitives that are not to be displayed thereon, by an XYZ clipping section, a Z testing section, and a stencil testing section, according to the data about the plurality of primitives in a primitive buffer. A two-dimensional image is drawn in a frame buffer using the data for the first group of primitives in the primitive buffer.

Abstract: A polycrystal thin film forming method comprising the step of forming a semiconductor thin film on a substrate 14, and the step of flowing a heated gas to the semiconductor thin film while an energy beam 38 is being applied to the semiconductor thin film at a region to which the gas is being applied to thereby melt the semiconductor film, and crystallizing the semiconductor thin film in its solidification. The energy beam is applied while the high-temperature gas is being flowed, whereby the melted semiconductor thin film can have low solidification rate, whereby the polycrystal thin film can have large crystal grain diameters and can have good quality of little defects in crystal grains and little twins.

Abstract: An a-Si film is patterned into a linear shape (ribbon shape) or island shape on a glass substrate. The upper surface of the a-Si film or the lower surface of the glass substrate is irradiated and scanned with an energy beam output continuously along the time axis from a CW laser in a direction indicated by an arrow, thereby crystallizing the a-Si film. This implements a TFT in which the transistor characteristics of the TFT are made uniform at high level, and the mobility is high particularly in a peripheral circuit region to enable high-speed driving in applications to a system-on glass and the like.

Abstract: An a-Si film is patterned into a linear shape (ribbon shape) or island shape on a glass substrate. The upper surface of the a-Si film or the lower surface of the glass substrate is irradiated and scanned with an energy beam output continuously along the time axis from a CW laser in a direction indicated by an arrow, thereby crystallizing the a-Si film. This implements a TFT in which the transistor characteristics of the TFT are made uniform at high level, and the mobility is high particularly in a peripheral circuit region to enable high-speed driving in applications to a system-on glass and the like.

Abstract: An operating semiconductor layer is formed in such a manner that amorphous silicon layer is formed to be shaped so that it has a wide region and a narrow region and the narrow region is connected to the wide region at a position asymmetric to the wide region, and the amorphous silicon layer is crystallized by scanning a CW laser beam from the wide region toward the narrow region in a state that a polycrystalline silicon layer as a heat-retaining layer encloses the narrow region from a side face through the silicon oxide layer.

Abstract: A modeling section and geometry processing section collectively generate draw data used for a series of draw processing, and a control section transfers the generated draw data to a multi-path buffer. The draw processing is executed, under control of the control section, when a multi-path controller serially reads out the draw data stored in the multi-path buffer and outputs them to a rendering engine. This successfully saves the band width necessary for transfer of the draw data from a main processor to a graphic processor, and relieve the main processor from the process load.

Abstract: In a case of a liquid crystal display apparatus, a gate insulating film of a TFT driven at a low voltage (3.3 V or 5 V) is constituted by one insulating film, and a thickness thereof is set to, for example, 30 nm. This TFT has a structure in which LDD regions (low concentration impurity regions) are not provided. A TFT having a CMOS structure, which is driven at a high voltage (18 V), has a gate insulating film constituted by two insulating films having a thickness of, for example, 130 nm in total. In an n-type TFT, a low concentration impurity region is provided on a drain side. A p-type TFT has a structure having no LDD region. A pixel TFT has a gate insulating film constituted by two insulating films, and LDD regions provided in both of its source/drain.

Abstract: An input position detection device for detecting an input position of an input device, and an entertainment system which can detect the position of a subunit and has a display which displays an image generated by execution of a program loaded into the entertainment system. The entertainment system has a portable game terminal held by the operator. The portable game terminal is equipped with an infrared input/output unit which sends infrared signals corresponding to the commands of the operator to an infrared input/output device which is connected to a monitor device 6. The infrared input/output device and the CCD camera are disposed adjacent each other and point in the direction of the operator holding the portable game terminal.

Abstract: The present invention ensures that object images to be subjected to a predetermined image processing are subjected to such image processing depending on predetermined coefficients of semi-transparency, and that a portion of the object images closest to a virtual viewpoint is processed last. This successfully provides an image based on a first image processing (&agr;-blending, for example) depending on coefficients of semi-transparency in a natural and unfailing manner without using a technique such as Z sorting.

Abstract: Character (or letter) information is extracted from source information, word information is extracted from the character information, and a database is created of the word information. Thereby, the created database is adapted for the technical field of the user or a field of interest to the user.

Abstract: A portable game machine 60 includes a detachable transparent film 62, a base film 63, and reels 64a, 64b, and a reflective liquid crystal panel 8 which is sandwiched in between, with the transparent film 62 in front of, and the base film 63 in back of the reflective liquid crystal panel, which is supported in a housing 4 to display images. In the portable game machine 60, menu options, icons, and other auxiliary information is depicted on the transparent film and the base film, etc. By manipulation of an operation unit, instructions are given by moving an arrow, etc. displayed on the reflective liquid crystal panel 6. Auxiliary information corresponding to multiple scenes is depicted on the transparent film 62 and the base film 63, and the auxiliary information that is displayed in a display unit 61 is changed by rotating the reels 64a, 64b to scroll the transparent film 61 and the base film 63.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and method for rendering an antialiased image, which are enabled to easily form an antialiased image at a high speed. First, a main CPU extracts a contour and a contour candidate, which are visually important parts of an image to be rendered, according to, for example, polygon data representing an image of one frame. Further, a GPU performs rendering on data stored in a graphic memory according to the polygon data representing an image of one frame. Moreover, the GPU performs antialiasing on the contour and contour candidate extracted by the main CPU. Then, the GPU overwrites data representing the antialiased contour and contour candidate onto the data representing the image, which is already rendered and stored in the graphic memory.

Abstract: In an image drawing device and method multiple shift amounts are set for shifting, with precision finer than one pixel, the drawing position when the RGB values of each pixel are to be drawn to a frame buffer, and the image is overwritten by drawing the RGB values into the respective frame buffer locations that correspond to the multiple shift amounts. In this way a point at coordinates is written to a first pixel when drawn for the first time, is written to a second pixel when drawn for the second time, is written to a third pixel when drawn for the third time and is written to the fourth pixel when drawn the fourth time.

Abstract: The multi-processor system comprises a plurality of cell processors for performing data processing, a BCMC for broadcasting broadcast data including data used in data processing to the plurality of cell processors, each of the plurality of cell processors sorts out only data necessary for data processing that is performed by each cell processor from broadcast data broadcasted by BCMC to as to perform data processing. BCMC obtains results of data processing of all cell processors so that they can be supplied to all cell processors as broadcast data, thus making it possible to transmit and receive the results of data processing between the cell processors and perform high-speed data processing as an entire system.