Abstract: A technique is provided for programmably horizontally filtering pixel values of frames of a plurality of video frames. The technique includes, in one embodiment, passing pixel values through a real-time horizontal filter disposed as preprocessing logic of a video encode system. The horizontal filter is programmable and includes a filter coefficients buffer for holding multiple sets of filter coefficients. The horizontal filter programmably employs the multiple sets of filter coefficients to selectively perform spatial noise filtering, or spatial noise filtering and image scaling on the pixels. The filter coefficients are also programmable and may be changed dynamically and repeatedly, with changes being applied at frame boundaries. When performing image scaling, multiple sets of filter coefficients are employed.

Abstract: Flickering artifacts are removed from a displayed image by storing digital luminance values in a compressed form using disallowed luminance values clipped from a range of luminance values to encode run lengths of identical values of truncated luminance values and bits corresponding to bits truncated from the luminance values. A correction value is derived from a filter transfer function computed by summing an increase in correction value above a threshold within a range of luminance differences with a maximum change in correction value in each lower range, this providing a piecewise linear substantially quadratic transfer function without discontinuities that would engender other image artifacts. The non-linearity of the transfer function is this adaptive to different image conditions and types in regions of respective image planes and the correction factors implemented by the transfer function are freely adjustable to accommodate, for example, different scanning standards and display refresh rates.

Abstract: A technique is provided for programmably horizontally filtering pixel values of frames of a plurality of video frames. The technique includes, in one embodiment, passing pixel values through a real-time horizontal filter disposed as preprocessing logic of a video encode system. The horizontal filter is programmable and includes a filter coefficients buffer for holding multiple sets of filter coefficients. The horizontal filter programmably employs the multiple sets of filter coefficients to selectively perform spatial noise filtering, or spatial noise filtering and image scaling on the pixels. The filter coefficients are also programmable and may be changed dynamically and repeatedly, with changes being applied at frame boundaries. When performing image scaling, multiple sets of filter coefficients are employed.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for synchronizing multiple circuits or chips clocked at a divided phase lock loop (PLL) frequency. The apparatus generally includes a plurality of chips, each chip including a phase locked loop (PLL) and a circuit for generating a system clock signal, a circuit for receiving the lock signal from each PLL and for generating an All-Locked signal in response to all of the PLLs achieving lock, and a synchronizing circuit for synchronizing the system clocks of the plurality of chips upon receipt of the All-Locked signal.

Abstract: In printed circuit boards having dense printed connections, cross talk noise immunity is significantly improved by preferentially routing adjacent to one another serially connected conductors of the same net rather than conductors of different nets. By such routing inter-net cross talk is reduced while the resultant intra-net cross talk is maintained at tolerable levels.

Abstract: A method for establishing interconnections in the vicinity of congested clusters of pins in a printed circuit using an extended escape region in combination with an escape region and a global region. The extended escape region includes wire path segments in one signal plane of a plane pair which may enter the extended escape region from the escape region in a direction angularly disposed to the predominant direction of wiring in that plane. All wire segments exit the extended escape region to said global region in the predominant direction for the signal plane on which the interconnection is disposed.