Apparatus and method for graphics display system for markup languages

TLDR: In this paper, the authors present a set of features required by Internet related applications (e.g. browser, email client, instant messaging system) can be implemented in a graphics chip.

Abstract: Applications such as web-browsers, email clients are currently available on high-end devices such as personal computers, workstations and laptops. The Internet has started to also become available on thin client devices such as touch panel displays, TVs, mobile phones and other handheld devices. The technology currently available for these thin client devices cannot easily utilize the technology from the high-end devices with respect to graphics due to limits on the memory and CPU power available. To overcome this problem, it is necessary to recognize that thin client devices have limited display and display update requirements, and hence, a carefully chosen set of features required by Internet related applications (e.g. browser, email client, instant messaging system) can be implemented in a graphics chip. In particular, a graphics chip can operate in unison with a processing device which sends necessary object information to the graphics chip to display. The processing device fetches the markup language data, parses the markup language data and creates a table of objects. The graphics chip reads the properties of these objects, such as text, image, buttons, text field objects etc., and displays them on the display devices with the use of a number of graphics engines for processing text, image and geometry objects.