CA1203616A

CA1203616A - Method and apparatus for electronic publishing

Info

Publication number: CA1203616A
Application number: CA000439441A
Authority: CA
Inventors: John W. Carlquist; George Van Valkenburg
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-10-22
Filing date: 1983-10-21
Publication date: 1986-04-22
Also published as: AU2045883A; US4517598A; FR2535137B1; GB2129649A; SG39787G; FR2535137A1; JPS59132285A; GB2129649B; NZ206036A; HK77187A; AU570416B2; GB8327366D0

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides apparatus and methods for formatting and displaying video information having particular application to electronic publishing systems. A video signal which includes a plurality of fields of video information is inputted into an index generator. Alphanumeric characters, which include unique index numbers are generated and inserted into a portion of one or more fields of the video signal. The index numbers and other characters are generated in response to a clock signal, which in the present embodiment, is provided by synchronization signals extracted from the inputted video signal The index numbers and other characters are advanced, decremented or otherwise modified in response to a control signal which is independent of the frame frequency of the video signal. The control signal may originate from a variety of sources, such as by way of example, switching means operated by a user, an external computer, or a predetermined delay coupled to the synchronization signals. Accordingly, the identical index numbers as well as other characters may be inserted into a plurality of fields of the video signal without regard to the video signal frame frequency. The characters and index numbers may be inserted into a visible portion of the displayed video signal. In addition, the characters and/or numbers may be encoded into the signal in a machine readable form.

Description

~3~

Baçkc~round Q~ ~h~ Invention 1~ Field:
The present inven~ion relates ~o ~he field of electronic information dissemination, and more par~icularly~ to apparatus and methods for formatting and displaying Yideo information f~r use in television electronic publishing systems.

2. Art Background:
Over the past 30 years, broad band television has become highly developed on global scale. Thousands of ~ransmitters and millions of receivers are situated world-wide, in urban as well as remo~e rural settings. In general, television originated as, and has remained, an entertainment medium. However, technological innovation ha~ prov;ded the electronic capability to permi~ television displays to be utilized in order to access sizable and comprehen~ive remote da~a bases. By way o~ example, these data bases may include information related to s~ocks, weather, general and technical library services, as well as tex~ual and pictorial representations of current periodicals~
Various systems have been proposed whi~h attempt to provide data base access using television displays to viewers around ~he globe. A number of these systems are interactive, and permit a user to directly manipulate the accessed data base, by for example, requesting changes, ~alling for furkher details, etc.
Other systems simply provide the user with the desired information in a fixed and unmodifiable fashion~ ~8~, ~.J.
Hindinr Videotext Looks Bri~hter As Developments Mount, page 89, ~ectronics, August 5r 1982.

~ owever, prior axt television information dissemination systems, such as those described~ require the use of hybrid equipment in order to prepare the requisite data for i

3~

transmission. In addition, prior art televisi~n based systems require complex and expensive circuitry, such as encoders and decoders, in order to receive and display the desired video information. Accor~ingly, there exists a need to provide a S system for television based information transfer which will permit the efficient transmission, recep~ion and display of data to a user using simple, reliable and readily available technology~
The present invention provides a means for organizing data and inserting predetermined index numbers and other characterS
into a video signal, such that unique numbers and/or characters for each page" of transmitted electronic data may be provided.
As will ~e clisclosedr the present invention provides apparatus and methods which permit the reception and display o~ electronic data base information on a television display using standard video technology.

Su~rnary o~ the Inventlon The present invention provides apparatus and methods for formatting and displa~ing video information having particular application to elec~ronic publishing systems. A video signal which includes a plurality of fields of video in~ormation is inputted in~o an index generator. Alphanumeric characters, which include unique index numbers are generated and inserted into a portion of one or more fields of the video signal. The index numbers and other characters are generated in response to a clock signal, which in the present embodiment, is provided by synchronization signals extracted from the input~ed video signal.
The index numbers and other characters are advanced, decremented or otherw.ise modified in response to a control signal which is independent of the frame frequency (frames/sec) of the video signal. The control signal may origina~e ~rom a variety of sources, such as by way of example, switching means operated by a user, an external computer, or a prede~ermined delay coupled to the synchro~ization siynals. Accordingly, ~he identical index numbers as well as other characters may be inserted into a plllrality of ields of the video signal without regard to the video signal's frame frequency standard.
In the preferred embodiment, colored areas as well as index number~ and other alphanumeric characters may be inserted into the video fields. In addition, characters and index numbers may also be encoded electronically into the signal (e.g. into standard SMPTE time code) such that they are invisible to a ~ser, ~et machine readabler by for example an appropriate ~ime code reader.

~%~

~ method for storing and displaying the ~ormattecl video inEormation utilizing the present invention is also provided, which permits a user to view the data, one or more fields (one "page~) at a time, each page being identi~ied by a unique index number which has been inserted.

~rief ~escriptlon of the Drawings Figure 1 is a block diagram of the electronic publishing system of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of the basic embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 ls a schematic block diagram of the presently preferred emb~diment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a diagramatical illustration of an example oE
the video output provided by the present invention.

1 DE~I`~ILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Apparatus and methods for genera-ting, inserting and displaying alphanumeric characters in a video signal, having particular applica-tion to electronic publishing systems is disclosed. In the following description for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, characters, formats, television standards, etc. are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, i~ will be apparent -to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details In other instances, well-known circuits are shown in block diagram ~orm in order not to obscure the present invention unnecessarily.
Referring now to ~igure 1, a general block diagram of the television information transfer system utilized by the present invention is provided. Video information 8, which may include by way of example, photographic quality images as well as computer generated graphics, textual representations of current periodicals, novels, news service reports, and the like, is inputted into an index generator 10. Video information 8 may originate from a variety of sou:rces~ such as by way of illustration, film, video tape, or a direct coupling from a video camera. ~or purposes of this Sepcification, "video signal" is defined as the video, audio and o-ther signals which comprise a typical television signal.
As will be described,index generator 10 formats the inputted video information by inserting unique index numbers in~o the video signal as desired. In additionl as ~ill also be disclosed below, index generator 10 may also insert o~her alphanumeric characters (nalphanumeric characters~ may comprise letters, numbers, symbolsr logos~ etc.) and colored areas into the video ~iynal. In the presently preferred embodimentr the video signal inputted into index ~enerator 10 comprises a plurality of video fields, where a ~frame" of video information is defined as two fields In the United States, which uses the NTSC television standard, typically 30 frames (60 fields) of video information are transferred per second. ~owever, in other countries such as New ~ealand, which use the PAL system, 25 frames (50 fields~ are generally ~raxlsmitted per second~ These transmission rates are commonly referred to as the "frame frequency of the video signal. For purposes of this Specification~ the United States NTSC system will be used in descr.ibing the present invention~
Elowever, it will be appreciated t:hat the present invention is dixectly ~dap~able to all televisiion standards throuyhout the world, inasmuch as the present in~ention operates independently o~ the frame frequency. In addition, for purposes of this Specification, a Wpagea is generally defined as one or more rames of vide~ information. ~owever~ it will be noted that a page may equally be defined as one or more video fields if the particular application of the present invention renders this desirable.
~ s illustrated in ~igure 1, index generator 10 is typically coupled to a storage device 12 which stores the newly formatted video i~formation~ Storage device 12 may take the form o~, ~or example/ a video tape recorder, an optical storage mediumJ or if the ~ideo signal is properly digiti~ed, a digital memory~
Storage device 12 is then $ypicall~ coupled ~o a transmit 3~

recorder 14~ Transmik recorder 14 is coupled to and ~eeds the formatted video information into a transmitter 16 for television transmission. In ~igure 1, the coupliny between storage device 12 and transmit recorder 14 is shown by phantom line 13, in order to indicate that the coupling need not be direct. For e~ample, storage device 12 may take the form of a video tape recorder in which tne video tape storing the formatted vid~o signal is physically transferred to a separate location where the transmit recorder 14 is situated~ In addition, it will be appreciated that index generator 10 may be directly coupled to transmit recorder 14 without the need for storage device 12 if the particular application prefers such coupling Moreover, it is possible to directly couple index generator 10 to transmitter 16 ~,uch that a direct transmission of the video signal immediately after its formatting by the index generator 10 is obtained.
The transmitted video signal 17 passes through a transmission medium/ which by way of example, is shown as an electromagnetic transmission of signals throu~h the a~mosphere by ~ntennae 18 in Figure 1. It will be appreciated that the transmission medium may also comprise coaxial cable, optical fiber etc. Similarly, the transmitted video signal is received by a reception antennae and receiver 20, and the received signal is then coupled to a storage and readout device 22 for recording.
A~ in the case of storage device 12, storage and readout device 22 may comprise a video ~ape recorder, recording disk, or the like. Storage and readout device 22 is capable of displaying indiYidual pages of video information on a display 24~ In the presen~ly preferred embodiment, display 24 is a raster scan television receiverr howeverr display 24 may equally take the form of a vector or other display. Thus, a user desiring to view pages of the formatted video siynall may view the transferred ( ~9~

inforM~tion page by page. It will be noted, that the storage medium of storage device 12 may be physically transpor~ed to storage and readout de~ice 22 as indicated by phantom line 15 in Figure 1, thereby obviating the need for electroma~netic transmission and reception.
Referring now to Figure 2, the basic circuit confiyuratlon of index generator 10 for the insertion of index numbers into the inputted video signal will be described. ~ideo information 8 to be formatted is inputted into index generator 10 and is coupled to a bu~ler 26 where it is gain and frequency equalized. In the present embodiment, buffer 26 comprises an LM318 high speed operational amplifier (op-amp). The buffered and gain equalized video signal is then coupled to a clamp circuit ~8 where DC
restoration takes place (presently an LM318 op-amp is used in conjunctivn with a CMOS transmission gate 4066). The video signal is then coupled to a synchronization stripper 30 in order to detect and isolake synchronization signals found within the inputted video ~lgnal. Synchronization signals isolated by the sync stxipper 30 are then coupled to a field select circuit 32 which identifies frames, and output~ sync in~ormation in the form of onP digi~al pulse per frame, thereby converting synchroniza-tion signals identifying video ~ields into pulses which identify video rames. This synchronization information is then coupled to other portions of the circuit as required and as is well known in ~he art.
The DC restored video input signal is coupled by line 34 to an inserter 36. As ~ill be described, inserter 36 combines the inpu~te~ video si~nal on llne 3~ with the unique index numbers provided by the counter string 38. In order to generate the unique index numbers for insertion into the video signal, a counter string 38 i5 provided which oomprises a binary coded ~2G93~16 decimal (BCD~ counter. The counter string 38 provides eiyh~ BCD
digits for însertion into the inputted video signal9 Counter string 38 advances one count upon the receipt of a control si~nal 40~ Similarly, counter strin~ 38 provides an eight digit ~CD
output whenever clocked by an appropriate time base signal 42~
Clsckiny time base signal 42 is provided such that counter string 38 develops an eight digit index number for eYery page of video information ~each page in the presently preferred embodiment cornprising one or more fields).
Thus, for every field of information passing through index generator 10, counter string 38 provides a desired index number for insertion into the field. A reset line 44 is provided in order to reset the counter string 38 to zero, or alternatively, the counters may be appropriately preset to a desired index number. Clocking time base signal 42 may originate from a variety of sourcesr howeverv in the presently preferred embodiment~ clocking time base signal 42 is coupled to receive the synchronization information signals from the field select circuit 32r such that counter string 38 provides an index number for each frame or multiple thereof of ~ideo information passing through the index genexator lD.
The control signal 40 for incrementing ~he index number generated by the counter string 3~ may originate from switching means operated by user, an external computer, or as in the present embodiment, a predetermined delay selec~ed by the user coupled ~o the synchroni~a~ion information signals from the field ~elect circuit 32~ However~ it will be appreciated that although the synchronization signals may be used in order to control the incrementing or decrementing of the counter string 38, that other sources may also provide the appropriate control signals ~0.

~LZ~3) a3 .~ L6 ~ s ill~lstr~ted in Figure 2, the output of the counter string 38 in the form of eight binary coded digits in parallel is coupled to a parallel to serial convertor ~8. Parallel to serial convertor 48 outputs the eight digit index number generated by the counter string 38 in serial form to character shaping means 50~ Character shaping means 50 utilizes a read~only memory (ROM~
for character forma~ion (part number 8678)~ as well as 16to 1 multiplexers (part number 74150) in conjunction with a 74161 counter driving the multiplexers. Inasmuch as character shaping by providing the vertical size, vertical position, horizontal size and position and other information for insertion of the character into the video signal is well known, the ~tructure and operation of the character shaping means 50 will not be further described in this Specification. The output of character shapiny means 50 is coupled to a parallel to serial convertor 52 which outputs the ~enerated index numbers in serial form to inserter 36~ Inserter 36 th~n insPrts the index number into the DC
restored vide~ signal for each field passing through the index generator 10, at the appropriate position in the video ~ield in accordance with vertical ~ize and position signals which are coupled to character shaping means 50~
The newly formatted video signal including the inserted unique index number is coupled t~ line 54 and to ~uffer 56 and is then outputted to storage device 12 or the like, It will be appreciated thak the particular index number generated by counter string 38 for insertion into ~ideo fields is not dependent on the ~ynchronlzation signals of the inputted video signal~ Thus~ a particular index number may be inserted into a plurality of video fields as desired, based on the content of the video rames and independent of the time coding of the video signal. This feature of the present invention permits a uni~ue index number to :~1 ~2~3~
e associated with multiple fields of video information s~sequently displayed on display 24 by a user9 Referring now to Fi~ure 3, the presently preferred embodiment of the invention will be described, ~he preferred embodiment of the invention incorporates the features of the basic index number generator described in conjunction with Figure 2, but further permits the user to input other alphanumeric characters in addition to the index number as well as colored areas such as borders and backgrounds into the inpu~ted video signalO It will be noted that since many of the components o the embodiment of Figure 3 correspond to those previously described in ~igure 2~ unle~s some modification exists in a partlcular component, similar numerals will be used to designate the Figure 3 components.
The video signal 8 is inputted into buffer 26 for gain equalization and is then coupled to clamp 28. Sync extraction block 31 comprises sync stripper 3ID and field select circuit 32 previously discussed with reference to Pigure 2. The bc restored video signal is coupled from clamp 28 to iine 34 and to inserter 20 36~ Counter string 38, or providing an index number for insertion into the video siynal, is coupled to frame repetition circuit 58. Frame repetition circuit 58 provides a clocking signal to counter string 38 in response to clockiny time b~se signal 42. Frame repetition circuit 58 permits the user to vary ~5 the clocking time base signal ~2 which may be directly coupled tG
synchronization si~nals provided by the sync extraction block 31.
According~y, frame repe~ition circuit 58 may comprise a serie~ of variable delay elements such that counter string 38 provides an index number ~or insertion into ~he video signal only after a preselected number of fields have passed through the inserter 36.
Alternatively, frame repetition circuit 58 may provide clockin~

i i~nals to counter string 38 such that multiple index generation numbers are provided for each field of vi.deo informa~ion passing through the index generator 10.
Control signal 40 for incrementing or decrementing the 5counter string 38 may be provided by user controlled switching meansl an external computer, or sufficien~ly delayed signal.
synchronization means from sync extrac~ion block 31~ The index numher generated by counter string 38 is coupled to the digit formatting circuit 60 which includes digital parallel ~o serial 10converter 48 in order to output the current index number in serial form onto a bus 62~ Digit forma~ing circuit 60 further provides appropriate timing for coupling the ~enerated index number to a random access memory 64 through bus 620 Other alphanumeric characters such as for example dates, titles, names, 15etc. may be generated by external keyboard 66 and/or external computer 68. Other possible inputs of alphanumeric characters, by way of example, would include word processing equipment as well as satellite links from remote locations. These alphanumeric characters are also coupled to memory 64 on bus 62.
20The alphanumeric characters and index numbers are stored in memory 64 for insertion into the video fields ~f the inputted video signal. Address control circuit 70 allocates ~tora~e within memory ~4 and provides appropriate addressing in order to access the inputted alphanumer~c and index number characters, as 25is well-known in the art~
Memory 64 is coupled to character formation circuit 72 which generates a video rate signal to be inserted into the inputted video signal~ Optional graphic manipulation of the inputted alphanumeric and other characters may be performed by a graphic 30formation circuit 74, such as providing a particular font style for the characters and/or numbers to be inserted. In addition, 12~3 a~ 6 ize, position and masking circuits 76 are coupled to the character ~ormation CiLCUit 72 in order ~o provide inEormation to the character formation circuit as ~o the vertical and horizontal size and position of the characters to be inser~ed in the video field~ For exampler the masking or removal of superfluous leading zeros in the index n~mber and other charac~ers may be accomplished using well- known circuits. The alphanumerlc characters and index numbers to be inser~ed into ~he video signal are coupled to the inserter 36 on line 780 In addition to the insertion of alphanumeric characters and/or index numbers, the present invention also provides for the insertion of colored areas such as strips, borders, etc. into ~he video signal. An external or internally extracted color burst signal 80 is coupled to a buffer B2 and chroma processing circuit 84 The chroma processing circuit, as is well known, allows control of chroma level, phase and luminescence aæ well as positioning of borders and the like if desired. The color signal is then coupled to the inserter 36 for insertion in the video signa:l.
Inserter 36 inserts alphanumeric characters provided by the character formation circuit and color signals at the appropriate position within video fields which comprise the inputted video signal~ The modified and now formatted video signal is coupled from the inserter 36 to a driver 86, and comprises video pages wi~h index number~ and other alphanumeric characters and/or colored areas inserted into the video signal. Thus, informativn such as unlque index numbers, ~he names and dates of publications or ~he like, ~s well as colors and other alphanumeric information, may be inserted into a plurality of fields of the video signal independent of the frame frequency of the video signal.

In some applications, i~. may be desirable to provide the index numbers and/or other alphanumeric information in a machine readable form~ Thus, the inserted data need not be visible to a user displaying the pages of video information in the raster scan display 29. Although index generator 10 inserts information into the video fields independently of the frame ~requency of the video signal, the embodiment disclosed in Figure 3 permits the encoding of index numbers and other alphanumeric information into, for example, the SMPTE time coder which is typically recorded on the a~dio track of the video tape or in ~he vertical interval of the video signal, and provides 32 spare unused user bits in the address section of the code~ The code is repeated at a rate compatible with the video frame frequency, and is completely self-contained and self clocking. As shown in Figure 3, machine readable in~ormation, for example the audio portion of the video input signal, is coupled to a time code reader 88 ~hich reads the SMPTE time code and isolates the contents of the user bits. Inas~uch as the specific operation of the video time code .reader is very well known in the art, it will not be recited herein. Alphanumeric characters and index numbers for a page of video information are coupled on bus 62 to time code genera~or 90 which encodes the desired alphanumeric characters and ~he like into the addresses correspondirlg to the unused user bits of ~he SMPTE code. Once encoded, the machine readable code is then passed to the videb tape (e.g., the audio portion of the tape or the vertical interval) and is coupled to storage device 12 or the like~ The use of a machine readable index code or each frame or field of video information permits storage and readout device 22, with appropriate circuitry, to access any portion o~ the stored 30 video signal by appropriate readin~, scanning and accessing of the stored code~ For example, a storage device, such as for xarnple a video cassette recordert wi~h the abili~y ~o read SMPTE
code may be pro~rammed to scan or "go to" a par~icular index number encoded in the code, and display the page to which the index number corresponds~
Referring now to Figure 4, an example of ~he ou~put o index generator 10 when displayed on display 29 is il~strated. In the e~ample provided, index generator 10 has inserted a unique inde2 number ~1001" ;nto the lower center portion of ~he video image.
In addition, the date of ~15 Dec. 81" has been inserted usiny external keyboard ~6 or the like into the lower lef~ portion of the video image. ~oreover, the name of the publication "Newsland" has been inserted using keyboard 66 or the like into the lower right portion of the video image~ The inserted alphanumer;c information is delinea~ed by a colored border 92 or the like by providing an appropriate color burst 80 ana processing 84 to inserter 36~ It w:ill be apparen~ to one skilled in the art that a user obtaining electronic information may access such information on a page by page basis by sequentially displaying each video page as he desires. If the embodiment oE
~igure 3 is utilized such that the system includes index numbers in machine readable form, the user may directly access any index numbered page by appropriate programming of storage and readout device 22n In practice, video information in the ~orm of a plurality of pictorial and textual pages of periodical information (e.g., magazine pages) is formatted in accordance with the provisions of the present invention, such that each page of video information may comprise a plurality of video fields being identified by a single index number. ~he formatted video information is then transmitted to storage and readout device 22 where a user may sequentially view each page of video information on display 29.

D~L ~
iany thousands o pages of video information may be ~ransmitted and stored by storage and readout device 22 within minu~es using a ~batch~ type delivery, yet viewed by the user on display 29 at his convenience by simply incrementing or decrementing pages as he desires.
Thus, methods and apparatus have been disclosed which have particular application to elec~ronic publishiny. The present invention provides a formatted video signal which when stored and appropriately displayed permits a user to view pictorial and textual material using a standard television system technology.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An apparatus for generating and inserting addi-tional video information into a video signal, said video signal including a plurality of fields of video information, each of said fields identified by a pre-existing, pre-determined code, said pre-existing code located in a non-visible portion of each of said fields, said pre-existing code comprised of a plurality of bits, a portion of said bits being user definable comprising:
video means for inputting said video signal;
character generation means for generating desired alphanumeric characters for insertion into at least one field of said video signal;
encoding means coupled to said character generation means for encoding data representative of said alphanumeric character into said user definable bits of said predetermined code for said field;
clocking means coupled to said character generation means for signalling said character generation means to generate said alphanumeric character for encoding into said user definable bits of said predetermined code in dependent of said video signal's frame frequency;
whereby said alphanumeric character may be encoded into a plurality of codes identifying a plurality of fields, independent of said video signal's frame frequency.

2. The apparatus as defined by claim 1 further including inserter means for inserting said alphanumeric character into a visible portion of said video signal field such that said character is visible when said signal is coupled to a display.

3. The apparatus as defined by claim 2 further includ-ing color generation means coupled to said inserter means for providing a colored area surrounding said alpha-numeric character in said visible portion of said field.

4. The apparatus as defined by claim 3, wherein said character generation means includes memory means for storing alphanumeric characters to be displayed in said visible portion of said signal field;
character formation means coupled to said memory means for providing said alphanumeric character in serial form to said inserter means.

5. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said character generation means further includes counting means coupled to said memory means for providing a numeric character for insertion into said video signal, said counting means advancing said character by a predetermined value on receipt of a control signal.

6. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said character generation means further includes character input means coupled to said memory means for providing

Claim 6 continued.., an alphanumeric character for insertion into said video signal.

7. The apparatus as defined by claim 5 wherein said video input means includes synchronization means for providing synchronization signals defining fields of said video signal.

8. The apparatus as defined by claim 7 wherein said synchronization signals are coupled to said clocking means, such that said clocking means provides signals to said character generation means as a selected function of the rate of said synchronization signals.

9, An improved method for formatting video informa-tion to be electronically disseminated in an electronic publishing system, said publishing system including first storage means for storing said formatted video information and display means for displaying said video information comprising the steps of:
providing a video signal comprising a plurality of fields to be displayed on said display means;
providing alphanumeric characters to be inserted into said video signal;
inserting said alphanumeric characters into said fields, such that the same alphanumeric character can selectively be inserted into a plurality of fields in-dependent of said video signal's frame frequency;

Claim 9 continued....

transmitting said formatted video information to said first storage means;
storing said formatted video information in said first storage means, for selectively displaying at least one field at a time on said display means;
whereby said video information is formatted such that said fields correspond to unique alphanumeric characters.

10. The method as defined by claim 9 wherein said formatted video information is stored in a second storage means prior to said transmitting step.

11. The method as defined by claim 9 wherein said lnsertion step includes encoding said alphanumeric character into a predetermined code identifying each of said fields of said video information, such that said character is encoded into the audio portion of said video signal not visible on said display.

12. The method as defined by claim 9 wherein said insertion step includes encoding said alphanumeric character into a predetermined code identifying each of said fields of said video information, such that said character is inserted into the vertical interval portion of said video signal.

13. The method as defined by claim 9 wherein said storage means comprises a video recorder capable of displaying individual frames of said video information.

14. The method as defined by claim 9 wherein said insertion step inserts said alphanumeric characters into a portion of said video signal visible on said display.