Tera-Pixels - Next Generation Display Architectures

Principal Investigator: Leonard McMillan, Ketan Mayer-Patel 
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation 
Agency Number: CCF-0541242

Abstract
The goal of this proposed research is to explore new technologies and system architectures for supporting high-resolution distributed computer displays. This problem is fundamental to the future growth and development of the computer industry and the fields of computer science and engineering. Modern computer display architecture is a direct result of 1940's vintage television standards, which are outdated in today's digital world. The notion of a raster display that is periodically refreshed from a block of shared processor memory at a constant rate is a direct result of using Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) as early computer monitors. Moreover, this raster-scan approach assumes a dumb device with minimal state and a low-level interface. We believe providing local intelligence within displays will decouple the notion of a display device from the specific computer driving it.