2-34
Theory
of
Operation
A sample
and
hold circuit checks the voltage level of the battery assembly at power-up. When
power
is
off,
a capacitor
is
charged to the battery level. When power comes back on, the voltage
level of the capacitor
is
automatically read. If the level
is
below 3 volts, the RTC
and
NVM
data may
be invalid
and
should
be
restored by the lOP. This fault condition
is
indicated to the lOP by the
battery failure status bit
in
the status buffer. This bit must
be
read within four seconds of power-up.
Display
One
of the following displays
is
installed
on
the computer:
• 98770A High-Performance Color Graphics Display
• 98780A Monochromatic Display
• 98760A Standard Color Graphics Display
The
98770A
and
98780A displays have their own service manuals that include theory of operation.
The
98760A display theory of operation follows
in
this chapter.
Note
Ignore references to ROMs
in
the following manuals. The ROMs
do
not
apply to the
HP
9000
computer.
For theory of operation of the 98770A or 98780A display, refer to the applicable service manual:
• 98770A Color Graphics Display Service Manual
• 98780A Monochromatic Display Service Manual
The
98770A
and
98780A displays have an associated Display Interface Module
(DIM)
mounted
below the display. The
DIM
is
described below. The 98760A display theory of operation follows the
DIM
description.
98770A
and
98780A
Display Interface Module
(DIM)
A Display Interface Module
(DIM)
is
mounted to the bottom of the 98770A
or
98780A display to
interface the
lOP bus from the processor with the display. The
DIM
is
described
in
the following
paragraphs.
Figure
2-20
is
a block diagram of the
DIM.
DIM
translates the general lOP interface from the
computer mainframe into the specialized alphanumeric
bus required by the display.
DIM
contains a
full
screen buffer of alphanumeric characters along with refresh sequencing hardware.
DIM
also
buffers the
1/0 bus before sending
it
to the graphics sections of the display. DIM's primary function
is
to refresh the alphanumeric display.
DIM
contains sufficient memory to store
all
the alphanumeric
data for
one
full
frame. Only characters which are changed
need
to
be
written to
DIM.