Computer GraphicsRT702

Module I

Introduction to Computer Graphics: Basic concepts in Computer Graphics –

Applications of Computer Graphics, Interactive Graphics system – Raster scan and
Random scan systems – Generating a raster image, Application of raster scan graphics.
Video Display Devices, Display processors – Display files – graphical input & output
devices.

Computer Graphics: It is the use of computers to display and manipulate information in

graphical or pictorial form, either on a visual display unit or via a printer or plotter.

Computer Graphics can be broadly divided into two

a) Non Interactive Computer Graphics

b) Interactive Computer Graphics

Non Interactive Computer Graphics: In non interactive computer graphics otherwise

known as passive computer graphics, the observer has no control over the image.
Examples : The titles shown on TV , other forms of computer art.

Interactive Computer Graphics: Interactive Computer Graphics involves a two way

communication between computer and user. Here the observer is given some control over
the image by providing him with an input device for example the video game controller
of the ping pong game. This helps him to signal his request to the computer. The
computer on receiving signals from the input device can modify the displayed picture
appropriately. To the user it appears that the picture is changing instantaneously in
response to his commands. He can give a series of commands, each one generating a
graphical response from the computer. In this way he maintains a conversation, or
dialogue, with the computer.

Interactive computer graphics affects our lives in a number of indirect ways. For
example, it helps to train the pilots of our airplanes. We can create a flight simulator
which may help the pilots to get trained not in a real aircraft but on the grounds at the

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control of the flight simulator. The flight simulator is a mock up of an aircraft flight deck,
containing all the usual controls and surrounded by screens on which we have the
projected computer generated views of the terrain visible on take off and landing. Flight
simulators have many advantages over the real aircrafts for training purposes, including
fuel savings, safety, and the ability to familiarize the trainee with a large number of the
world’s airports.

Origin of Computer Graphics

Years of research and development were made to achieve the goals in the field of
computer graphics. In 1950 the first computer driven display was used to generate only
simple pictures. This display made use of a cathode ray tube similar to the one used in
television sets. During 1950’s interactive computer graphics made little progress because
the computers of that period were so unsuited to interactive use. These computers were
used to perform only lengthy calculations.

The single vent that did the most to promote interactive computer graphics as an
important new field was the publication in 1962 of a brilliant thesis by Ivan E.
Sutherland. His thesis, entitled ‘Sketchpad: A Man- Machine Graphical Communication
System’, proved to many readers that interactive computer graphics was a viable, useful,
and exciting field of research. By the mid -1960’s large computer graphics research
projects were under taken at MIT, Bell Telephone Labs and General Motors. Thus the
golden age of computer graphics began. In 1970’s thee researches began to bear fruit.
The instant appeal of computer graphics to users of all ages has helped it to spread into
many applications throughout the world.

Applications of Computer Graphics

Paint programs
Allow you to create rough freehand drawings. The images are stored as bit maps and can
easily be edited. It is a graphics program that enables you to draw pictures on the display
screen which is represented as bit maps (bit-mapped graphics). In contrast, draw
programs use vector graphics (object-oriented images), which scale better. Most paint

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programs provide the tools shown below in the form of icons. By selecting an icon, you
can perform functions associated with the tool. In addition to these tools, paint programs
also provide easy ways to draw common shapes such as straight lines, rectangles, circles,
and ovals.
Sophisticated paint applications are often called image editing programs. These
applications support many of the features of draw programs, such as the ability to work
with objects. Each object, however, is represented as a bit map rather than as a vector
image.
Illustration/design programs
Supports more advanced features than paint programs, particularly for drawing curved
lines. The images are usually stored in vector-based formats. Illustration/design programs
are often called draw programs.
Presentation graphics software
Lets you create bar charts, pie charts, graphics, and other types of images for slide shows
and reports. The charts can be based on data imported from spreadsheet applications.
A type of business software that enables users to create highly stylized images for slide
shows and reports. The software includes functions for creating various types of charts
and graphs and for inserting text in a variety of fonts. Most systems enable you to import
data from a spreadsheet application to create the charts and graphs. Presentation graphics
is often called business graphics.
Animation software
Enables you to chain and sequence a series of images to simulate movement. Each image
is like a frame in a movie. It can be defined as a simulation of movement created by
displaying a series of pictures, or frames. A cartoon on television is one example of
animation. Animation on computers is one of the chief ingredients of multimedia
presentations. There are many software applications that enable you to create animations
that you can display on a computer monitor.
There is a difference between animation and video. Whereas video takes continuous
motion and breaks it up into discrete frames, animation starts with independent pictures
and puts them together to form the illusion of continuous motion.

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CAD software
It enables architects and engineers to draft designs. It is the acronym for computer-aided
design. A CAD system is a combination of hardware and software that enables engineers
and architects to design everything from furniture to airplanes. In addition to the
software, CAD systems require a high-quality graphics monitor; a mouse, light pen, or
digitizing tablet for drawing; and a special printer or plotter for printing design
specifications.
CAD systems allow an engineer to view a design from any angle with the push of a
button and to zoom in or out for close-ups and long-distance views. In addition, the
computer keeps track of design dependencies so that when the engineer changes one
value, all other values that depend on it are automatically changed accordingly.
Desktop publishing
Provides a full set of word-processing features as well as fine control over placement of
text and graphics, so that you can create newsletters, advertisements, books, and other
types of documents. It means by using a personal computer or workstation high-quality
printed documents can be produced. A desktop publishing system allows you to use
different typefaces, specify various margins and justifications, and embed illustrations
and graphs directly into the text. The most powerful desktop publishing systems enable
you to create illustrations; while less powerful systems let you insert illustrations created
by other programs.
As word-processing programs become more and more powerful, the line separating such
programs from desktop publishing systems is becoming blurred. In general, though,
desktop publishing applications give you more control over typographical characteristics,
such as kerning, and provide more support for full-color output.
Until recently, hardware costs made desktop publishing systems impractical for most
uses. But as the prices of personal computers and printers have fallen, desktop publishing
systems have become increasingly popular for producing newsletters, brochures, books,
and other documents that formerly required a typesetter.

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Once you have produced a document with a desktop publishing system, you can output it
directly to a printer or you can produce a PostScript file which you can then take to a
service bureau. The service bureau has special machines that convert the PostScript file to
film, which can then be used to make plates for offset printing. Offset printing produces
higher-quality documents, especially if color is used, but is generally more expensive
than laser printing.

In general, applications that support graphics require a powerful CPU and a large amount
of memory. Many graphics applications—for example, computer animation systems—
require more computing power than is available on personal computers and will run only
on powerful workstations or specially designed graphics computers. This is true of all
three-dimensional computer graphics applications.

In addition to the CPU and memory, graphics software requires a graphics monitor and
support for one of the many graphics standards. Most PC programs, for instance, require
VGA graphics. If your computer does not have built-in support for a specific graphics
system, you can insert a video adapter card.

The quality of most graphics devices is determined by their resolution—how many pixels
per square inch they can represent—and their color capabilities.

Interactive Graphics System

Interactive Graphics System is of two types :
1. Raster Scan System
2. Random Scan System
Raster Scan System
Interactive raster graphics systems typically employ several processing units. In addition
to the central processing unit, or CPU, a special-purpose processor, called the video
controller or display controller, is used to control the operation of the display device.
Here, the frame buffer can be anywhere in the system memory, and the video controller
accesses the frame buffer to refresh the screen. In addition to the video controller, more

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sophisticated raster systems employ other processors as coprocessors and accelerators to

implement various graphics operations.
A fixed area of the system memory is reserved for the frame buffer, and the video
controller is given direct access to the frame-buffer memory. Frame-buffer locations, and
the corresponding screen positions, are referenced in Cartesian coordinates.

Generating a Raster Image

For many graphics monitors, the coordinate origin is defined at the upper left screen
corner. The screen surface is then represented as the first quadrant of a two-dimensional
system, with positive x values increasing to the right and positive y values increasing
from top to bottom. Scan lines are then labeled from 0, at the top of the screen to ymax at
the bottom. Along each scan line, screen pixel positions are labeled from 0 to xmax. The
basic refresh operations of the video controller are diagrammed. Two registers are used to
store the coordinates of the screen pixels. Initially, the x register is set to 0 and the y
register is set to ymax. The value stored in the frame buffer for this pixel position is then
retrieved and used to set the intensity of the CRT beam. Then the x register is
incremented by 1, and the process repeated for the next pixel on the top scan line. This
procedure is repeated for each pixel along the scan line. After the last pixel on the top
scan line has been processed, the x register is reset to 0 and the y register is decremented
by 1. Pixels along this scan line are then processed in turn, and the procedure is repeated
for each successive scan line. After cycling through all pixels along the bottom scan line
(y = O), the video controller resets the registers to the first pixel position on the top scan
line and the refresh process starts over. Since the screen must be refreshed at the rate of
60 frames per second
In high quality systems, for example, two frame buffers are often provided so that one
buffer can be used for refreshing while the other is being filled with intensity values.
Then the two buffers can switch roles. This provides a fast mechanism-for generating
real-time animations, since different views of moving objects can be successively loaded
into the refresh buffers. Also, some transformations can be accomplished by the video
controller. Areas of the screen can be enlarged, reduced, or moved from one location to
another during the refresh cycles. In addition, the video controller often contains a lookup

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table, so that pixel values in the frame buffer are used to access the lookup table instead
of controlling the CRT beam intensity directly. This provides a fast method for changing
screen intensity values. Finally, some systems are designed to allow the video controller
to mix the frame-buffer image with an input image from a television camera or other
input device.

Raster-Scan Display Processor

It is also referred to as a graphics controller or a display coprocessor. The purpose of the
display processor is to free the CPU from the graphics chores. In addition to the system
memory, a separate display processor memory area can also be provided. A major task of
the display processor is digitizing a picture definition given in an application program
into a set of pixel-intensity values for storage in the frame buffer. This digitization
process is called scan conversion.
Display processors are also designed to perform a number of additional
operations.These functions include :
1. generating various line styles (dashed, dotted or solid)
2. displaying color areas, and performing certain transformations and
manipulations on displayed objects.
3. to interface with interactive input devices such as a mouse.

Raster Scan Display

Raster Scan methods have increasingly become the dominant technology since about
1975. These methods use the TV type raster scan. The growth in the use of such methods
has been dependent on rapidly decreasing memory prices and on the availability of cheap
scan generating hardware from the TV industry.

The screen is coated with discrete dots of phosphor, usually called pixels, laid out in a
rectangular array. The image is then determined by how each pixel is intensified. The
representation of the image used in servicing the refresh system is thus an area of

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memory holding a value for each pixel. This memory area holding the image
representation is called the frame buffer.

The values in the frame buffer are held as a sequence of horizontal lines of pixel values
from the top of the screen down. The scan generator then moves the beam in a series of
horizontal lines with fly-back (non-intensified) between each line and between the end of
the frame and the beginning of the next frame. This is illustrated below.

Unlike random-scan which is a line drawing device, refresh CRT is a point-plotting

device. Raster displays store the display primitives (lines, characters, shaded and
patterned areas) in a refresh buffer. Refresh buffer (also called frame buffer) stores the
drawing primitives in terms of points and pixels components

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This scan is synchronized with the access of the intensity values held in the frame buffer.
The maximum number of points that can be displayed without overlap by a system is
called the resolution and is quoted as the number of points per horizontal line versus the
number of horizontal lines. Typical resolutions are 640*480, 1024*768, and 1280*1024.
The maximum resolution is determined by the characteristics of the monitor and/or by the
memory capacity available for storing the frame buffer.

Random Scan System

An application program is input and stored in the system memory along with a
graphics package. Graphics commands in the application program are translated by the
graphics package into a display file stored in the system memory. This display file is then
accessed by the display processor to refresh the screen. The display processor cycles
through each command in the display file program once during every refresh cycle.
Sometimes the display processor in a random-scan system is referred to as a display
processing unit or a graphics controller.

Random Scan Display

Random scan displays, often termed vector Vector, Stroke, and Line drawing displays,
came first and are still used in some applications. Here the characters are also made of
sequences of strokes (or short lines). The electron gun of a CRT illuminates straight lines
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in any order. The display processor repeatedly reads a variable 'display file' defining a
sequence of X,Y coordinate pairs and brightness or color values, and converts these to
voltages controlling the electron gun.

In random scan display an electron beam is deflected from endpoint to end-point. The
order of deflection is dictated by the arbitrary order of the display commands. The
display must be refreshed at regular intervals – minimum of 30 Hz (fps) for flicker-free
display.

Ideal line drawing Random Scan Display

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Video Display Devices

The primary output device in a graphics system is a video monitor . The operation
of most video monitors is based on the standard cathode-ray tube (CRT) design, but
several other technologies also exist .

Refresh Cathode-Ray Tubes

The primary components of an electron gun in a CRT are :

1. Electron Gun : Emits high velocity finely focused beam of

electrons
2. Phosphor : Glows when electron beam strikes it.
3. Electromagnetic coils : Deflects the electron beam to different
parts of the tube face when current pass through the coils.

The diagram below illustrates the basic operation of, a CRT.

A beam of electrons (cathode rays), emitted by an electron gun, passes through focusing
and deflection systems that direct the beam toward specified positions on the phosphor
coated screen. The phosphor then emits a small spot of light at each position contacted by
the electron beam. Because the light emitted by the phosphor fades very rapidly, some
method is needed for maintaining the screen picture. One way to keep the phosphor

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glowing is to redraw the picture repeatedly by quickly directing the electron beam back
over the same points. This type of display is called a refresh CRT.

The electron gun emits a beam of electrons which are focused to a point on the screen
phosphor. The beam is positioned on the screen by a deflection system which operates in
the horizontal and vertical directions. The intensity of the beam is controlled by the
intensity signal on the control grid. When the phosphor is hit by the electron beam it
absorbs energy and jumps to a higher quantum-energy level. As it returns to its normal
level it emits visible light i.e. it phosphoresces. In the phosphors used in graphics devices
the persistence of the phosphorescence is typically 10-60 microseconds.

Before the human visual system can see a transient image it must be continually redrawn
(refreshed) at a rate higher than the critical fusion frequency of the human visual system.
To allow the human visual system to see a continuously refreshed image without flicker
the refresh rate has to be at least 60 c/s.

To allow continuous refreshing of an image there must be some stored representation of

the image from which the refresh system can obtain the graphical information required to
re-draw the image. This representation nowadays is invariably a set of values of
intensity/colour at each of a discrete set of points laid out in a rectangular array covering
the screen.

While it may seem a disadvantage to continually refresh the image there are some very
important advantages of such refresh type systems. For example it is possible to edit an
image by changing the stored representation between refresh cycles for what appears to
be instantaneous updating of the image. Compare this with some earlier systems in which
the only way to carry out an edit was to clear the whole screen and then redraw the whole
image. Also by changing the stored representation between refresh cycles animation is
possible.

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Beam Penetration CRT

Beam Penetration CRT is similar to normal CRT. The only difference is the multi
layered phosphor in which a layer of red phosphor is deposited behind green phosphor. If
a low potential electron beam strikes the tube face, it excites only red phosphor and
therefore produces red trace. As acceleration increases the velocity of the electron beam
striking the phosphor increases, there by penetrating into the green phosphor also. Thus
generating colors like red, orange, yellow and green also. Some of the disadvantages of
this are:
1. Need to change beam accelerating potential by significant amounts inorder to
switch colors
2. Hardware and software must be designed to introduce adequate delays between
changes in color, so that there is time for voltage to settle.

Shadow Mask CRT

In Shadow Mask CRT tiny holes in a metal plate separate the colored phosphors
in the layer behind the front glass of the screen. The holes are placed in a manner
ensuring that electrons from each of the tube's three cathode guns reach only the
appropriately-colored phosphors on the display. All three beams pass through the same
holes in the mask, but the angle of approach is different for each gun. The spacing of the
holes, the spacing of the phosphors, and the placement of the guns is arranged so that for
example the blue gun only has an unobstructed path to blue phosphors. The red, green,
and blue phosphors for each pixel are generally arranged in a triangular shape (sometimes
called a "triad"). All early color televisions and the majority of computer monitors, past
and present, use shadow mask technology.

Traditionally, shadow masks have been made of materials which temperature variations
cause to expand and contract to the point of affecting performance. The energy the
shadow mask absorbs from the electron gun in normal operation causes it to heat up and
expand, which leads to blurred or discolored (see doming) images. The invar shadow

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mask is composed of the nickel-iron alloy invar. Therefore it expands and contracts much
less than other materials in response to temperature changes. This property allows
displays made with this technology to provide a clearer, more accurate picture. It also
reduces the amount of long-term stress and damage to the shadow mask that can result
from repeated expand/contract cycles, thus increasing the display's life expectancy.

In other words, In Shadow Mask CRT, before the stream of electrons produced by the
CRT's cathode reach the phosphor coated faceplate, it encounters the shadow mask, a
sheet of metal etched with a pattern of holes. The mask is positioned in the glass funnel
of the CRT during manufacture and the phosphor is coated onto the screen so that
electrons coming from the red, green and blue gun positions only land on the appropriate
phosphor.
Stray electrons strike the shadow mask and are absorbed by it, generating a great deal of
heat, which in turn causes the metal to expand. To allow flatter CRTs to be made, the
metal most commonly used now for shadow masks is Invar, an alloy of iron and nickel.
The metal has a low coefficient of expansion and its name derives from the supposed
invariability of its dimensions when heat is applied. In reality, its dimensions are not
completely invariable and the build up of heat in a shadow mask can lead to a form of
distortion known as doming, where the centre of the mask bulges towards the faceplate
slightly.

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An alternative to the shadow mask which is less prone to distortion, the aperture grille ,
was included as part of the design of Trinitron CRTs by Sony in 1968 and Mitsubishi in
its Diamondtron products in the early 1990s.

Some of the disadvantages are :

• Expensive
• Poor performance in all other than color range.

Inherent Memory Devices

Flat-Panel Displays

Although most graphics monitors are still constructed with CRTs, other technologies are
emerging that may soon replace CRT monitors. The term Bat-panel display refers to a
class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight, and power requirements
compared to a CRT. A significant feature of flat-panel displays is that they are thinner
than CRTs, and we can hang them on walls or wear them on our wrists. Since we can
even write on some flat-panel displays, they will soon be available as pocket notepads.
Current uses for flat-panel displays include small TV monitors, calculators, pocket video
games, laptop computers, armrest viewing of movies on airlines, as advertisement boards
in elevators, and as graphics displays in applications requiring rugged, portable monitors.
Flat-panel displays are of two categories:
1. Emissive displays
2. Nonemissive displays
The emissive displays (or emitters) are devices that convert electrical energy into light.
Examples :Plasma panels, thin-film electroluminescent displays, and Light-emitting
diodes
The Nonemmissive displays (or nonemitters) use optical effects to convert sunlight or
light from some other source into graphics patterns.
Example : liquid-crystal device.

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Plasma panels
Plasma panels, also called gas-discharge displays, are constructed by filling the region
between two glass plates with a mixture of gases that usually includes neon. A series of
vertical conducting ribbons is placed on one glass panel, and a set of horizontal ribbons is
built into the other glass panel . Firing voltages applied to a pair of horizontal and vertical
conductors cause the gas at the intersection of the two conductors to break down into a
glowing plasma of electrons and ions. Picture definition is stored in a refresh buffer, and
the firing voltages are applied to refresh the pixel positions (at the intersections of the
conductors) 60 times per second. One disadvantage of plasma panels has been that they
were strictly monochromatic devices, but systems have been developed that are now
capable of displaying color and grayscale.

Thin-film electroluminescent
Thin-film electroluminescent displays are similar in construction to a plasma panel. The
difference is that the region between the glass plates is filled with a phosphor, such as
zinc sulfide doped with manganese, instead of a gas. When a sufficiently high voltage is
applied to a pair of crossing electrodes, the phosphor becomes a conductor in the area of
the intersection of the two electrodes. Electrical energy is then absorbed by the
manganese atoms, which then release the energy as a spot of light similar to the glowing
plasma effect in a plasma panel. Electroluminescent displays require more power than
plasma panels, and good color and gray scale displays are hard to achieve.

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

A matrix of diodes is arranged to form the pixel positions in the display, and picture
definition is stored in a refresh buffer. As in scan-line refreshing of a CRT, information is
read from the refresh buffer and converted to voltage levels that are applied to the diodes
to produce the light patterns in the display.

Liquid Crystal Display

Liquid crystal displays (LCDS) are commonly used in small systems, such as calculators
and portable laptop computers . These non emissive devices produce a picture by passing

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polarized light from the surroundings or from an internal light source through a liquid-
crystal material that can be aligned to either block or transmit the light.
The term liquid crystal refers to the fact that these compounds have a crystalline
arrangement of molecules, yet they flow like a liquid. Flat-panel displays commonly use
nematic (thread like) liquid-crystal compounds that tend to keep the long axes of the rod-
shaped molecules aligned. A flat-panel display can then be constructed with a nematic
liquid crystal. Two glass plates, each containing a light polarizer at right angles to the-
other plate, sandwich the liquid-crystal material. Rows of horizontal transparent
conductors are built into one glass plate, and columns of vertical conductors are put into
the other plate. The intersection of two conductors defines a pixel position. Normally,
the molecules are aligned as shown in the "on state". Polarized light passing through the
material is twisted so that it will pass through the opposite polarizer.

Note : Also include Raster and Random Scan displays described before

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