CHAPTER 2 Overview of Graphics Systems36 ue to the widespread recognition of the power and utility of computer ‘graphics in virtually ll fields, a broad range of graphics hardware and software systems is now available. Graphics capabilities for both two-dimen: sional and three-dimensional applicaons are naw common on general-purpose computers, including many hand-held calculators. With personal computers, We can tse a wide variety of interactive input devices and graphics software pack- ages. For higher quality applications, we can choose from a number of sophisti- cated special-purpose graphics hardware systems and technologies. In this chap- ter, we explore the basic features of graphics hardware components and graphics software packages, 24 VIDEO DISPLAY DEVICES ‘Typically the primary output device ina graphics system is @ video monitor Fig. 2:1), The operation of most video monitors is based on the standard cathode-ray ‘tube (CRT design, but several other technologies exist and solid-state monitors ‘may eventually predominate Piguet -Acompter graphics workstation. (Couto trois, 2)Refresh Cathode-Ray Tubes Figure 2.2 illustrates the basic operation of a CRT. A beatn of elactrons (cathode ays), emitted by ar electron gun, passes though focusing and deflection systems that direct the beam toward specified positions on the Phosphor-oated screen ‘The phosphor ther emits a small spot of light at each position contacted by the lectron beam. Because the light emitted by the phosphor fades very rapidly, ‘some method is needled for maintaining the sereen picture. One way to keep the phosphor glowing is to redraw the picture repeatedly by quickly directing the lectron beam back over the same points. This type of display is called refresh Rr. ‘The primary components of an electron gun in # CRT are the heated metal cathode and a control grid (Fig, 2-2). Heat is supplied to the cathode by directing, 2 current thrcugh a coll of wire, called the lament, inside the cylindrical cathode structure. This causes electrons to be “boiled off” the hot cathode surface. In the vacuum inside the CRT envelope, the free, negatively charged electrons are then accelerated toward the phosphor coating by a high positive voltage. The acceler- ‘Sem Seren Figure 22 ‘Basi denen of a magnetic deflection CRT cont Aecslrsing Fig Operation ofan electron gun with an accelerating anodecaper ating voltage can be generated witha positively charged metal coating onthe in- Side of the CRT envelope near the phosphor screen, of an accelerating anode can be used, as in Fig. 23. Sometimes the electron gun is built to contain the acceler- ating anode and focusing system within the same unit Intensity of the electron beom is controled by setting voltage levels on the contol grid, which is a meta cylinder that fits over the cathode. A high negative voltage applied to the control grid will shut off the beam by repelling electrons land stopping them from passing through the sinall hole atthe endl ofthe control {grid structure. A smaller negative voltage on the control grid simply decreases the number of electrons passing through. Since the emount of light emitted by the phosphor coating depends ox the numberof electrons striking the screen, we control the Erightness of a display by varying the vollage onthe control grid. We specify the intensity leve! for individual screen positions with graphics software ‘commands, as discussed in Chapeer 3. "The focusing system in a CRT is needed to force the electron bean t0 con: ‘verge into a soll spot as it strikes the phosphor. Otherwise, the electrons would ‘repel each other, and the beam would spread out as it approaches the screen. Fo- ‘sing is accomplished with either electric or magnetic fields. Electrestatic focus: ing is commonly used in television and computer graphics monitors. With elec lrostatie focusing, the electron beam passes through a positively charged metal cylinder that forms an electrosatc lens, as shown in Fig. 23. The action of the tlectrostatic lens focuses the electron beam atthe center of the screen in exactly tthe same way that an optical lens focuses a beam of light at a particular focal dis- tance, Similar lens focusing effects can be accomplished with a magnetic field set ‘up by 2 coil mounted around the outside of the CRT envelope. Magnetic lens fo- using produces the smallest spot size on the screen and is used in special purpese devices. ‘Additional focusing hardware is used in high-precision systems to keep the bbeam in focus at all sereen positions. The distance that the electron beam must travel to different points on the screen varies because the radius of curvature for most CRT 's greater than the distance from the focusing, sysiem to the screen, center. Therefore, the electron beam will be focused propel only tthe center ot the screen. As the beam moves tothe ouster edges of the screen, displayed images ‘become blurred. To compensate for this, the system can adjust the focusing a cording to the screen postion ofthe beam. ‘AS with focusing, deflection of the electron beam can be controled either with electric fields or with magnetic fields. Cathode ray tubes are now commonly constructed with magnetic deflection coils mounted ¢ the outside of the CRT envelope, a illustrated in Fig. 22. Two pairs of ens are used, with the coils in ‘each pair mounted on opposite sides ofthe neck of the CRT envelope. One pa ‘aunted on the top and bottom of the neck. and the other pair is mounted on ‘opposite sides ofthe neck. The magnetic field produced by each pait of coils re sults in a transverse deflection force that is perpendicular both tothe direction of the magnetic field and tothe direction of travel of the electron beam, Horizontal deflection is accomplished with one pair of cols, and vertical deflection by the other pale. The proper deflection amounts are attained y adjusting the current through the coils. When electrostatic deflection is ved, two paits of parallel, plates are mounted inside the CRT envelope. One pair plates is meunted hort zontally to control the vertical deflection, and the ether pair is mounted verticals {ocontrol horizontal defection (Fig, 2-4 ‘Spots of light are produced on the screen by the transfer of the CRT bearn ergy t0 the phosphor When the electrons in the bear collide with the phosFigure 24 lectrostati deflection ofthe electro beam in a CRT. pphor coating, they are stopped and their kinetic energy is absorbed by the phos- hor. Part of the beam energy is converted by friction into heat energy, and the remainder causes electrons in the phosphor atoms to move up to higher quan tum-energy levels. After a short time, the “excited” phosphor electrons begin dropping back to their stable ground slate, giving up their extra energy as small ‘quantum of light energy. What we see on the screen isthe combined effect of all the electron light emissions: a glowing spot that quickly fades afterall the excited phosphor electrons have returned to their ground energy level. The frequency (or olor) of the light emitted by the phosphor is proportional to the energy differ- ence between the excited quantum state and the ground state. Different kinds of phosphors are available for use in a CRT. Besides color, a major difference between phosphors is their persistence: how long they continue {o emit light (tha is, have excited electrons returning to the ground state) after the CRT beam is removed. Persistence is defined as the time it takes the emited light from the screen to decay to one-tenth of its original intensity. Lower- persistence phosphors require higher refresh rates to maintain a picture on the Screen without flicker. A phosphor with low persistence is useful for animation; a high-persistence phosphor is useful for displaying highly complex, static pic- tures. Although some phosphors have a persistence greater than 1 second, graph- {cs monitors are usually constructed with a persistence in the range from 10 t0 60 ‘microseconds. Figure 25 shows the intensity distribution ofa spot on the screen. The in- tensity is greatest at the center of the spot, and decreases with a Gaussian distrib ‘ution out to the edges of the spot. This distribution corresponds to the cross- sectional electron density distribution ofthe CRT beam. ‘The maximum number of points that canbe displayed without overlap ona (CRT is referred to as the resolution. A more precise definition of resolution isthe number of points per centimeter that can be plotted horizontally and vertically, although its often simply stated asthe total number of points in each direction. Spot intensity has a Gaussian distribution (Fig. 2-5), 2 two adjacent spots will appear distinct as long as their separation is greater than the diameter at which tach spot has an intensity of about 60 percent of that at the centr of the spot This overlap positon isilustrate in Fig. 2-6. Spot size also depends on intensity ‘As more electrons are accelerated toward the phospher per second, the CRT ‘beam diameter and the illuminated spot increase. In addition, the increased exci tation energy tends to spread to neighboring phosphor atoms not directly in the JN Figee 2s Intensity dstnbution of an Aluminted phosphor pot CRT screen, 39Sa Game SeT SI Figure 2-6 ‘we llumisated phosphor spots are asinguishable ‘when thelr separation is {greater than the diameter at ‘which a spot intensity as fallen to percent of 40 ‘path of the beam, which further increases the spot diameter Thus, resolution of a CCRT is dependent on the type ol phospho, the intensity to be displayed, and the focusing and deflection systems. Typical resolution on high-quality systems is 1280 by 1024, with higher resolutions available on many systems. High- resolution systems are often referred 10 as high-defnition systems. The physical size ofa graphics monitor is given a the length ofthe screen diagonal, with sizes ‘arying from about 12 inches to 27 inches or more, A CKT monitor can be at- tached toa variety of computer systems, so the number of screen points that Ca actually be plotted depends on the capabilities of the system to which itis at- tached. “Another property of video monitors is aspect ratio. This number gives the ratio of vertical poin’s to horizontal points necessary to produce equal-length lines in both directions onthe screen. (Sometimes aspect ratio is stated in terms of the ratio of horizontal to vertical points) An aspect ratio of 3/4 means that aver: ‘heal line pitted with three points has the same length as a horizontal line plot ted with four points Raster-Scan Displays ‘The most common type of graphics monitor employing a CRT isthe rasterscan display, based on television technology. In a raster-scan system, the electron ‘beam is swept across the screen, one fOW at a time from top to attom. As the electron eam moves across each row, the beam intensity is turned om and af 0 ‘create a pattern of illuminated spots Picture definition is stored in a memory ‘area called the refresh buffer or fame buffer. This mentory area holds the set of intensity values forall the screen points. Stored intensity values are then re ‘sieved from the refresh buffer and “painted” on the screen one row (scan line) at time (Fig, 27). Each screen Point is relered to 5 a pixel or pel (enortened forms of picture element) The capability of a raster scan system to store inten sity information for each screen point makes it well suited forthe ealisic display fof scenes containing subtle shading and color pattems, Home television sets and printers are examples father systems using rasterscan methods Intensity range ‘or pixel postions depends on the capability ofthe raster system, In a simple black-and-white system, each screen point is either on OF of ‘9 only one bit per pte s needed to control the intensity of eoen postions. For bilevel system, a bit value of | indicates thatthe electcon beam is to be turned fon at that postion, and a value of 0 indicetes thatthe beam intensity is to be of ‘Additional bits are needed when color and intensity variations can be displayed Up to 24 bis per pixel are included in high-quality systems, which can require several megabytes of storage for the frame butfer, depending on the resolution of the system. A system with 24 bits per pixel and a soreen resolution of 1024 by 1028 requires 3 megabytes of storage forthe frame buffer. On 2 black-and-white system with one bit per pixel, the frame buffer is commonly called a bitmap. For systems with multiple bits per pixel, the frame butfer is often referred to as a phamap. Refreshing on raster-scan displays is carried out at the rate of 60 to 80 framies per second, although some systems are designed for higher relresh rates. Sometimes, refresh rates are described in units of cycles per second, or Hertz (Hl), where a cycle corresponds to ane frame, Using these units, we would de- scribe a refresh rate of 60 frames per secotd as simply 60 He. At the end of each scan line, the electron beam returns tothe left side a the screen to begin display: {ng the next scan line. The return to the left of the screer, aftr refreshing each~o-@ ‘Atasterscan system displays an object a set of discrete points across cachscan line scan line, is called the horizontal retrace ofthe electron beam. And at the end of ‘each frame (displayed in 1/80th to 1/60th of a second), the electron bear returns (vertical retrace) to the top left corner of the screen to begin the next frame. ‘On some raster-scan systems (and in TV sets), each frame is displayed in two passes using an interlaced refresh procedure. In the first pass, the beam ‘weeps across every other scan line from top to bottom. Then after the vertical re- trace, the beam sweeps out the remaining scan lines (Fig. 2-8). Interlacing of the ‘sean lines in this way allows us to see the entire screen displayed in one-half the time it would have taken to sweep across al the lines at once from top to bottom. Intelacing is primarily used with slower refreshing rates. On an older, 30 frame- per-second, noninterlaced display, for instance, some flicker is noticeable. But with interlacing, each of the two passes can be accomplished in 1/60th of a sec: ‘ond, which brings the refresh rate nearer to 60 frames per second. This isan effec- tive technique for avoiding Micker, providing that adjacent scan lines contain sim- ilar display information Random-Scan Displays When operated as a random-scan display unit, a CRT has the electron beam di- rected only to the parts of the screen where a pictur is to be drawn. Random- scan monitors draw a picture one line at a time and for this reason are also re- ferred to as vector displays (or stroke-writing or calligraphic displays). The component lines of a picture can be drawn and refreshed by a randomscan sys- aCaper? Sree oT ahs Sisters a Pigures Interacing sa lines on rater san display, PUSL all point on the ‘Gren numbered (li ca ines ‘ne displayed: then al points along, {he od numbered (@ashed) lines are displayed. tem in any specified order (Fig, 29). A pen ploter operates in a sunias way and is an example ofa random-scan, hard-copy device. Refresh rate on a random-scan system depends on the number of lines tobe Aisplayed. Picture definition is now stored as 2 set of ine-drawing commands in ‘an area of memory feferred to a5 the refresh display fle. Sometimes the refresh display file is called the display list, display program, or simply the refresh buffer. To display a specified picture, the system cycles through the set of com ‘mands in the display file, drawing each component line in tum. Afterall line- drawing commands have been processed, the system cycles back tothe first line ‘command in thelist. Random-sCan displays are designed to éravé all the compo- rent lies of a picture 30 to 60 times each second. High-quality vector systems are capable of handling approximately 100,000 “short” Lines at this refresh rate. ‘When a small set f lines is to be displayed, each refresh cycle is delayed to avoid refresh rates greater than 60 frames per second. Otherwise, faster refreshing of the set of lines could burn out the phosphor. ‘Random.scan systems are designed for line-drawing applications and car not display realistic shaded scenes. Since picture definition is stored as a set of line-drawing instructions and ot asa set of intensity values for all reen points, vector displays generally have higher resolution than raster systems. Also, vectoF displays produce smooth line drawings because the CRT bearn directly follows the line path. A raster system, in contrat, produces jagged lines that are plotted as discrete point gets Color CRT Monitors A.CRT monitor displays color pictures by using a combination of phosphors that emit different-colored light. By combining the emitted light from the different phosphors, a range of colors can be generated, The two basic techniques for pro- ducing color displays with a CRT are the beam-penetration method and the shadow-mask method. "The beanvpenetration method for displaying color pictures has been used with random-scan monitors: Two layers of Prosphas, usually red and green, areFigen 28 ‘A tandom-can system draws the component Line of an objet in any onder specie, coated onto the inside ofthe CRT screen, and the displays color depends on how far the electron beam penetrates into the phosphor layers. A bear of slow ‘lectons excites only the outer layer beam of very fat electrons penetrates through the re layer and excites the inner geen layer. At intermediate bear speeds, combinations of red and green light ane emitted to show Pwo additional colors, orange and yellow. The speed ofthe electrons, and hence the screen color St any points controlled by the beamacceleraion vollage. Beam penetration has been an inexpensive way to price color in endomacan monitors, but only four colors are possible, and the quality of pictur is not as good as with other sethods. SShadowmask methods ae commonly used in rastenacan systems (nclud- ing color TV) because they produce a much wider range of colors than the beam penetration method. A shadow-mask CRT has thee phosphor color dts at each sel postion. One phosphor dot emits a red light, another emits a green light, Bnd the third emits a blue light. This type of CRT has tre electron guns, one for each color dot, and a shadow mask grid just behind the phosphorcoated screen. Figure 2-10 iustates the dltedelte shadow-mask method, commonly used in color CRT systems. The three electron beams ate deflected and focised a & {group onto the shadow mask, which contains a series of holes aligned with the ‘Phosphordlot patterns. When the three beams pase through a hole in the shadow Inask they activate «dot triangle, which appears asa small color spot on the ‘screen. The phosphor dots in the triangles are arranged so that each electron beam can activate only it corresponding color dot when it pases through the aa4 Figure2-10 (Operation of dela delta, shadow-maskCRT. These elacan {gor aligned with he tlangular colordot paterson the sen, {te diced tench dot triangle by a shadow mask. shadow mack. Another configuration for the three electron guns {8 am in-line arrangement in which the three vlectron guns, and the corresponding, red-green-blue color dots on the screen, are aligned along one scan line instead fof in a tnangular pattern. This iv-ine arrangement of electron guns is easier tO keep in alignment and is coramonly used in high-resohtion color CRTs. ‘We obtain color variations in a shadow-mask CKT by varying the intensity levels of the three electron beams. By turning off the red and green guns, we pet only the color coming ‘com the biue phosphor. Other combinations of Bear it~ tensities produce a stall light spot fo each pixel position, since our eyes tend %0 merge the three colors into one composite, The color we see depends on the amour of excitatian af the red, green, and blue phosphors. A white (or gray) area is the result of activating all three dots with equal intensity, Yellow i pro- ‘duced with the green and red dots only, magenta is produced with the blue and red dote, and cyan shows up when blue and green are activated equally. In some low-cost systems, the electron beam can only beset to on or of, initing displays to eight colors. More sophisticated systems can set intermediate intensity levels fox the electron beams, allowing several million different colors tobe generated. Color graphics systems can be designed 10 be used with several types of CRT display devices. Some inexpensive home-computer systems and video games are designed for use with a color TV set and an RF radio-frequency) mad: ‘lator. The Purpose of the RF modolator is to eimlate the signal from a broad- cast TV station. This means thatthe color and intensity information of the picture rust be combined and superimposed on the broadcast-frequency cater signal thatthe TV needs fo nave ss inpat, Then the circuitry in the TV takes this signal ‘rom the RF modulator, extracts the Picture information, and paints it on the screen. As we might expect, this extra handling ofthe picture information by the [RF modulator and TV circuitry decreases the quality of displayed images. Composite monitors are adaptations of TV sets that allow bypass of the broadcast Grcuitry. These display devices stil require that the picture informa-tion be combined, but no carier signal is needed. Picture information is com- bined into a composite signal and then separated by the motor, so the resulting picture quality is still ot the best attainable. ‘Color CRTs in graphics systems are designed as RGB monitors. These mon: tors use shadow-mask methods and take the intensity level for each electron gun (ced, green, and blue) directly from the computer system without any intermedi ate processing, High-quality raster graphics systems have 26 bits per pixel in the frame buffer, allowing 256 vollage settings for each electron gun and nearly 17 rillion color choices for each pixel. An RGB color system with 28 bits of storage per pixel is generally referred to asa fulkcolor system ora true-color system. Ditect-View Storage Tubes Aan alternative method for maintaining a screen image isto store the picture in- formation inside the CRT instead of rereshing the screen. A direct-view storage tube (DVST) stores the picture information asa charge distribution just behind the phosphor-coated screen, Tio electron guns are used in a DVST. One, the pri mary gen, is used fo store the picture pattern the second, the food gun, main tains the picture display [A DST monitor has both disadvantages and advantages compared to the refresh CRT. Because no refreshing is needed, very complex pictures can be dis played at very high resolutions without flicker. Disadvantages of DVST systems fre that they ordimanly do not display color and that selected parts of a picture tannot he erased. To eliminate a pice section the entire seen must be erased and the modified picure redrawn. The erasing ard redrawing process can take several seconds fora complex picture. For these rensons, storage displays have been largely replaced by raster systems, Flat-Panel Displays Although most graphics monitor are stil construced with CRTs, other tehinolo- {ies are emerging that may soon replace CRT monitors. The term atpanel dis- play refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight, and power requirements compared to a CPI. A significant fanture of latpanel dis- plays is that they are thinner than CRTs, and we can Hang them on walls oF wear them on our wrists. Since we can even write on seme flat-panel displays, they Will soon be available as pocket notepads. Current uses for Mat-panel displays in- clude small TV monitors, calculators, pocket video games, laptop computers, armrest viewing of movies on airlines, as advertisement boards in elevators, and 48 graphics displays in applications requiring rugst, portable monitors, We can separate flat-panel displays into two categories: emissive displays and nonemissive displays. The emissive displays (or emitters) are devices that Convert electrical energy into light Plasma panels, thin lm electoluminescent displays, and light-emitting diodes are examples of emissive displays, Flat CRTs have also been devised, in which electron beams arv accelerated parallel to the screen, then deflected 90° to the screen. But flat CRTs have net proved to be as successful as other emissive devices. Nonemmissive displays (or nonemitters) se optical effects to convert sunlight or light From some other source into graph- ics patterns. The mest important example of nonemissve flat-panel display is Iiquid-erystal device Plasma panels, also called gas-discharge displays, are constructed by fill: ing the region between two glass plates with a misture of gases that usually in Section 2 ‘ero pay Deaces 45,Shapes dudes neon. A series of vertical conducting ribbons is placed on one glass panel, —Greview WGaphierSyiens and a st of horizontal risbone is built into the other glass panel (Fig. 2-11. Firing ‘voltages applied toa pair of horizontal and vertical conductors cause the gas at the intersection ofthe two conductors to break down into a glowing plasma of ‘electrons and ions. Picture definition is stored in a refresh buffer, and the fring voltages are applied to refresh the pixel positions (at the intersections of the con= ductors) 60 times per second, Alternating-current methods are used to provide faster application ofthe firing voltages, and thus brighter displays. Separation between pixels is provided by the electric field of the conductors. Figure 212 shows a high-definition plasma panel. One disadvantage of plasma panels has been that they were strictly monochromatic devices, but systems hare been de- ‘veloped that are now capable of displaying color and grayscale. Thin-ilm electroluminescent displays are similsr in construction to a plasma panel. The difference is thatthe region between the glass plates is filled with a phosphor, such as zinc sulfide doped with manganese, instead of a gas (ig. 2-13). When a sufficently high voitage is applied to a pair of crossing elec- trodes, the phosphor becomes a conductor in the area ofthe intersection of the two electrodes. Electrical energy is then absorbed by the manganese atoms, ‘which then release the energy as a spot of light simular to the glowing plasma ef fect in a plasma panel. Electroluminescent displays require more power than plasma panels, and good color and gray scale displays ae hard to achieve. ‘A third type of emissive device isthe lightemitting diode (LED). A matrix (of diodes is arranged to form the pixel postions in the display, and picture defn ition is stored in a refresh buffer. As in Sean-line refreshing of a CRT, information ‘ota rte le Pte Figure 2-1 Figure 222 Basi design of «plasma pane! A plasma panel display witha display device resolution of 2048 by 2048 and tereen diagonal ofS mneters (Cotes Pans Syne)‘Gunso begun Basi design of 9 hurl cletoluminescent display device is read from the refresh buffer and converted to voltage levels that are applied to the diedes to produce the light patterns inthe display. Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) are commonly used in small systems, such as calculators (Fig. 2-14) and portable, laptop computers (Fig, 2-15). These non- ‘missive devices produce a picture by passing polarized light from the surround- ings o* fom an ternal light source through a liquid-crystal material that can be aligned to either block or transmit the ght "The term liquid erystl refers to the fact that these compounds have 2 crys talline arrangement of molecules, yet they flow like a liquid. Flat-panel displays commonly use nematic (threadlike) liquid-crystal compounds that tend to keep the long axes of the rod-shaped molecules aligned. A flat-panel display can then be consinucted with a nematic liquid crystal, as demonstrated in Fig. 2-16. Two glass plates, each containing a light polarizer at right angles to the other plat, 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 uf two conductors defines a pixel postion. Nor- ‘mally, the molecules are aligned as shown in the “on state” of Fig. 2-6, Polarized light passing through the material is twisted 50 that it will passthrough the op- posite polarizer. The light is then reflected back to the viewer. Te turn off the pixel, we apply a voltage to the two intersecting, conductors to align the mole- ‘cules so thatthe light is not twisted. This type of flat-panel device is referred to as 4 passive matrix LCD, Picture definitions are stored in a refresh buffer, and the screen i refreshed at the rate of 60 frames per Second, as in the emissive devices. Back lighting is also commonly applied wsing solid-state electronic devices, so ‘thatthe system Is not completely dependent on outside light saurees. Colors can be displayed by using different materials or dyes and by placing a triad of color pixels at each screen location. Another method for constricting LCDs isto place 2 transistor at each pixel location, using thin-film transistor technology. The tran- sistors are used to control the voltage at pixel locations and to prevent charge from gradually leaking out of the liquid-crystal cells. These devices are called activermatrix displays Veo Ovpiay Dice wea ‘Rando wth an LCD screen: Coureyof Tes irae a7Figure 2-15 ‘A buck, passivematrx liquid 48 Figure 226 ‘Thelight-twistng shutter fect used in the design of most quid cra display devices “en