Sri Vidya College of Engineering & Technology, Virudhunagar Question Bank

Unit I
INTRODUCTION
PART-A
1.Define Computer Graphics.
Computer Graphics remains one of the most existing and rapidly growing computer fields. Computer graphics
may be defined as the pictorial representation or graphical representation of objects in a computer
2.Write short notes on video controller.
Video controller is used to control the operation of the display device.A fixed area of the system is reserved
for the frame buffer and the video controller is given direct access to the frame buffer memory 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 sophisticated raster systems employ other processors as
coprocessor sand accelerators to implement various graphics operations.
3.Write notes on Graphics controller?
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
4.List out a few attributes of output primitives?
Attributes are the properties of the output primitives; that is, an attribute describes how a particular primitive is
to be displayed. They include intensity and color specifications, line styles, text styles, and area-filling
patterns. Functions within this category can be usedto set attributes for an individual primitive class or for
groups of output primitives.
5.What is vertical retrace of the electron beam?
In raster scan display at the end of one frame the electron beam returns to the left top corner of the screen to
start the next frame is called vertical retrace of the electron beam.
6. Define persistence, resolution and aspect ratio.
Persistence is defined as the time it takes the emitted light from the screen to decay to one tenth of its original
intensity.The maximum number of points that can be displayed without overlap on a CRT is referred to as the
resolution.Aspect ratio is the ratio of the vertical points to horizontal points necessary to produce equal length
lines in both directions on the screen.
7.What is the major difference between symmetrical DDA and simple DDA
Simple DDA Symmetric DDA
In simple DDA, is transformed to In symmetric DDA, e is chosen such that though both
where e, call it the increment factor, the co-ordinates of the resultant points has tobe
is a positive real number rounded off, it can be done so very efficiently,thus
quickly.

eis chosen as such that one of the e is chosen as 1/2^n where 2^(n-1) <=
coordinate is integral and only the other coordinate has < 2^n. In other words the length of
to be rounded. i.e. P(i+1) = P(i)+( )) the line is taken to be 2^n aligned. The increments for
here one coordinate is being incremented by 1 and the the two coordinates are
other by

8. What is horizontal and vertical retrace?

The return to the left of the screen after refreshing each scan line is called as the horizontal retrace.Vertical
retrace: At the end of each frame the electron beam returns to the top left corner of the screen to the beginning
the next frame.
9. What is interlaced refresh?
Each frame is refreshed using two passes. In the first pass, the beam sweeps across every other scan linefrom
top to bottom. Then after the vertical retrace, the beam traces out the remaining scan lines.
10. What is a raster scan system?
In a raster scan system the electron beam is swept across the screen, one row at a time top to bottom. As the
electron beam moves across each row, the beam intensity is turned on and off to create a pattern of illuminated
spots. Picture information is stored in a memory area called refresh buffer or frame buffer. Most suited for
scenes with subtle shading and color patterns.
11. What is a random scan system?

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In random scan display unit, a CRT has the electron beam directed only to the parts of the screen where a
picture is to be drawn. This display is also called as vector displays. Picture definition is stored as asset of line
drawing commands in a memory referred to the refresh display file or display list or display program.
12. Write down the attributes of characters.
The appearance of displayed characters is controlled by attributes such as font, size, color and orientation.
Attributes can be set both for entire character strings (text) and for individual characters defined as marker
symbols. The choice of font gives a particular design style. Characters can also be displayed as underlined, in
boldface, in italics and in outline or shadow styles.
13. What is scan conversion and what is a cell array?
Digitizing a picture definition given in an application program into a set of pixel intensity values for storage
in the frame buffer by the display processor is called scan conversion.The cell array is a primitive that allow
users to display an arbitrary shape defined as a two dimensional grid pattern.
14. Write down any two line attributes. (AU NOV/DEC 2011) The basic attributes of a straight line
segment are its:
 Type: solid, dashed and dotted lines.
 Width: the thickness of the line is specified.
 Color: a color index is included to provide color or intensity properties.
15. What are line caps?
The shape of the line ends are adjusted to give a better appearance by adding line caps.
Butt cap: obtained by adjusting the end positions of the component parallel lines so that the thickline is
displayed with square ends that is perpendicular to the line path. Round cap: obtained by adding a filled
semicircle to each butt cap.
Projecting square cap: extend the line and add butt caps that are positioned one-half of the linewidth beyond
the specified endpoints.
16. What are different methods of smoothly joining two line segments?
Miter joins: Accomplished by extending the outer boundaries of each of the two lines until theymeet.
Round join: produced by capping the connection between the two segments with a circularboundary whose
diameter is equal to the line width.
Bevel join: generated by displaying the line segments with butt caps and filling in the triangulargap where the
segments meet.
17. Write down the attributes of characters.(AU MAY/JUNE 2012 IT)
The appearance of displayed characters is controlled by attributes such as font, size, color and orientation.
Attributes can be set both for entire character strings (text) and for individual characters defined as marker
symbols. The choice of font gives a particular design style. Characters can also be displayed as underlined, in
boldface, in italics and in outline or shadow styles.
18. Briefly explain about the unbundled and bundled attributes.
Unbundled attributes: how exactly the primitive is to be displayed is determined by its attribute
setting.These attributes are meant to be used with an output device capable of displaying primitives the
wayspecified. Bundled attributes: when several kinds of output devices are available at a graphics
installation, it is convenient for a user to be able to say how attributes are to be interpreted on different o/p
devices. This is accomplished by setting up tables for each output device that lists sets of attribute value that
are to be used on that device to display each primitive type. A particular set of attribute values for a primitive
on each o/p device is then chosen by specifying the appropriate table index. Attributes specified in this
manner is called as bundled attribute.
19. Digitize a line from (10,12) to (15,15) on a raster screen using Bresenham’s straight
linealgorithm.
The line has a slope of 0.6 withΔx=5, Δy=3
The initial decision parameter has the valueP0=2Δy-Δx=6-5=1
And the increments for calculating successive decision parameters are2Δy-2Δx=6-10=-4
We plot the point (x0.y0) =(10,12), and determine successive pixel positions along theline path from the
decision parameter as

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20. Define pixel.

Pixel is a shortened form of picture element. Each screen point is referred to as pixel or pel
21. Define aliasing.
Displayed primitives generated by the raster algorithms have a jagged, stair step appearance because the
sampling process digitizes coordinate points on an object to discrete integer pixel positions. This distortion of
information due to low frequency sampling is called aliasing
22. What is antialiasing?
Appearance of displayed raster lines by applying antialiasing methods that compensate for the undersampling
process.
Nyquist sampling frequency: to avoid losing information, the sampling frequency to at least twice that
ofthehighest frequency occurring in the object. Fs=2*fmax.
23. What is antialiasing by super sampling or post filtering?
This is a technique of sampling object characteristics at a high resolution and displaying results at a lower
resolution.
24. What is antialiasing by area sampling or prefiltering?
An alternative to super sampling is to determine pixel intensity by calculating areas of overlap of eachpixel with
the objects to be displayed .antialiasing by computing overlaps areas is referred to as areasampling or
prefiltering.
25. What is antialiasing by pixel phasing?
Raster objects can be antialiased by shifting the display location of pixel areas. This is applied by
“micropositioning” the electron beam in relation to object geometry.

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Part B
1. Explain the Bresenham’s line drawing algorithm with example. (AU MAY/JUNE 2012 IT)
BRESENHAM’S LINE ALGORITHM

1. Input the two line endpoints and store the left end point in (x0,y0)
2. load (x0,y0) into frame buffer, ie. Plot the first point.
3. Calculate the constants Δx, Δy, 2Δy and obtain the starting value for the decision parameter as P0 = 2Δy-Δx
4. At each xkalong the line, starting at k=0 perform the following test
If Pk< 0, the next point to plot is(xk+1,yk) and
Pk+1 = Pk+ 2Δy
Otherwise, the next point to plot is (xk+1,yk+1) and
Pk+1 = Pk+ 2Δy - 2Δx 5. Perform step4 Δx times.

Implementation of Bresenham Line drawing Algorithm

voidlineBres (int xa,intya,intxb, int yb)
{
int dx = abs( xa – xb) , dy = abs (ya - yb);
int p = 2 * dy – dx;
inttwoDy = 2 * dy, twoDyDx = 2 *(dy - dx);
int x , y, xEnd; /* Determine which point to use as start, which as end * /
if (xa> x b )
{
x = xb;
y = yb;
xEnd = xa;
}
else
{
x = xa;
y = ya;
xEnd = xb;
}
setPixel(x,y);
while(x<xEnd)
{
x++;
if (p<0) p+=twoDy;
else
{
y++;
p+=twoDyDx;
}

setPixel(x,y);
}
}

Example : Consider the line with endpoints (20,10) to (30,18)

The line has the slope m= (18-10)/(30-20)=8/10=0.8

Δx = 10Δy=8
The initial decision parameter has the value p0 = 2Δy- Δx = 6
and the increments for calculating successive decision parameters are
2Δy=16 2Δy-2 Δx= -4
We plot the initial point (x0,y0) = (20,10) and determine successive pixel positions along the line path from
the decision parameter as

TABULATION:
k pk (xk+1, yK+1)
0 6 (21,11)

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1 2 (22,12)
2 -2 (23,12)
3 14 (24,13)
4 10 (25,14)
5 6 (26,15)
6 2 (27,16)
7 -2 (28,16)
8 14 (29,17)
9 10 (30,18)

RESULT:

Advantages
1. Algorithm is Fast
2. Uses only integer calculations

Disadvantages It is meant only for basic line drawing

2. Explain the midpoint circle drawing algorithm. Assume 10 cm as the radius and co-ordinate origin
as the center of the circle. (AU NOV/DEC 2011)
Given a circle radius r=10
The circle octant in the first quadrant from x=0 to x=y.
The initial value of the decision parameter is

P0=1-r = - 9
For the circle centered on the coordinate origin, the initial point is (X 0, y0)=(0, 10)
and initial increment terms for calculating the decision parameters are
2x0=0, 2y0=20
Successive midpoint decision parameter values and the corresponding coordinate positions along the circle path
are listed in the following table.

TABULATION :

k pk (xk+1, yk-1) 2xk+1 2yk+1

0 -9 (1,10) 2 20
1 -6 (2,10) 4 20
2 -1 (3,10) 6 20
3 6 (4,9) 8 18
4 -3 (5,9) 10 18
5 8 (6,8) 12 16

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6 5 (7,7) 14 14

RESULT :

Implementation of Midpoint Circle Algorithm

voidcircleMidpoint (int xCenter, int yCenter, int radius)
{
int x = 0; int y = radius;
int p = 1 - radius;
voidcirclePlotPoints (int, int, int, int); /* Plot first set of points */
irclePlotPoints (xCenter, yCenter, x, y);
while (x < y)
{
x++ ;
if (p < 0) p +=2*x +1;
else
{
y--; p +=2* (x - Y) + 1;
}
circlePlotPoints(xCenter, yCenter, x, y)
}
}
voidcirclePlotPolnts (int xCenter, int yCenter, int x, int y)

{
setpixel (xCenter + x, yCenter + y ) ;
setpixel (xCenter - x. yCenter + y);
setpixel (xCenter + x, yCenter - y);
setpixel (xCenter - x, yCenter - y ) ;
setpixel (xCenter + y, yCenter + x);
setpixel (xCenter - y , yCenter + x);
setpixel (xCenter t y , yCenter - x);
setpixel (xCenter - y , yCenter - x);
}

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3. Explain about Bresenham’s circle generating algorithm with example.(AU MAY2012)

CIRCLE-GENERATING ALGORITHMS
A circle is defined as a set of points that are all the given distance (xc,yc).

2 2 2
(x – xc) + (y – yc) = r

Midpoint circle Algorithm

1. Input radius r and circle center (xc,yc) and obtain the first point on the circumference of the circle
centered on the origin as (x0,y0) = (0,r)
2. Calculate the initial value of the decision parameter as P0=(5/4)-r
3. At each xk position, starting at k=0, perform the following test.
If Pk<0 the next point along the circle centered on (0,0) is (xk+1,yk) and
Pk+1=Pk+2xk+1+1
Otherwise the next point along the circle is (xk+1,yk-1) and
Pk+1=Pk+2xk+1+1-2 yk+1 Where 2xk+1=2xk+2 and 2yk+1=2yk-2
4. Determine symmetry points in the other seven octants.
5. Move each calculated pixel position (x,y) onto the circular path centered at (xc,yc) and plot the
coordinate values. x=x+xc y=y+yc 6. Repeat step 3 through 5 until x>=y.
4. Explain in detail about Bresenham’s ellipse generating algorithm. Give example.
BRESENHAM’S ELLIPSE GENERATING ALGORITHM

Mid point Ellipse Algorithm

1. Input rx,ry and ellipse center (xc,yc) and obtain the first point on an ellipse centered on the origin as
(x0,y0) = (0,ry)
2. Calculate the initial value of the decision parameter in region 1 as
P10=ry2-rx2ry +(1/4)rx2
At each xk position in region1 starting at k=0 perform the following test.
3. If P1k<0, the next point along the ellipse centered on (0,0) is (xk+1, yk) and

p1k+1 = p1k +2 ry2xk +1 + ry2

4. Otherwise the next point along the ellipse is (xk+1, yk-1) and p1k+1 = p1k +2 ry2xk +1 - 2rx2 yk+1 + ry2
with 2 ry2xk +1 = 2 ry2xk + 2ry2 2 rx2yk +1 = 2 rx2yk + 2rx2
And continue until 2ry2 x>=2rx2 y
5. Calculate the initial value of the decision parameter in region 2 using the last point (x0,y0) is the last
position calculated in region 1.
p20 = ry2(x0+1/2)2+rx2(yo-1)2 – rx2ry2

6. At each position yk in region 2, starting at k=0 perform the following test, If p2k>0 the next point along the
ellipse centered on (0,0) is (xk,yk-1) and
p2k+1 = p2k – 2rx2yk+1+rx2 Otherwise the next point along the ellipse is (xk+1,yk-1) and p2k+1
= p2k + 2ry2xk+1 – 2rxx2yk+1 + rx2 Using the same incremental calculations for x
any y as in region 1.
6. Determine symmetry points in the other three quadrants.
7. Move each calculate pixel position (x,y) onto the elliptical path centered on (xc,yc) and plot the coordinate
values
x=x+xc, y=y+yc

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5. Explain Line drawing algorithm. (AU NOV/DEC 2012) DIGITAL DIFFERENTIAL ANALYZER
(DDA) ALGORTIHM
Algorithm
#define ROUND(a) ((int)(a+0.5))
voidlineDDA (int xa, int ya, int xb, int yb)
{
int dx = xb - xa, dy = yb - ya, steps, k;
floatxIncrement, yIncrement, x = xa, y = ya;
if (abs (dx) > abs (dy) steps = abs (dx) ;
else steps = abs dy);
xIncrement = dx / (float) steps;
yIncrement = dy / (float) steps
setpixel (ROUND(x), ROUND(y) ) :
for (k=0; k<steps; k++)
{
x += xIncrement;
y += yIncrement;
setpixel (ROUND(x), ROUND(y));
}
}
Algorithm Description:
Step 1 :Accept Input as two endpoint pixel positions
Step 2: Horizontal and vertical differences between the endpoint positions are assigned to parameters dx and dy
(Calculate dx=xb-xa and dy=yb-ya).
Step 3:The difference with the greater magnitude determines the value of parameter steps.
Step 4 :Starting with pixel position (xa, ya), determine the offset needed at each step to generate the next pixel
position along the line path.
Step 5: loop the following process for steps number of times
a. Use a unit of increment or decrement in the x and y direction
b. if xa is less than xb the values of increment in the x and y directions are 1 and m c. if xa is greater than xb
then the decrements -1 and – m are used.
Example: Consider the line from (0,0) to (4,6)
1. xa=0, ya =0 and xb=4 yb=6
2. dx=xb-xa = 4-0 = 4 and dy=yb-ya=6-0= 6
3. x=0 and y=0
4 > 6 (false) so, steps=6
5. Calculate xIncrement = dx/steps = 4 / 6 = 0.66 and yIncrement = dy/steps =6/6=1
6. Setpixel(x,y) = Setpixel(0,0) (Starting Pixel Position)
7. Iterate the calculation for xIncrement and yIncrement for steps(6) number of times
8. Tabulation of the each iteration

k x Y Plotting points (Rounded to Integer)

0 0+0.66=0.66 0+1=1 (1,1)
1 0.66+0.66=1.32 1+1=2 (1,2)
2 1.32+0.66=1.98 2+1=3 (2,3)
3 1.98+0.66=2.64 3+1=4 (3,4)
4 2.64+0.66=3.3 4+1=5 (3,5)

RESULT:

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Advantages of DDA Algorithm

1. It is the simplest algorithm
2. It is a is a faster method for calculating pixel positions
Disadvantages of DDA Algorithm
1. Floating point arithmetic in DDA algorithm is still time-consuming
2. End point accuracy is poor
6. Write short notes on Video display devices.
2. 1 VIDEO DISPLAY DEVICES
Typically, 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 exist and
solid-state* monitors may eventually predominate.

REFRESH CATHODE-RAY TUBES

1. Figure 2-2 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.
2. 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,
3. Some method is needed for maintaining the screen picture. One way to do this is to store the picture
information as a charge distribution within the CRT.
4. This charge distribution can then be used to keep the phosphors activated. However, the most common
method now employed for maintaining phosphor glow is to redraw the picture repeatedly by quickly
directing the electron beam back over the same screen points.
5. This type of display is called a refreshCRT, and the frequency at which a picture is redrawn on the screen
is referred to as the refresh rate. The primary components of an electron gun in a CRT are the heated metal
cathode and a control grid (Fig. 2-3).
6. Heat is supplied to the cathode by directing a current through a coil of wire, called the filament, inside the
cylindrical cathode structure. This causes electrons to be “boiled off” the hot cathode surface.
7. 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 accelerating voltage can be generated with a positively

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charged metal coating on the inside of the CRT envelope near the phosphor screen, or an accelerating
anode, as in Fig. 2-3, can be used to provide the positive voltage.
8. Sometimes the electron gun is designed so that the accelerating anode and focusing system are within the
same unit.
9. Intensity of the electron beam is controlled by the voltage at the control grid, which is a metal cylinder that
fits over the cathode. A high negative voltage applied to the control grid will shut off the beam by repelling
electrons and stopping them from passing through the small hole at the end of the control-grid structure.
10. A smaller negative voltage on the control grid simply decreases the number of electrons passing through.
Since the amount of light emitted by the phosphor coating depends on the number of electrons striking the
screen, the brightness of a display point is controlled by varying the voltage on the control grid.
11. The focusing system in a CRT forces the electron beam to converge to a small cross section as it strikes the
phosphor. Otherwise, the electrons would repel eachother, and the beam would spread out as it approaches
the screen. Focusing is accomplished with either electric or magnetic fields.
12. With electrostatic focusing, the electron beam is passed through a positively charged metal cylinder so that
electrons along the centerline of the cylinder are in an equilibrium position.

13. This arrangement forms an electrostatic lens, as shown in Fig. 2-3, and the electron beam is focused at the
center of the screen in the same way that an optical lens focuses a beam of light at a particular focal
distance. Similar lens focusing effects can be accomplished with a magnetic field set up by a coil mounted
around the outside of the CRT envelope, and magnetic lens focusing usually produces thesmallest spot size
on the screen.
14. Additional focusing hardware is used in high-precision systems to keep the beam in focus at all screen
positions. The distance that the electron beam must travel to different points on the screen varies because
the radius of curvature for most CRTs is greater than the distance from the focusing system to the screen
center.
15. Therefore, the electron beam will be focused properly only at the center of the screen. As the beam moves
to the outer edges of the screen, displayed images become blurred. To compensate for this, the system can
adjust the focusing according to the screen position of the beam.
16. As with focusing, deflection of the electron beam can be controlled with either electric or magnetic fields.
Cathode-ray tubes are now commonly constructed with magnetic-deflection coils mounted on the outside
of the CRT envelope, as illustrated in Fig. 2-2.
17. Two pairs of coils are used for this purpose. One pair is mounted on the top and bottom of the CRT neck,
and the other pair is mounted on opposite sides of the neck. The magnetic field produced by each pair of
coils results in a transverse deflection force that is perpendicular to both the direction of the magnetic field
and the direction of travel of the electron beam.
18. Horizontal deflection is accomplished with one pair of coils, and vertical deflection with the other pair. The
proper deflection amounts are attained by adjusting the currentthrough the coils. When electrostatic
deflection is used, two pairs of parallel plates are mounted inside the CRT envelope.

Fig 2.4 Electrostatic deflection of the electron beam in a CRT.

19. One pair of plates is mounted horizontally to control vertical deflection, and the other pair is mounted
vertically to control horizontal deflection (Fig. 2-4). Spots of light are produced on the screen by the
transfer of the CRT beam energy to the phosphor. When the electrons in the beam collide with the
phosphor coating, they are stopped and their kinetic energy is absorbed by the phosphor. 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 quantum-energy levels. After a short time, the “excited” phosphor electrons begin

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dropping back to their stable ground state, giving up their extra energy as small quantum’s of light energy
called photons.
20. Different kinds of phosphors are available for use in CRTs. Besides color, a major difference between
phosphors is their persistence: how long they continue to emit light (that is, how long before all excited
electrons have returned to the ground state) after the CRT beam is removed. Persistence is defined as the
time that it takes the emitted light from the screen to decay to one-tenth of its original intensity.
21. Lower-persistence phosphors require higher refresh rates to maintain a picture on the screen without
flicker. A phosphor with low persistence can be useful for animation, while high-persistence phosphors are
better suited for displaying highly complex, static pictures. Although some phosphors have persistence
values greater than 1 second, general-purpose graphics monitors are usually constructed with persistence in
the range from 10 to 60 microseconds.
22. Figure 2-5 shows the intensity distribution of a spot on the screen. The intensity is greatest at the center of
the spot, and it decreases with a Gaussian distribution out to the edges of the spot. This distribution
corresponds to the cross-sectional electron density distribution of the CRT beam. The maximum number of
points that can be displayed without overlap on aCRT is referred to as the resolution

Fig 2.5 Intensity distribution of an illuminated Phosphor spot on a CRT screen

Fig 2.6 Two Illuminated phosphor spots are distinguishable when their separation is greater
than the diameter at which a spot intensity has fallen to 60 percent of maximum.

7.RANDOM-SCAN DISPLAYS

1. When operated as a random-scan display unit, a CRT has the electron beam directed only to those parts of
the screen where a picture is to be displayed.
2. Pictures are generated as line drawings, with the electron beam tracing out the component lines one after
the other. For this reason, random-scan monitors are also referred to as vector displays (or stroke-writing
displays or calligraphic displays).
3. The component lines of a picture can be drawn and refreshed by a random-scan system in any specified
order (Fig. 2-9).A pen plotter operates in a similar way and is an example of a random-scan, hard-copy
device.
4. Refresh rate on a random-scan system depends on the number of lines to be displayed on that system.
Picture definition is now stored as a set of line-drawing commands in an area of memory referred to as the
display list, refresh display file, vector file, or display program.

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5. To display a specified picture, the system cycles through the set of commands in the display file, drawing
each component line in turn. After all line-drawing commands have been processed, the system cycles back
to the first line command in the list.
6. Random-scan displays are designed to draw all the component lines of a picture 30 to 60 times each
second, with up to 100,000 “short” lines in the display list. When a small set of lines is to be displayed,
each refresh cycle is delayed to avoid very high refresh rates, which could burn out the phosphor.
7. Random-scan systems were designed for line-drawing applications, such as architectural and engineering
layouts, and they cannot display realistic shaded scenes. Since picture definition is stored as a set of line-
drawing instructions rather than as a set of intensity values for all screen points, vector displays generally
have higher resolutions than raster systems.
8. Also, vector displays produce smooth line drawings because the CRT beam directly follows the line path.
A raster system, by contrast, produces jagged lines that are plotted as discrete point sets. However, the
greater flexibility and improved line-drawing capabilities of raster systems have resulted in the
abandonment of vector technology.

9. Explain about Raster scan systems.

RASTER-SCAN DISPLAYS

1. The most common type of graphics monitor employing a CRT is the raster-scan display, based on
television technology. Ina raster-scan system, the electron beam is swept across the screen, one row at a
time, from top to bottom.
2. Each row is referred to as a scan line. As the electron beam moves across a scan line, the beam intensity is
turned on and off (or set to some intermediate value) to create a pattern of illuminated spots. Picture
definition is stored in a memory area called the refresh buffer or frame buffer, where the term frame
refers to the total screen area. This memory area holds the set of color values for the screen points.
3. These stored color values are then retrieved from the refresh buffer and used to control the intensity of the
electron beam as it moves from spot to spot across the screen. In this way, the picture is “painted” on the
screen one scan line at a time, as demonstrated in Fig. 2-7.
4. Each screen spot that can be illuminated by the electron beam is referred to as a pixel or pel(shortened
forms of picture element). Since the refresh buffer is used to store the set of screen color values, it is also
sometimes called a color buffer.
5. Also, other kinds of pixel information, besides color, are stored in buffer locations, so all the different
buffer areas are sometimes referred to collectively as the “frame buffer”. The capability of a raster -scan
system to store color information for each screen point makes it well suited for the realistic display of
scenes containing subtle shading and color patterns.
6. Home television sets and printers are examples of other systems using raster-scan methods. Raster systems
are commonly characterized by their resolution, which is the number of pixel positions that can be plotted.
7. Another property of video monitors is aspect ratio, which is now often defined as the number of pixel
columns divided by the number of scan lines that can be displayed by the system. (Sometimes the term
aspect ratio is used to refer to the number of scan lines divided by the number of pixel columns.) Aspect
ratio can also be described as the number of horizontal points to vertical points (or vice versa) necessary to
produce equal-length lines in both directions on the screen.
8. The number of bits per pixel in a frame buffer is sometimes referred to as either the depth of the buffer
area or the number of bit planes. Also, a frame buffer with one bit per pixel is commonly called a bitmap,
and a frame buffer with multiple bits per pixel is a pixmap.

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Sri Vidya College of Engineering & Technology, Virudhunagar Question Bank

9. On some raster-scan systems and TV sets, each frame is displayed in two passes using an interlaced refresh
procedure. In the first pass, the beam sweeps across every other scan line from top to bottom. After the
vertical retrace, the beam then sweeps out the remaining scan lines (Fig. 2-8).
10. Interlacing of the scan lines in this way allows us to see the entire screen displayed in one-half the time it
would have taken to sweep across all the lines at once from top to bottom. This technique is primarily used
with slower refresh rates. On an older, 30 frame per- second, non-interlaced display, for instance, some
flicker is noticeable. But with interlacing, each of the two passes can be accomplished in 1/60 of a second,
which brings the refresh rate nearer to 60 frames per second. This is an effective technique for avoiding
flicker provided that adjacent scan lines contain similar display information.

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