Graphics Systems

Dr. E.A.Zanaty
Associate Prof.
 Overview

◼ Display Hardware

❑ How are images displayed?

 Overview (Display Devices)
◼ Raster Scan Displays
◼ Random Scan Displays
◼ Color CRT Monirors
◼ Direct View Storage Tube
◼ Flat panel Displays
◼ Three Dimensional Viewing Devices
◼ Stereoscopic and Virtual Reality
System
 Overview (Display Devices)
◼ The display systems are
often referred to as Video
Monitor or Video Display
Unit (VDU).
 Display Hardware

◼ Video Display Devices

◼ The primary output device in
a graphics system is a
monitor.
 Video Monitor

Cathode Ray Tube

(CRT)
1. Electron Guns
2. Electron Beams
3. Focusing Coils
4. Deflection Coils
5. Anode Connection
6. Shadow Mask
7. Phosphor layer
8. Close-up of the
phosphor coated
inner side of the
screen
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
 Refresh CRT
◼ Light emitted by the Phosphor
fades very rapidly.
◼ Refresh CRT: One way to keep
the phosphor glowing is to
redraw the picture repeatedly by
quickly directing the electron
beam back over the same points.
Electron Gun
 Electron Gun
◼ Heat is supplied to the cathode by
the filament.
 Electron Gun
◼ The free electrons are then
accelerated toward the
phosphor coating by a high
positive voltage.
 High Positive Voltage
◼ A positively charged metal coating on the
inside of the CRT envelope near the phosphor
screen.

A positively charged metal

 High Positive Voltage
◼ An accelerating anode .
 Electron Gun
◼ Intensity of the electron beam is
controlled by setting voltage level
on the control grid.
 Electron Gun
◼ A smaller negative voltage
on the control grid simply
decrease the number of
electrons passing through.
Focusing System
 Focusing System
◼ The focusing system is needed to
force the electron beam to converge
into a small spot as it strikes the
phosphor.

◼ Electrostatic focusing is commonly

used in computer graphics monitor.
 Focusing System
◼ With electrostatic focusing, the
electron beam passes through a
positively charged metal cylinder
that forms an electrostatic lens.
 Focusing System
◼ Similar lens focusing effects can
be accomplished with a magnetic
field set up by a coil mounted
around the outside of the CRT
envelope.
 Focusing System
◼ 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.
 Focusing System
◼ 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.
◼ Dynamically focusing lens work
based on beam position.
Deflection Systems
 Deflection Systems
◼ Deflection of the electron beam can be
controlled either with electric fields or
with magnetic fields.
◼ The magnetic deflection coils mounted
on the outside of the CRT envelope.
 Deflection Systems
◼ Two pairs of coils are used, with
the coils in each pair mounted on
opposite sides of the neck of the
CRT envelope.
 Deflection Systems
◼ One pair is mounted on the top and bottom of
the neck, and the other pair is mounted on
opposite sides of the neck.
 Deflection Systems
◼ Horizontal deflection is
accomplished with one pair of
coils, and vertical deflection by
the other pairs.

◼ The proper deflection amounts are

attained by adjusting the current
through the coil.
 Deflection Systems
◼ Electrostatic deflection:
Two pairs of parallel
plates are mounted inside
the CRT envelope.
 Deflection Systems
◼ One pair of plates is mounted horizontally to
control the vertical deflection, and the other
pair is mounted vertically to control horizontal
deflection.
Spots of Light
 Spots of Light
◼ Spots of lights are produces on
the screen by the transfer of the
CRT beam energy to the
phosphor.
◼ Part of the beam energy is
converted into heat energy.
 Spots of Light
◼ The excited phosphor
electrons begin dropping
back to their stable ground
state, giving up their extra
energy as small quantums of
light energy.
 Persistence
◼ Persistence :The time it
takes the emitted light from
the screen to decay to one-
tenth of its original
intensity.
 Intensity Distribution
◼ The intensity is greatest at the
center of the spot, and decrease
with Gaussian distribution out
to the edges of the spot.
 Resolution (Spots of Light)

◼ Resolution: The maximum

number of points that can be
displayed without overlap on
a CRT.

Overlap
 Resolution (Spots of Light)

◼ Resolution of a CRT is dependent on:

❑ The type of phosphor

❑ The intensity to be displayed
❑ The focusing and deflection
systems.
Typical resolution: 1280 by 1024
 Aspect Ratio

◼ Aspect Ratio: This numbers

gives the ratio of vertical
points to horizontal points
necessary to produce equal
length lines in both
directions on the screen.
1. Electron Guns
2. Electron Beams
3. Focusing Coils
4. Deflection Coils
5. Anode Connection
6. Shadow Mask
7. Phosphor layer
8. Close-up of the
phosphor coated
inner side of the
electron
 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
Beam passing
Anode Connection through mask

Shadow mask
Electron Beam
Deflection Coils
Electron Gun
Raster Scan Displays
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Raster: A rectangular array of
points or dots
◼ Pixel: One dot or picture element
of the raster
◼ Scan Line: A row of pixels
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ In a raster scan system, the electron
beam is swept across the screen, one
row at a time from top to bottom.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ As the electron beam moves
across each row, the beam
intensity is turned on and off
to create a pattern of
illuminated spots.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Picture definition is stored in a memory area
called the refresh buffer or frame buffer.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Refresh buffer or frame
buffer: This memory area
holds the set of intensity
values for all the screen
points.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Stored intensity values then retrieved from
refresh buffer and “painted” on the screen
one row (scan line) at a time.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Intensity range for pixel positions
depends on the capability of the
raster system.
◼ A black-and-white system: each
screen point is either on or off, so
only one bit per pixel is needed to
control the intensity of screen
positions.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ On a black-and-white system
with one bit per pixel, the frame
buffer is called bitmap.

◼ For system with multiple bits per

pixel, the frame buffer is called
pixmap.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Sometimes, refresh rates
are described in unit of
cycles per second, or Hertz
(HZ)
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Refreshing on raster scan
displays is carried out at
the rate 60 to 80 frame per
second.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Horizontal retrace: The return
to the left of the screen, after
refreshing each scan line.
 Raster Scan Displays
◼ Vertical retrace: At the end of each
frame (displayed in 1/80th to 1/60th of a
second) the electron beam returns to the
top left corner of the screen to begin the
next frame.
 Interlacing
◼ On some raster systems (TV), each frame is
displays in two passes using an interlaced
refresh procedure.
 Interlacing
◼ On an older, 30 frame per-second,
noninterlaced display, some flicker is
noticeable.
◼ With interlacing, each of the two passes
can be accomplished in 1/60th of a
second.
An effective technique for avoiding
flicker
 Raster image
◼ The quality of a raster image
is determined by the total
number pixels (resolution),
and the amount of information
in each pixel (color depth)
 Raster image
◼ Raster graphics cannot be scaled
to a higher resolution without
loss of apparent quality.
 Raster image
Brightness and color @ each x, y on screen
Random Scan
Displays
 Random Scan Displays
◼ Random scan display is the use of
geometrical primitives such as
points, lines, curves, and polygons,
which are all based upon
mathematical equation.
◼ Raster Scan is the representation of
images as a collection of pixels
(dots)
 Random Scan Displays
◼ In a random scan display, a CRT has the
electron beam directed only to the parts
of the screen where a picture is to be
drawn.
◼ Random scan monitors draw a picture
one line at a time (Vector display,
Stroke –writing or calligraphic
displays).
 Random Scan Displays
◼ The component lines of a picture
can be drawn and refreshed.
 Random Scan Displays
◼ Refresh rate depends on the
number of lines to be displayed.

◼ Picture definition is now stored

as a line-drawing commands an
area of memory referred to as
refresh display file (display
list).
 Random Scan Displays
◼ To display a picture, the
system cycle through the set of
commands in the display file,
drawing each component line
in turn.
 Random Scan Displays
◼ Random scan displays are designed to
draw all the component lines of a picture
30 to 60 times each second.
 Random Scan Displays

◼ Random scan displays are designed for line-

drawing applications and can not display
realistic shaded scenes.
Random Scan Displays
 Random Scan Displays
◼ Random scan displays have higher resolution
than raster systems.
◼ Vector displays product smooth line drawing.

Ideal Drawing Vector Drawing

 Random Scan Displays
◼ A raster system produces jagged lines that are
plotted as discrete points sets.

Raster

Outline primitives Filled primitives

 Random Scan Example
Data are describing a circle:
◼ the radius r

◼ The location of the center point of the

circle
◼ Stroke line style and color

◼ Fill style and color

 Random Scan Example
◼ Advantages:
◼ This minimal amount of information translates
to a much smaller file size. (file size compared
to large raster images)
◼ On zooming in, and it remains smooth
◼ The parameters of objects are stored and can
be later modified (transformation).
Color CRT Monitors
 Color CRT Monitors
◼ A CRT monitor displays color
pictures by using a
combination of phosphors that

emit different color lights.

 Methods
1. Beam Penetration

2. Shadow Mask
Beam Penetration
Method
 Beam Penetration Method
◼ Two layers of phosphor (red
and green) are coated onto the
inside of the CRT screen.

◼ The display color depends on haw

far the electron beam penetrates
into the phosphor layers.
 Beam Penetration Method
◼ The speed of the electrons,
and the screen color at any
point, is controlled by the
beam acceleration
voltage.
 Beam Penetration Method
The beam penetration method:
◼ Used with random scan monitors

◼ Only four colors are possible

(red, green, orange, and yellow).

◼ Quality of pictures is not as good

as with other methods.
Shadow Mask
Method
 Shadow Mask Method
The color CRT has:
◼ Three color phosphor dots (red,
green and blue) at each point on the
screen

◼ Three electron guns, each

controlling the display of red, green and
blue light.
 Shadow Mask Method
Delta Method:

In-line Method:
 Shadow Mask Method
The delta-delta method:
 Shadow Mask Method
The in-line method:
 Shadow Mask Method
◼ We obtain color variations
by varying the intensity
levels of the three electron
beam.
 Shadow Mask Method
Shadow mask methods are:
◼ Used in raster scan system
(including color TV)

◼ Designed as RGB monitors.

 Shadow Mask Method
◼ High quality raster graphics
system have 24 bits per pixel
in the frame buffer (a full
color system or a true color
system)
Color Models
 The RGB Color Model
◼ R, G, and B represent the colors produced by
red, green and blue phosphors, respectively.

Gray axis
 RGB Color Model
RGB color space
 CMY Color Model
CMY (short for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow,
and key) is a subtractive color model.
 CMY Color Model
 ‍C  1  R 
     
 M  = 1 −  G 
 Y  1  B 
     
 Color Depth, Bit Depth
◼ The number of discrete intensities that
the video card is capable of generating
for each color determines the maximum
number of colors that can be displayed.
◼ The number of memory bits required to
store color information (intensity values
for all three primary color components)
about a pixel is called color depth or bit
depth.
 Color Depth, Bit Depth
◼ A minimum of one memory bit (color
depth=1) is required to store intensity
value either 0 or 1 for every screen pixel.

◼ If there are n pixels in an image a total of

n bits memory used for storing intensity
values (in a pure black & white image)
 Bit Plane
◼ The block of memory which stores (or is mapped
with) intensity values for each pixel (B& W image)
is called a bit plane or bitmap.
 3Bit color display
◼ Color or gray levels can be achieved in the
display using additional bit planes.
 N Bit Planes
◼ The result for n bits per pixel
(color depth=n) is a collection
n
of n bit planes (2 colors or
gray shades at every pixel)
 True Color
◼ For true Color three bytes of information are used, one for
each of the red, blue and green signals that make a pixel.
◼ A byte can hold 256 different values and so 256 intensities
setting are possible for each electron gun which mean each
primary color can have 256 intensities (256*256* 256 color
possible)
 High Color
◼ For high Color two bytes of information
are used, to store the intensity values for
all three color. This is done by dividing
16 bits into 5 bits for blue, 5 bits for red
and 6 bits for green. This means 32(=25)
intensities for blue, 32 (=25) for red, and
64 (=26) for green.

◼ Loss of visible image quality.

 256 color mode
◼ The PC uses only 8 bits, 2 bits for blue
and 3 each for green and red.

◼ Most of the colors of a given picture are

not available.

◼ A palette or look-up table is used here.

 Color Palette
◼ A palette is a separate memory block (in
addition to the 8 bit plane) created 256
different colors.
◼ Each color is defined using the standard 3
byte color definition that is used in true color.
◼ The intensity values for each of the three
primary color component can be anything
between 0 and 255 in each of the table entries.
 Color Palette
◼ The intensity values for each of the three primary
color component can be anything between 0 and 255
in each of the table entries.

Total number of colors available

called color palette.
Raster Scan Systems
 Raster Scan Systems
◼ In addition to the central processing unit
(CPU), a special processor, called the video
controller or display controller, is used
to control the operation of the display device.
 Video Controller
◼ 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.
 Video Controller
◼ Frame buffer location, and the
corresponding screen positions, are
referenced in Cartesian coordinates.

x
 Video Controller
◼ Scan lines are then labeled from ymax at
the top of the screen to 0 at the bottom.
Along each scan line, screen pixel
positions are labeled from 0 to xmax.
y y max Line Scan
y max Line Scan

x max x
x max
 Video Controller
◼ Two registers are used to store the coordinates
of the screen pixels.
Raster Scan Generator

The Basic refresh

x Register y Register
operation of the
video controller.
Memory Address

Frame Buffer Intensity

 Video Controller
Some of operations can be performed by
the Video Controller:

◼ Refreshing operation

◼ Transformation (Areas of the screen

can be enlarged, reduces, or moved
during the refresh cycles)
Raster Scan Display
Processor
 Raster Scan Display Processor
◼ A raster system containing a separate display
processor (graphics controller, display coprocessor)
◼ The purpose of the DP is to free the CPU from the
graphics chores.
 DP
◼ A major task of the display processor
is Scan Conversion.
◼ Scan Conversion: is digitizing a
picture definition given in an
application program into a set of
pixel intensity values for storage in
the frame buffer.( scan conversion
straight line segment, Character )
 DP
◼ Generation various line styles
(dashed, dotted, or solid)

◼ Displaying color areas

◼ Performing certain transformation

and manipulation on display
objects.
Random Scan Systems
 Random Scan System
◼ Graphic commands are translated by the
graphics package into a display file stored in
the system memory.
◼ This file is then accessed by the display
processor unit (DPU)(graphic controller) to
refresh the screen.
Raster Scan Random Scan
System System
Flat Panel Displays
 Flat Panel Displays
◼ A class of video devices that have
reduce volume and weight compared
to a CRT.

◼ A significant feature of flat panel

displays is that they are thinner than
CRTs.
 Flat Panel Displays
Current uses for flat panel displays:
◼ Small TV monitors

◼ Calculators
◼ Pocket video games
◼ Laptop computers
◼ Advertisement boars in elevators
 Flat Panel Displays
Flat panel displays:
◼ Emissive or Emitters Displays

◼ Non-emissive or Non-emitters
Displays
 Emissive (or Emitters) Displays
◼ Emissive displays convert
electrical energy into light.

◼ Examples: Plasma panel, thin-

film electroluminescent displays,
Light-Emitting Diodes (LED)
and flat CRT.
 Non-Emissive (or Non-Emitters)
Displays
◼ Use optical effects to convert
sunlight or light from some other
source into graphics pattern.

◼ Example: Liquid-Crystal Device

(LCD)
Flat CRT
 Flat CRT
◼ Electron beams are accelerated parallel
to the screen, then deflected 90º to the
screen.
Plasma Panel
 Plasma Panel
◼ A layer of gas (usually neon) is
sandwiched between two glass
plates.
 Plasma Panel
◼ By applying high voltage to a pair of
horizontal and vertical conductors, a small
section of the gas (tiny neon bulb) at the
intersection of the conductors break down into
glowing plasma of electrons and ions.
 Thin Film
Electroluminescent
 Thin Film Electroluminescent
◼ The region between the glass plates is
filled with a phosphor, such as zinc
sulfide doped with manganese.
Light Emitting Diode
(LED)
 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.

◼ Information is read from the refreshed

buffer and converted to voltage levels
that are applied to the diodes to produce
the light patterns in the display.
Liquid Crystal Displays
(LCD)
 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
◼ Used in small systems, such as
calculators, laptop computers.

◼ Produce a picture by passing

polarized light (from the surrounding
or from an internal light source)
through a liquid-crystal material that
can be aligned to either block or
transmit the light.
 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)

◼ Liquid crystal: These

compounds have a crystalline
arrangement of molecules, yet
they flow like a liquid.
 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
◼ Two glass plates, each containing a light
polarizer at right angles to the other plate,
sandwich the liquid crystal materials.
◼ Rows of horizontal transparent conductor &
columns of vertical conductors (put into glass
plates)
 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
◼ Polarized light passing through
the material is twisted so that it
will pass through the opposite
polarizer.
◼ The light is then reflected back
t the viewer.
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
◼ To turn off the pixel, we apply a voltage
to the two intersecting conductor to align
the molecules so that the light is not
twisted.
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)

On State

Off State
Exercises
 Exercises
◼ Direct View Storage
Tubes

◼ Stereoscopic and Virtual

Reality Systems