CSC 455

COMPUTER GRAPHICS
LECTURE 2 (PART 2)

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

IN
COMPUTER GRAPHICS
 Development of Hardware
• Hardware evolution had a greater influence in the development
of Computer Graphics than software
• In the early years interactive graphics was beyond the recourses
of most organizations because of:
– the high cost of computer graphics hardware.
– the need for expensive computing recourses to support
massive design databases, interactive picture manipulation,
– the difficulty of writing large, interactive programs at a time
when both graphics and interaction were new to FORTRAN
programmers,
– non-portable software – written for a particular display
device without software-engineering principles and
structured systems.
– Moving to new display devices necessitates expensive and
time-consuming rewriting of working programs.
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 2
 Hardware Development contd.

• After the development of graphics-based

personal computers (Apple Macintosh, IBM
PC) hardware and software cost was driven
down.
• And millions of graphics computers were sold
for office and home use.

Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 3

 Video Display Devices
• Cathode-ray tube (CRT)

– Working of CRT

Focusing
System
Base Y deflect

Phosphor

Connector
Pins
x deflect

Control
Electron grid
Gun voltage
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Basic Operation
– The electron gun emits a beam of electrons (cathode rays).
– The electron beam passes through focusing and deflection
systems that direct it towards specified positions on the
phosphor-coated screen.
– When the beam hits the screen, the phosphor emits a small
spot of light at each position contacted by the electron
beam.
• Because the light emitted by the
phosphor fades very quickly some
method is needed for maintaining Intensity distribution of
the screen picture an illuminated phosphor
spot on a CRT screen

– Redraw the picture by quickly directing the electron beam

back over the same screen points
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 5
 Cathode Ray Tube
• Phosphor Persistence
– The time from the initial light output to the moment when
has decayed to its 10%
– There are different kind of phosphors for use in a CRT.
Besides color, a major difference is their persistence –
how long they continue to emit light after the CRT beam is
removed
– A phosphor with low-persistence is useful in animation
– A high-persistence phosphor is useful for displaying
highly complex, static pictures
– Graphics monitors are usually constructed with a
persistence in the range from 10 to 60 microseconds

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Phosphor Persistence
– The intensity is greater at the center of the spot, and it
decreases with Gaussian distribution out to the edges of
the spot

– Two illuminated phosphor spots are distinguishable when

their separation is greater than the diameter at which a
spot intensity has fallen to 60% of maximum (at the center
of the spot)

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Resolution
– The maximum number of points (pixels) that can be displayed without
overlap on a screen is referred to as the resolution, and determines the
detail that can be seen in an image.
– A more precise definition is the number of points per centimeter that
can be plotted horizontally and vertically, although it is often simply
stated as the total number of points in each direction (i.e. 1280 
1024).
– The physical size of a graphics monitor, on the other hand, is given as
the length (in inches diagonally) of the screen diagonal.
The relative sizes of
these common
display resolutions
(note that the images
are not to scale),
(https://vimeo.com/b
log/post/the-basics-
of-image-resolution)

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Aspect Ratio
– The aspect ratio gives the ratio of vertical points to horizontal points
necessary to produce equal-length lines in both directions on the
screen. So 4:3 (most common) means that a horizontal line plotted
with 4 points has the same length as a vertical line plotted with 3
points

Picture Aspect Ratio (Windows), MSDN - Microsoft

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Raster-Scan Displays
– The electron beam is swept across the screen one row at a time from
top to bottom
– Electron beam moves across each row and the beam intensity is turned
on and off to create a pattern of illuminated spots
– Picture definition
is stored in a
memory area
called the refresh
buffer or frame
buffer

A raster –scan system displays

an object as a set of discrete points
across each scan line

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Frame Buffer
– It holds the set of intensity values for all the screen
– Stored intensity values are then retrieved and from the
refresh buffer and “painted” on the screen one row at a
time 0 800
0
x

pixel at address (x,y) spot at (x,y)

600
y
Frame buffer Display surface

at (800,600)
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Frame Buffer
– The depth (or intensity) of the frame buffer, defined
as the number of bits that are used for each pixel,
determines properties such as how many colors can
be represented on a given system
– 1-bit-deep frame buffer allows 2 1 colors (black and
white)
– 8-bit-deep frame buffer allows 2 8 (=256) colors
– In full color systems (also called RGB-color
systems), there are 24 (or more) bits per pixel in
order to display sufficient colors to represent most
images realistically
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Bitmap
– On a 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 buffer is often
referred to as a pixmap
1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Frame buffer Pixels

1 bit frame buffer
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Refresh Rate
– The number of times per second the image is redrawn.
– The entire contents of the frame buffer are displayed on
the CRT at a rate high enough to avoid flicker. This rate is
called the refresh rate.
– For a human to see a steady image on most CRT displays,
the same path must be retraced, or refreshed, by the beam
at least 60 times per second.
– Current raster-scan displays perform refreshing at the rate
of 60 to 80 frames per second, although some systems
now have refresh rates of up to 120 frames per second.
– Refresh rates are described in units of cycles per second,
or Hertz (Hz), where a cycle corresponds to one frame (i.e.
a refresh rate of 60 frames per second = 60 Hz)
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Refresh Rate
– The display technology on a monitor is different from that
of film.
• A film projector can maintain the continues display of a film frame until
the next frame is brought into view.
• On a video monitor a phosphor spot begins to decay as soon as it is
illuminated.
– On films, below 24 frames per second, we can perceive a
gap between successive screen images.
• Old silent films show flicker because they were photographed at a rate of
16 frames per second.
• When sound systems were developed in the 1920s, motion picture film
rates increased to 24 frames per second removing flickering.
• Today TV refresh rate is 25 frames per second in Europe and 30 frames
per second in the USA.

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Interlaced Raster Scan Displays
– Odd/even scan lines covered in successive refresh
cycles.
– Hence 30 frames/sec refresh rate appears like 60
frames/sec
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Random-Scan Display (Vector Display)
– The electron beam is directed only to parts of the screen where
the picture is to be drawn
– Picture is stored as a set of point- and line-drawing commands
with (x,y) or (x,y,z) endpoint coordinates, as well as character-
plotting commands.
– Refresh rate depends on the number of lines to be displayed. To
avoid flicker it must be at least 30 times per second (30 Hz).
– They are designed to draw all the component lines of a picture 30
to 60 times per second – more than 60 could burn the phosphor.
– High quality vector systems are capable of handling
approximately 100,000 lines at this refresh rate.
– They are designed for line drawing applications and cannot
display realistic shaded images

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Random-Scan Display (Vector Display)

MoveTo (300,800)
LineTo (700,800)
LineTo (500,300)
LineTo (300,800)

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Raster-Scan Vs Random-Scan Display

Ideal line drawing Raster scan Random scan

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Color CRT
– A CRT displays color pictures
by using a combination of
phosphors that emit different
color light
– By combining the emitted light
from the different phosphors,
a range of colors can be
generated
– Each pixel in a color image has a “color value” which
is a combination of amounts of red, green and blue.
– Each pixel value is an ordered triple, such as
(23,14, 51), that prescribes the densities of the
red, green and blue.
– Each value in the triple (RGB) has a certain number
of bits, and color depth is the sum of these values.
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Color CRT
– Many images have a color depth of eight (one byte), 3 bits for the red
and the green and 2 bits for the blue. Each pixel has one of 256 colors.
– In highest quality (true-color) images, have a color depth of 24, one
byte for each component.
• This achieves the best color production the eye can perceive: More bits do not
improve an image.
• However, such images require a lot of memory. A true-color image of 1,080 
1,024 pixels requires over 3 million bytes.

pixel value
y
Color depth = 6 bits  26 (= 64) colors
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Gray Level Images in CRT
– n-bits per pixel produce 2n gray levels.
– Many images use 8-bits per pixel, i.e. 256 gray levels since it gives
acceptable quality.
00 01 10 11

2-bit per pixel, 4 gray level

Color image 8-bit per pixel 1-bit per pixel, 2 gray

256 gray level levels, Black & White
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Color CRT
– Two basic techniques for producing color displays
with CRT are
• Beam-penetration method
• Shadow-mask method

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Beam-Penetration Method
– The beam-penetration method for displaying color pictures has
been used with random-scan monitors.
– Two layers of phosphor, usually red and green, are coated onto
the inside of the CRT screen, and the displayed color depends on
how far the electron beam enter into the phosphor layers.
– A beam of very fast electrons go through the red layer and
excites the inner green layer.
– The speed of the electrons, and hence the screen color at any
point, is controlled by the beam-acceleration voltage.
– Advantage : Beam penetration has been an inexpensive way to
produce color in random-scan monitors,
– Dis-Advantage: but only four colors are possible, and the quality
of pictures is not as good as with other methods.
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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Shadow-Mask Method
– Three electron guns
– A metal shadow mask to differentiate the beams

Operation of a
delta-delta, shadow
mask CRT.
Three electron
guns, aligned with
the triangular
color-dot patterns
on the screen, are
directed to
each dot triangle
by a shadow mask

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 Cathode Ray Tube
• Shadow-Mask Method
– A shadow-mask CRT has three phosphor color dots at each pixel
position.
– One phosphor dot emits a red light, another emits a green light, and
the third emits a blue light.
– The Shadow mask in the previous image is known as the delta-delta
shadow-mask.
– The 3 beams pass through a hole in the shadow mask and activate a
dot triangle, which appears as a small color spot on the screen.

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 Flat Panel Displays
• All flat panel displays are raster refresh
displays.
• Divided into two categories:
– Active – light emitting discharge (e.g. Flat CRTs,
Plasma-gas)
– Passive – light modulating (e.g. Liquid crystal)

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 Flat CRT
• Initially projecting the electron beam parallel
to the screen and then reflecting it through
90º.
• It has all the performance advantages of the
conventional CRT.
• Available only in small sizes.

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 Plasma or Gas Discharge Display
• Working of Plasma display
– Consists of a matrix of cells (the raster) in a glass
envelope. Each cell is filled with a gas (usually neon, or
a neon/argon mixture) at low pressure (below
atmospheric).
– When a sufficiently high voltage is applied the gas
dissociates, i.e. electrons are stripped from the atoms.
The dissociated gas is called a plasma, hence the name
plasma display.
– When the electrons recombine, energy is released in the
form of photons; and the gas glows.
– Plasma displays have large size and are high resolution
displays (100 pixels/inch).
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Various forms of Liquid-Crystal

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ics
 Liquid-Crystal Display
• Working of LCD
– Consists of an electrically
-controlled light-polarizing
liquid trapped in cells
between two transparent
polarizing sheets.
– An electric current passed
through the liquid causes
the crystals to align or not
so that light can/cannot pass
through them.
– Each crystal, therefore, is
like a shutter, either allowing
light to pass through or
blocking the light
– Backlight is applied using
solid-state electronic devices
– Colors are displayed by
placing a triad of color pixels
at any screen location (Hearn & Baker: page 68)
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 Liquid-Crystal Display
Made up of six layers:
1. Vertical filter film to polarize the light as it enters.
2. Glass substrate with ITO electrodes (Indium Tin Oxide) which lines up
with the vertical filter. The shapes of these electrodes will determine
the shapes on the LCD.
3. Twisted liquid crystals.
4. Glass substrate with common electrode film (ITO) which lines up with
the horizontal filter.
5. Horizontal filter film to block/allow through light.
6. Reflective surface to send light back to viewer.

Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 32

 LED Display
• An LED screen is actually an LCD screen,
• But instead of having a normal CCFL
(Cold cathode fluorescent lamp) backlight,
it uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a
source of light behind the screen.
• An LED is more energy efficient and a lot
smaller than a CCFL, enabling a
thinner television screen.
Hardware and Software in Computer Graph 33
ics
LED Display

Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 34

 What’s ‘organic’ about OLEDs?
We generally tend to associate the word ‘organic’
with food articles and various other objects
produced in an environmentally friendly manner.
However, in OLEDs, the prefix ‘organic’ has an
altogether different meaning.
In chemistry, organic compounds are those that
contain lines or rings of carbon atoms.
Everyday items like plastics, wood, sugar and
gasoline are all organic compounds.
OLEDs consist of an organic film/layer that sits
inside the panel in front of the glass screen, which
is why they are called ‘organic’ LEDs. 35
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics
 Parts of an OLED
 A typical OLED
consists of six layers
 The outermost layers Light
are called the seal (the Output
top layer) and the
substrate (the bottom
layer).
 Next come the anode
(a positive terminal)
and cathode (a
negative terminal).
 Sandwiched between
these layers are the
emissive and
conductive layers.
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 36
 How does an OLED work?
 When the power is switched on, the cathode
(the negative terminal) starts receiving
electrons from the power source
 And the anode (the positive terminal) starts
losing them.
 As a result of this, the emissive layer, which
is adjacent to the cathode (refer to the figure
below), starts becoming more negatively
charged (due to the increase in the supply of
electrons)
 And the conductive layer becomes more
positively charged (more holes).

 Since positively charged particles (holes) are

more mobile than electrons, they cross over
to the emissive layer.
 Every time holes bump into electrons, quick
bursts of energy are released in the form of
photons (fundamental particles of light) and
Light is produced.
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 37
 How does an OLED
work?
 Holes keep
bumping into
electrons, and
producing light in
the process as long
as the power is on.
 The moment you
pull the plug on the
power supply, the
transfer stops
instantly and the
screen goes dark.
OLED provides the true black color unlike LCD, best image quality
And can also be made transparent, flexible , foldable and even roll-able
(www.oled-info.com)
Hardware and Software in Computer Graphics 38
 CRT Vs LCD
• Physical Size, Weight – An LCD has one third the size of a CRT, and it is
much lighter.
• Display Size – LCDs are sized by their actual viewable diagonal
measurement, but CRTs are not. E.g. the viewable area on a 17" LCD
monitor will measure 17" diagonally, but the viewable area on a CRT
monitor will only measure 16" diagonally.
• Colors – Most CRT monitors are capable of displaying unlimited colors.
Some LCD monitors are only capable of hundreds or thousands of colors,
but many of the newer LCD's are capable of unlimited colors.
• Resolution – CRT monitors are usually capable of displaying multiple video
resolutions, each with the same quality. LCD monitors, however, usually
have what is called a Native resolution, or the resolution that it displays
best. The native resolution is generally the highest resolution that the LCD
can display.

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 CRT Vs LCD
• Viewing Angle –A CRT screen can be looked
at from a very wide angle, practically from
the side, but an LCD monitor typically has a
smaller viewing angle. From the side, the
image on an LCD screen can seem to
disappear, or invert colours. Newer displays
that are coming out have wider viewing angles
• Brightness is not a concern with CRT monitors. LCD monitors have different
levels of brightness. The brightness rating for an LCD monitor is commonly
referred to as 'nits', and commonly range from 70 to 300 nits. The higher the
nits, the brighter the display.
• Power Consumption and Radiation Emission – LCD monitors consume much
less energy than CRT monitors. Secondly, CRT monitors are known to emit
harmful radiation, whereas LCD monitors do not.
• Price – CRT monitors are more affordable than LCD monitors. However the
LCD’s cost have come down quite a lot in the last years. An LCD monitor will
cost more but will conserve energy in the long run. The energy savings may
not be much for an individual user, but with a corporation the energy savings
might be more of an issue.
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 Graphics System
• Raster Scan Systems
– Employs a special purpose processor called video controller or display controller in
addition to CPU
– Frame buffer can be anywhere in the system memory
– More sophisticated raster systems employ other processors as coprocessors and
accelerators

Architecture of a
simple raster
graphics system

Architecture of a
raster system with a fixed
portion of system memory
reserved for frame buffer
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 Graphics System
• Raster Scan Systems
– Employs a special purpose processor called video controller or display controller in
addition to CPU
– Frame buffer can be anywhere in the system memory
– More sophisticated raster systems employ other processors as coprocessors and
accelerators

Architecture of a raster graphics system with display processor

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 Graphics System (video-controller refresh operations)

•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.
Basic video-controller refresh operations
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ics
 Graphics System (Random Scan Systems)
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

Sometimes
during everytherefresh
display processor in a random-scan system is referred to as a
cycle.
display processing unit or a graphics controller.

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ics
 Input Devices
1. Keyboard
2. Mouse
3. Trackball
4. Spaceball
5. Joysticks
6. Data Glove
6
7. Digitizers
8. Image Scanner
9. Touch Panels
10. Light Pens
11. Voice Systems
12. Printer
1. Laser Printer
2. Ink Jet Printer
3. Pen Plotter

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 Graphics Software
• General Programming Package
– Provides an extensive set of graphics functions that can be used in high-level
programming languages like C or FORTRAN
– Basic functions in a general package include those for generating picture
components like straight lines, polygons, circles and others. Setting color and
intensity values, selecting views and applying transformations
– Example: OpenGL

• Special purpose Application Package

– Designed for non programmers
– Users can generate displays without worrying about how graphics operations
work
– The interface to the graphics routines in such packages allows user to
communicate with the programs
– Example: painting programs, CAD systems

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