Chapter2
Overview of Graphics
Systems
Overview of Graphics Systems
• Video Display Devices
• Input Devices
• Raster-Scan Systems
• Graphics Software
Video Display Devices
• Cathode-ray tube (CRT) Monitor
• Raster-Scan Displays
• Random-Scan Displays
• Color CRT Monitors
• Flat-Panel Displays
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) Monitors
• Primary output device – Video monitors
– Standard design of video monitor:
Cathode-ray tube (CRT)
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) Monitors
Display Technologies
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) Monitors
– Refresh CRT
• Beam of electrons hit phosphor-coated screen, light
emitted by phosphor
• Direct electron beam to the same screen repeatedly,
keeping phosphor activated
• The frequency at which a picture is redrawn on the
screen is referred to as the “refresh rate”
• The maximum number of points that can be displayed
on a CRT is referred to as the “resolution”
• Display principle
– Raster Scan Display Principle
– Random Scan Display Principle
CRT Display Principles
• Raster-Scan Displays
– Based on TV technology
• Electron beam swept
across screen one row
at a time from top to
bottom
• Each row is referred to
as a scan line
CRT Display Principles
• Raster-Scan Displays
– Picture elements: screen point referred as “Pixel”
– Picture information stored in refresh (frame) buffer
CRT Display Principles
• Raster-Scan Displays
– Picture information stored in refresh (frame) buffer
• The number of bits per pixel in the frame buffer is
called depth or bit planes
• Buffer with 1 bit per pixel – Bitmap
• Buffer with multiple bits per pixel – Pixmap
– Interlaced refresh procedure
• Beams sweeps across every other scan line
Frame Buffer
• A frame buffer is
characterized by size, x, y,
and pixel depth.
• the resolution of a frame
buffer is the number of
pixels in the display. e.g.
1024x1024 pixels. Bilevel or monochrome displays
• Bit Planes or Bit Depth is have 1 bit/pixel
the number of bits
8bits/pixel -> 256 simultaneous colors
corresponding to each
pixel. This determines the 24bits/pixel -> 16 million simultaneous
color resolution of the colors
buffer.
Specifying Color
• direct color : 8
– each pixel directly
specifies a color value
8
• e.g., 24bit :
8bits(R) + 8bits(G)
+ 8 bits(B) 8 Red
• palette-based color :
Green
indirect specification Blue
– use palette (CLUT)
• e.g., 8 bits pixel
can represent 256 24 bits plane, 8 bits per
colors color gun.
224 = 16,777,216
Refresh Rates and Bandwidth
• Frames per second (FPS)
Interlaced Scanning
• Scan frame 30 times per second
• To reduce flicker, divide frame into two fields—one
consisting of the even scan lines and the other of the
odd scan lines.
• Even and odd fields are scanned out alternately to
produce an interlaced image.
Aspect Ratio
Frame aspect ratio (FAR) = horizontal/vertical size
TV 4:3
HDTV 16:9
Page 8.5:11 ~ 3/4
Pixel aspect ratio (PAR) = FAR vres/hres
Nuisance in graphics if not 1
CRT Display Principles
• Random-Scan Display Principles
– Calligraphic Displays also called vector, stroke or line drawing
graphics
– Electron beam directed only to the points of picture
to be displayed.
– Vector displays, electron beams trace out lines to generate
pictures
– Picture stores as a set of line-drawing commands
• Storage referred as display list, refresh display file, vector
file or display program
CRT Display Principles
• Sample of Random-Scan displays principles
CRT Display Principles
• Images are described in terms of line segments rather than pixels
• Display processor cycles through the commands
Color CRT Monitors
• Using a combination of phosphors that emit
different-colored light
• Beam-penetration
– Used in random-scan monitors
– Use red and green phosphors layers
– Color depends on the penetrated length of electrons
• Shadow mask
– Used in raster-scan systems
– Produce wide range of color with RGB color model
Color CRT Monitors
• Color CRTs are much more complicated
– Requires manufacturing very precise geometry
– Uses a pattern of color phosphors on the screen:
Delta electron gun arrangement In-line electron gun arrangement
http://www.udayton.edu/~cps/cps460/notes/displays/
Color CRT Monitors
• Operation of delta-delta, shadow mask CRT
Flat-Panel Displays
• A class of video devices that have reduced volume,
weight and power requirement compared with CRT
• Two main categories
– Emissive Displays
• Convert electrical energy to light energy
• e.g. Plasma panels
– Non-emissive Displays
• Use optical effects to convert light from other sources
into graphics patterns
• e.g. LCD monitors
Plasma Panel Display
• Plasma panels (gas-discharge display)
– Contracted by filling the region between two glass plates
with a mixture of gases
– Refresh buffer used to store picture information
– Firing voltages applied to refresh the pixel positions
Liquid-crystal Displays
• Liquid-crystal displays (LCD) commonly used in
small systems
– Liquid crystal, compounds have a crystalline arrangement
of molecules, flow like a liquid
– Passive-matrix LCD
To control light twisting, voltage applied to intersecting
conductors to align the molecules
– Active-matrix LCD
Using thin-film transistor technology, place a transistor at
each pixel location
Video Output Devices
• Immersive
– Head-mounted displays (HMD)
– Stereo shutter glasses
– Virtual Retinal Display (VRD)
– CAVE
http://www.evl.uic.edu/research/template_res_project.php3?indi=27
Video Output Devices
• Desktop
– Vector display
– CRT
– LCD flatpanel
– Plasma
– workstation displays(Sun Lab)
– PC and Mac laptops
– Tablet computers
– Wacom’s display tablet
– Digital Micromirror Devices (projectors)
– Field Emission Devices (FEDs)
– Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Arrays
Traditional Input Device (1/4)
• Commonly used
• Mouse-like devices
– mouse
– wheel mouse
– trackball
• Keyboards
Traditional Input Device (2/4)
• Pen-based devices
– pressure sensitive
– absolute positioning
– tablet computers
• IPAQ, WinCE machines
• Microsoft eTablet coming soon
– palm-top devices
• Handspring Visor, PalmOS
Traditional Input Device (3/4)
• Joysticks
– game pads
– flightsticks
– Touchscreens
• Microphones
– wireless vs. wired
– headset
Traditional Input Device (4/4)
• Digital still and video cameras,
scanners
• MIDI devices
– input from electronic
musical instruments
– more convenient than
entering scores with just a
mouse/keyboard
3D Input Device (1/2)
• Electromagnetic trackers
– can be attached to any head, hands, joints, objects
– Polhemus FASTRAK (used in Brown’s Cave)
http://www.polhemus.com/ftrakds.htm
http://www.isense.com/products/prec/is900/index.htm
3D Input Device (2/2)
• Gloves
– attach electromagnetic tracker to the hand
• Pinch gloves
– contact between digits is a “pinch” gesture
– in CAVE, extended Fakespace PINCH gloves with extra
contacts
http://www.fakespacelabs.com/products/pinch.html
Raster-Scan systems
• Organization of raster system
– Fixed area of system memory reserved for frame
buffer which can be directly accessed by video controller
System Video
CPU Monitor
Memory Controller
System Bus
I/O Devices
Raster-Scan systems
• Video Controller
– Refresh operations
• X, Y register used to indicate pixel position
• Fix Y register and increment X register to generate
scan line
– Double buffering
• Pixel value can be loaded in buffer while
• Provide a fast mechanism for real-time animation
generation
Raster-Scan Systems
• Raster-Scan Display Processor
– Free the CPU from the graphics chores
– Provide separate display-processor memory
– Fig. Architecture of raster-scan display system with
display processor
Display Processor
Video
memory Monitor
Controller
(Frame Buffer)
Display System
CPU
Processor Memory
System Bus
I/O Devices
Hard copy devices
A picture generated on a dot-matrix printer.
Note how the density of the dot patterns can be
varied to produce light and dark areas.
Graphics Software
• Classifications
– Special purpose package
• Designed for non-programmers
• No graphics procedures involved
• Communicate with a set of menus
– General programming package
• Designed for programmers
• Provide library of graphics functions used in
programming language
