2.

Explain the following with the help of relevant real time applications:

A) Classification of Applications

B) Development of Hardware and Software for Computer Graphics

Ans :-

A) Classification of Applications

As shown in the figure below the use of computer graphics can be classified
according to dimensionality of the object to be drawn: 2D or 3D. It can also
be classified according to kind of picture: Symbolic or Realistic. Many
computer graphics applications are classified by the type of interaction. The
type of interaction determines the user’s degree of control over the object
and its image. In controllable interaction user can change the attributes of
the images. Role of picture gives the another classification. Computer
graphics is either used for representation or it can be an end product such as
drawings. Pictorial representation gives the final classification to use
computer graphics. It classifies the use of computer graphics to represent
pictures such as line drawing, black and white, colour and so on.

B)Development of Hardware and Software for Computer Graphics The development

of hardware of computer graphics involves the development of input and output
device technology. Therefore, in all development of computer graphics involves the
development in three fields:

1. Output technology

2. Input technology and

3. Software technology

Output Technology Figure below shows the historical development in the output
technology. In early days of computer the hardcopy devices such as teletype printer
and line printer were in use with computer driven CRT displays. In mid fifties
command and control CRT display consoles were introduced. The more display
devices developed in mid-sixties and in common use until the mid-eighties, are
called vector, stroke, line drawing or calligraphic displays. The term vector is used
as a synonyms for line; a stroke is a short line, and characters are made of
sequence of such strokes.

Input Technology Input technology has also improved greatly over the years.
Number of input devices were developed over the years. These devices are punch
cards, light pens, keyboard, tables, mouse and scanners.

Software Technology Like output and input technology there is a lot of

development in the software technology. In early days low level software were
available. Over the years software technology moved from low level to device
dependent and then to device independent packages. The device independent
packages are high level packages with can drive a wide variety of display and
printer devices. As a need for the device independent package a standardization is
made and specification are decided. The first graphics specification to be officially
standardized was GKS (the Graphical Kernel System). GKS supports the grouping of
logically related primitives such as lines, polygons, and character strings and their
attributes in collected form calledsegment s. In 1988, a 3D extension of GKS,
became an official standard, as did a much more sophisticated but even more
complex graphics system called PHIGS (Programmer’s Hierarchical Interactive
Graphics System).

PHIGS, as its name implies, supports nested hierarchical grouping of 3D primitives,

calledstructures. In PHIGS, all primitives are subjected to geometric transformations
such as scaling, rotation and translation to accomplish dynamic movement. PHIGS
also supports a database of structures the programmer may edit and modify. PHIGS
automatically updates the display whenever the database has been modified.