Graphics Hardware

How imp elements of a

computer graphics display
system work

Hardcopy Technologies
Important terms
Dot size(also called spot size) : diameter of
a single dot on devices output
Addressability : Number of individual dots
per inch(may differ in horizontal and vertical
dir)
Interdot distance : distance between centers
of dots at addresses x,y and x+1,y
Resolution : number of distinguishable lines
per inch a device can create. It also depends
upon the intensity distribution of a spot
2

Hardcopy Technologies
Important terms
Dot Matrix printers use a print head of 7
to 24 pins each which can be individually
fired to strike a ribbon against paper.
Print head moves across the paper one
step at a time , the paper is advanced one
line and the print head makes another
pass.
Colored ribbons can be used to produce
color hardcopy
5

Hardcopy Technologies
Important terms
Random and raster plotters
Pen plotters move a pen over a piece of paper
in random, vector drawing style
They include a microprocessor that accepts
commands eg draw line, draw circle, draw
text, move, set line style, select pen
Flatbed plotter moves a pen in x and y dir on a
sheet of paper spread out on a table
Drum plotters move the paper along one axis
and the pen along the other axis
8

Hardcopy Technologies
Laser Printer
Laser printers scan a laser beam across
a positively charged rotating drum. The
areas hit by laser beam lose their
charge and the positive charge remains
only where the copy is to be black. A
negatively
charged
powder
toner
adheres to the positive areas of the
drum and is then transferred to blank
paper to form a copy.
9

10

Hardcopy Technologies
Inkjet Printer
Inkjet printers spray cyan , magenta , yellow
and sometimes black ink onto paper.
Inkjet is mounted on a head in a printer like
mechanism. The print head moves across the
page to draw one scan line, returns while
paper advances by one line.
Sometimes paper is wrapped around a drum,
the drum then rotates rapidly while the print
head slowly moves along the drum.
11

Display Technologies
The CRT is by far the most common display device
and will remain so for many years.
The electron gun emits a stream of electrons that is
accelerated towards phosphor coated screen by a
high positive voltage.
Focusing system forces the electrons into a narrow
beam
Beam is directed toward a particular point on the
screen by the magnetic field produced by the
deflection coils.
When the electrons hit the screen the phosphor
emits visible light.
12

Display Technologies
Refresh rate of a CRT is the number of times
per second the image is redrawn. It is
typically 60/sec for raster displays.
Flicker develops as the refresh rate
decreases.
The refresh rate above which a picture stops
flickering and fuses into a steady image is
called CFF(critical fusion frequency)
The longer the persistence the lower the CFF
CFF increases with image intensity
13

Display Technologies
The horizontal scan rate is the
number of scan lines/sec a CRT is
able to display.
The resolution of a monochromatic
CRT defined just as resolution for
hardcopy devices.
The larger the spot size the lower the
resolution.
14

Display Technologies
All early color televisions and the majority
ofcomputer monitors, past and present,
use shadow mask technology.
A shadow mask is a metal plate punched
with tiny holes that separate the
coloredphosphors in the layer behind the
front glass of the screen.
Three electron guns at the back of the
screen sweep across the mask, with the
beams only reaching the screen if they
pass through the holes.

15

Display Technologies
As the guns are physically separated at the back
of the tube, their beams approach the mask from
three slightly different angles, so after passing
through the holes they hit slightly different
locations on the screen.
The screen is patterned with dots of colored
phosphor positioned so that each can only be hit
by one of the beams coming from the three
electron guns.
Thered, green,
andblue phosphors for
eachpixel
are
generally
arranged
in
atriangularshape (sometimes called a "triad").
16

Display Technologies
Direct View Storage Tube (DVST) behaves like a
CRT with highly persistent phosphor.
Pictures drawn on there will be seen for several
minutes (40-50 minutes) before fading.
It is similar to CRT as far as the electronic gun
and
phosphor-coated
mechanisms
are
concerned.
But instead of the electron beam directly writing
the pictures on the phosphor coated CRT
screen, the writing is done with the help of a
fine-mesh wire grid.
17

DVST CRT

18

Display Technologies
A Liquid crystal display is made up of 6 layers.
Front layer is vertical polarizer plate.
Next is a layer with thin grid wires electrodeposited
on the surface adjoining the crystals
Next is a thin (.0005 inch) liquid crystal layer
Then a layer with horizontal grid wires .
Next a horizontal polarizer
Finally a reflector
Advantages of LCDs are low cost , low weight,
small size and low power consumption.

19

20

Display Technologies
The Plasma panel is an array of tiny
neon bulbs.
Each bulb can be put into an on/off
state until explicitly changed.
This means that plasma panels need
not be refreshed.
Plasma panel has the advantages of
being flat, transparent and rugged and
no need of refresh buffer.
21

Raster Scan Display System

Most raster displays have some specialized hardware
who does scan conversion and performs raster
conversion of moving, copying and modifying pixel.
We call this HW a graphics display processor. We will
discuss :
Simple raster display system
Raster display system with peripheral display
processor
Additional display processor functionality
Raster display system with integrated display
processor
22

Simple raster system display

system
Simple raster display System
Raster Display System with
Peripheral Display Processor

23

24

25

26