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COMPUTER GRAPHICS
Computer graphics is an art of drawing pictures on computer screens with the help of programming. It
involves computations, creation, and manipulation of data. In other words, we can say that computer
graphics is a rendering tool for the generation and manipulation of images.

DISPLAY TECHNIQUES
Cathode Ray Tube
The primary output device in a graphical system is the video monitor. The main element of a video
monitor is the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), shown in the following illustration.

The operation of CRT is very simple −

 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.

 It redraws the picture by directing the electron beam back over the same screen points quickly.

There are two ways (Random scan and Raster scan) by which we can display an object on the screen.

Raster Scan
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In a raster scan system, the electron beam is swept across the screen, one row at a time from top to
bottom. As the electron beam moves across each row, the beam intensity is turned on and off to create a
pattern of illuminated spots.

Picture definition is stored in memory area called the Refresh Buffer or Frame Buffer. This memory area
holds the set of intensity values for all the screen points. Stored intensity values are then retrieved from
the refresh buffer and “painted” on the screen one row (scan line) at a time as shown in the following
illustration.

Each screen point is referred to as a pixel (picture element) or pel. At the end of each scan line, the
electron beam returns to the left side of the screen to begin displaying the next scan line.

Random Scan (Vector Scan)

In this technique, the electron beam is directed only to the part of the screen where the picture is to be
drawn rather than scanning from left to right and top to bottom as in raster scan. It is also called vector
display, stroke-writing display, or calligraphic display.

Picture definition is stored as a set of line-drawing commands in an area of memory referred to as

the refresh display file. To display a specified picture, the system cycles through the set of commands in
the display file, drawing each component line in turn. After all the line-drawing commands are processed,
the system cycles back to the first line command in the list.

Random-scan displays are designed to draw all the component lines of a picture 30 to 60 times each
second.
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Application of Computer Graphics

Computer Graphics has numerous applications, some of which are listed below −

 Computer graphics user interfaces (GUIs) − A graphic, mouse-oriented paradigm which allows the user to
interact with a computer.

 Business presentation graphics − "A picture is worth a thousand words".

 Cartography − Drawing maps.

 Weather Maps − Real-time mapping, symbolic representations.

 Satellite Imaging − Geodesic images.

 Photo Enhancement − Sharpening blurred photos.

 Medical imaging − MRIs, CAT scans, etc. - Non-invasive internal examination.

 Engineering drawings − mechanical, electrical, civil, etc. - Replacing the blueprints of the past.

 Typography − The use of character images in publishing - replacing the hard type of the past.

 Architecture − Construction plans, exterior sketches - replacing the blueprints and hand drawings of the past.
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 Art − Computers provide a new medium for artists.

 Training − Flight simulators, computer aided instruction, etc.

 Entertainment − Movies and games.

 Simulation and modeling − Replacing physical modeling and enactments

LCD Monitors

LCD, Liquid Crystal Display or also known as Liquid Crystal Diode is one of the most popular display
technologies currently. LCD monitors are lightweight, compact, occupy less space, consume low power and
are available in a reasonable price. Currently there are two types of LCD technology in use – Active matrix
LCD technology or TFT and Passive matrix technology. The TFT technology is more reliable with better
image quality while the passive matrix technology has a slower response and gradually becoming outdated.

As the name indicates, liquid crystals are the key elements of the display screen. By manipulating the
crystal we can change the way they interacts with the light. There is a display controller in the monitor
which receives the display signals from the video adaptor in the motherboard. The display controller
controls two things – the electric signals to the liquid crystals and the back light. Structure of an LCD is
shown in the below images (Also see how LCD works).

The liquid crystals used in the LCD are Twisted Nemantic (TN), a type of liquid crystals that are twisted at
90o with the surface. In this state, crystals allow the light to pass through the polarizer but on applying a
voltage, they get untwisted and block the light to passing through the polarizer. The display controller
starts the backlight that passes through the first piece of the glass. At the same time the display controller
also send the electrical currents to the liquid crystal molecules to align and allowing the varying level of
light to pass through the second piece of glass, forming the desired picture on the screen. In color monitors,
each pixel is made of three liquid crystal cells fronted with red, green and blue filters. The light passing
through the filtered screen forms the color what you see on the monitor. A wide range of colors are formed
by varying the intensity of colored pixels.
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The backlight is made of cathodes, and depending on the quality of the monitor, there may be a single
cathode at the top or one at the top and one at the bottom, or two at the top and two at the bottom to
improve the brightness and clarity of the monitor. These cathodes are diffused through a layer of plastic
and diffusing materials.

Resolution - Unlike the CRT monitors there is no complex equation for the dot pitch and the resolution. The
resolution of a monitor is simply the number of pixels contained in the matrix. Typically a 17 inch monitor
has a resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels.

LED Monitors
In the previous decade, the display technology has changed significantly. LED displays are one of the latest
developments in this field. LED monitors use light emitting diodes that acts as a performance booster in the
monitors. Basically LED monitors are the LCD monitors with a LED backlight to power up the LCD panel. It
means that LEDs are placed behind or around the LCD panel to enhance the luminosity and video definition
of the monitor screen.
As we have seen in the above section of LCD monitors, they use a cold cathode light as backlight. In the LED
monitors all the concepts are same except this backlight, which is replaced by LEDs.
There are three different types of LED monitors available based on the manner how the diodes are
arranges in the monitor. These are – Direct LEDs, Edge LEDs and RGB LEDs. Both Edge and Direct LED
display monitors use white diodes that are used to illuminate the LCD panel to produce the improved
picture quality.

In the Direct LEDs display, white diodes are placed all over the panel to produce higher quality image while the Edge
LEDs display uses LEDs only on the borders of the LCD panel. Direct LEDs are generally used in the production of
high definition TV whereas the Edge LEDs is mainly used in the production of computer screens. RGB LEDs display is
better among the three types of LED monitors as it uses red, green and blue diodes to produce the lifelike images
with amazing contrast ratio.

Why LED displays are better than the LCD displays:

Both types of monitors work on the same technology. LED monitors are LCD monitors with replaced cold
cathode backlight to LED backlight. Here are the differences that make the LED displays better than the
LCDs:
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 Contrast and Black level of the LED screen is better than the LCD screens because the liquid crystals
cannot stop 100% of the backlight from cold cathode backlight and hence when the black screen is
to be shown on the monitor, it is not completely black (as shown in the below image). But Edge LED
screens perfectly show the black screen as there is no backlight at all.
 Color accuracy for direct and edge LED displays and LCD displays are almost same but the RGB LEDs
display has quite better color accuracy.
 When comparing the LED and LCD monitors with respect to viewing angle, they are same as
backlight has nothing to do with viewing angles.
 LED displays consume less power. It is reported that they consume up to 40% less power than the
LCD displays.
 LED displays do not use mercury (used in cathode lamps in LCD backlight) so they are environment
friendly.
 The size of Edge and RGB monitors is slight thinner than the LCD monitors while prices are slight
higher.

Plasma Monitors

 Plasma technology is another technology used in display devices. The basic idea behind the plasma
technology is to illuminate tiny colored fluorescent lights to create image pixels. Each pixel is made
of three such fluorescent lights – red, green and blue lights. To create a wide range of colors,
intensity of these lights is varied accordingly.

 The heart of plasma displays is plasma which is basically a gas (generally Xenon and Neon) made up
of free flowing electrons and ions. When the electrical current flows through the plasma, negatively
charged particles move towards the positively charged area of the plasma and vice versa. This
makes collisions which resultantly excite the gas atoms in the plasma and then release the energy as
photons of light.

 There are millions of tiny cells filled with the gas like xenon and neon. They are positioned between
two plates of glass known as front plate glass and rear plate glass. Two transparent electrodes
covered by an insulating dielectric material and a magnesium oxide protective layer are also
sandwiched between the glass plates on both sides of the cells on the entire screen.

 When the CPU sends the signals to the Plasma monitor, the corresponding electrodes are charged
which ionizes the gas in the intersecting cells by passing an electric current. Due to the collisions
between the gas ions they release energy in the form of the photons of light which illuminate the
respective cells. This process occurs thousands of times in a small fraction of second making the
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display faster. The released ultraviolet photons strike the phosphor material coated on the inner
wall of the cell and hence phosphor electrons jump to the higher energy level. When the electron
falls back to its normal state, it releases the energy as a visible light photon. Every pixel on the
screen is made of three different colored phosphors – red, green and blue.