UNIT-1

Introduction and Overview of Graphics System:

What is Computer Graphics?
• It is the process of generating, manipulating, storing and displaying images and
graphical objects.One can also de ne Computer graphics as the art of drawing lines,
charts, pictures using computer programming.
• In computer graphics, pictures, graphical objects etc are made up of number of pixel.
Pixel is the smallest addressable unit of
an image.
Applications of Computer Graphics.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI): The
use of pictures, images, icons, pop-up
menus, graphical objects helps in
creating a user friendly environment
where working is easy and pleasant,
using computer graphics we can create
such an atmosphere where everything
can be automated and anyone can get
the desired action performed in an easy
fashion.
• Computer-Aided Design: Designing of buildings, automobile, aircraft is done with the
help of computer aided drawing, this helps in providing minute details to the drawing and
producing more accurate and sharp drawings with better speci cations.
• Computer-Aided Learning (Cal): Computer Aided Learning (CAL) is the application of
computers as an integral part of the learning system for learning and teaching process.
• Animations: Used for creating motion pictures, television shows, cartoon animation
lms.
• Computer Art: Using computer graphics we can create ne and commercial art which
include animation packages, paint packages.
• Entertainment: Computer graphics nds a major part of its utility in the movie industry
and game industry. Used for creating motion pictures, music video, television shows,
cartoon animation lms.
• Education and training: Computer generated models are extremely useful for teaching
huge number of concepts and fundamentals in an easy to understand and learn manner.
• Image processing: Various kinds of photographs or images require editing in order to be
used in di erent places.
• Medical Applications The use of computer graphics for medical diagnosis has provided
an extraordinary ability to visualise measure and evaluate structures in a non-intrusive
manner.
• Presentation and Business Graphics: For the preparation of reports or summarising the
nancial, statistical, mathematical, scienti c, economic data for research reports,
managerial reports, moreover creation of bar graphs, pie charts, time chart, can be done
using the tools present in computer graphics.
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 • Simulation and Virtual Reality: A simulation can also take the form of a computer-
graphics image that represents dynamic processes in an animated sequence. Virtual
reality applications are application that make use of virtual reality (VR). VR is an
immersive sensory experience that digitally simulates a remote environment.
Image:
- Representation of real world objects on digital display devices is known as an image.
- Objects in real world are continuous in nature, they have smooth boundary. When they
are mapped on
monitor screen, they often have zig-zag boundary due to grid structure of monster screen.
- An image consists of a rectangular array of dots called pixels. The size of the image is
speci ed in
terms of width X height, in numbers of the pixels.
- The physical size of the image, in inches or centimetres, depends on the resolution of
the device on
which the image is displayed.
Object:
- Objects are real world entities representing actual things.
- Objects can be natural like ower, cloud etc or can be arti cial like car, book etc.
- Objects are represented using three dimensional coordinate system.
- Computer graphics deals with mapping of real world objects to computer screen
Pixel:
- Pixel is a smallest addressable unit of an image.
- It is also known as pel or picture element.
- Real world objects are continuous in nature hence they have in nite samples, when
converted into image & displayed on computer screen, only nite samples are taken into
consideration.
- Ultimately, an object on computer screen is the collection of pixel.
Resolution:
The maximum number of pixels that can be displayed on monitor screen without
overlapping is called is screen resolution.
• Basic resolution for high quality system is 1280 x 1024. Such high resolution systems
are often referred as high de nition systems.
• Image on monitor screen are described as resolution. An image with resolution of 800 x
600 means there are 800 pixels in row and 600 pixels in column.
• Hence the image contains a total of 800 x 600 = 4,80,000 pixels.
• As resolution decreases, fewer samples will be captured hence resulting in poor quality
of image.
• Actual resolution is determined by the video controller. Most monitors can operate at
several di erent resolutions. They are
– 640 X 480
– 800 X 600
– 1024 X 768
– 1152 X 864
– 1280 X 1024
• As the resolution increases, image on the screen gets smaller.
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 What is Bitmap Graphics
• Bitmap graphics are also known as raster graphics. These graphics consist of pixels,
which are small blocks of colour. All these
pixels are arranged to
create an entire image. Usually, a
photograph or a scanned copy is a Bitmap
image.
• An uncompressed bitmap format is BMP.
Other bitmap formats are Joint
Photographic Expert Group (PEG/ JPG),
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF),
Portable Network Graphics (PNG), and
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). These are
compressed formats.
• The le sizes of compressed bitmap les
are smaller than uncompressed bitmap les. Therefore, it is possible to download
compressed bitmap images quickly.

What is Vector Graphics

• Vector graphics use basic geometric shapes such as lines, dots, curves, polygons, etc.
Mathematical formulas or expressions help to
build these shapes. In vector graphics, it is
possible to edit the images without degrading
the quality of the images.
• Some common vector formats are the
Encapsulated PostScript le (EPS), Adobe
Illustrator File (AI), CorelDraw File (CDR),
Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) and
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).
• The main advantage of vector graphics is
that it is possible to resize (scale up and
scale down) without a ecting the image
quality. On the other hand, some vector
image formats are native to a speci c
application, and opening it in other vector
applications can be di cult.
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 Scan Conversion:
• It is a process of representing graphics objects a collection of pixels. The graphics
objects are continuous. The pixels used are discrete. Each pixel can have either on or
o state.
• The circuitry of the video display device of the computer is capable of converting
binary values (0, 1) into a pixel on and pixel o information. 0 is represented by pixel
o . 1 is represented using pixel on. Using this ability graphics computer represent
picture having discrete dots.
• Any model of graphics can be reproduced with a dense matrix of dots or points. Most
human beings think graphics objects as points, lines, circles, ellipses. For generating
graphical object, many algorithms have been developed.

Advantage of developing algorithms for scan conversion

1. Algorithms can generate graphics objects at a faster rate.
2. Using algorithms memory can be used e ciently.
3. Algorithms can develop a higher level of graphical objects.

Raster Scan Display

• The most common type of graphics monitor employing a CRT is the Raster-scan
displays, based on television technology
• JPG images are raster based. Light occurs when an electron beam stimulates a
phosphor.
• In Raster scan, the electron beam from electron gun is swept horizontally across the
phosphor one row at time from top to bottom.
• The electron beam sweeps back and forth from left to right across the screen. The beam
is on, while it moves from left to right. The beam is o , when it moves back from right to
left. This phenomenon is called the horizontal retrace.
• As soon as the beam reaches the bottom of the screen, it is turned o and is rapidly
retraced back to the top to start again. This is called the vertical retrace.
• Raster scan displays maintain the steady image on the screen by repeating scanning of
the same image. This process is known as refreshing of screen.
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 Typically, a graphics display consist of three
components: frame bu er, video controller or
display controller, and a TV screen or monitor.
• Picture de nition is stored in a memory area
called the refresh bu er or frame bu er. This
memory area holds the set of intensity values
for all the screen points. The stored intensity
values are then retrieved from frame bu er
and painted on the screen one row at a time.
Each screen point is referred as Pixel. Each
pixel on the screen can be speci ed by it row
and column number.
• Intensity range for pixel position depends on
capability of the raster system. In black and
white system, the point on screen is either on
or o . Only one bit is needed to control the
intensity of
the screen. In case of colour systems, 2 bits
are requiredOne to represent ON (1), another
one is OFF (0).
• Refreshing on raster scan is carried out at
the rate of 60 to 80 frames per seconds. The
video or display controller has direct access to memory locations in the frame bu er. It
is responsible for retrieving data from the frame bu er and passing it to the display
device. It reads bytes of data from frame bu er and converts 0’s and 1’s in one line into
its corresponding video signals and this is called a scan line. If the intensity is one (1)
then controller sends a signal to display a dot in the corresponding position on the
screen. If the intensity is zero (0) then no dot is displayed.

Random-Scan Display
• In Random-Scan Display electron beam is directed only to the areas of screen where
a picture has to be drawn. It is also called vector displays, as it draws picture one line
at time. It can draw and refresh component lines of a picture in any speci ed
sequence. Pen plotter is an example of random-scan displays.
• The number of lines regulates refresh rate on random-scan displays. An area of
memory called refresh display les stores picture de nition as a set of line drawing
commands. The system returns back to rst line command in the list, after all the
drawing commands have been processed. High-quality vector systems can handle
around 100, 00 short lines at this refresh rate. Faster refreshing can burn the
phosphor. To avoid this every refresh cycle is delayed to prevent refresh rate greater
than 60 frames per second.
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Random-Scan Display Processors:
Input in the form of an application program is stored in the system memory along with
graphics package. Graphics package translates the graphic commands in application
program into a display le stored in system memory. This display le is then accessed by
the display processor to refresh the screen. The display processor cycles through each
command in the display le program. Sometimes the display processor in a random-scan
is referred as Display Processing Unit / Graphics Controller.

The structure of a simple random-scan is shown below:

Rasterization:
Rasterization is a process fundamental to digital graphics that converts vectors (such as
lines and shapes de ned by mathematical formulas) into a grid of pixels or dots. This
conversion is essential for displaying intricate graphics on screen or printing them, as
most output devices like monitors, printers, and smartphones operate primarily on a
pixel-based system. Instead of dealing with abstract concepts like lines and curves,
rasterization translates these into a nite set of coloured squares, allowing the digital
representation of images, graphic designs, and even complex scenes in video games and
movies.
The art of rasterization lies in how accurately it can translate these vector shapes into
pixel data. Since the number of pixels on a screen is limited, rasterization algorithms
must decide how to best represent a vector shape using available pixels, balancing delity
to the original shape with the technical limitations of the display.
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