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I INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GRAPHICS

GRAPHICS PRIMITIVES & DEVICES
(UNIT- I)

WHAT IS COMPUTER GRAPHICS/ INTRODUCTION TO C.G -

“Computer Graphics is a Branch of Computer Science, which deals with generation of image
& pictures using the concept of Pixels.”
For easy understanding we divide (C.G) in to 2 parts i.e. Computer + Graphics and then
understand as-
“The Computer is an Information processing machine. It is a tool for storing, manipulating
& controlling Data. There are many ways to communicate the processed information to the
user. The Computer Graphics is one of the most effective & commonly used way to
communicate the processed information to the user which makes it possible to express data
in pictorial form.”
Computer Graphics is a field which deals with pictures and images. In literature, one can
find many definitions of Computer Graphics, of which a few are given below-

 “Computer Graphics is a process associated with producing images by digital

rendering of a picture model.”
 “Computer Graphics is a process of generation of images of virtual scenes using
computer hardware.”
 “Computer Graphics is a human-oriented system that uses the capabilities of a
computer to create, transform, and display pictorial and symbolic data.”
 “Computer Graphics is the use of computer hardware and software to create,
manipulate, and present pictures and images.”
 “Computer Graphics is a pictorial representation and manipulation of data by a
computer.”

According to computer terminology computer program is the collection of algorithm and data
structure. In the same convention computer graph has been defined as the collection of data structure,
graphic algorithms & any high level language. We can use any of the higher level language like C, C+
+, Java or any of the Graphics packages like Maya, 3-D MAX or Flash to generate graphics of our
choice.

Computer Graphics need a logical mind and mastery over a programming language to succeed. This
Field is becoming popular day by day & there are a large no. of opportunities to be explored.

DEVELOPMENT/ HISTORICAL BACK GROUND OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS-

 The first computer invented by Charles Babbage.

 The first program written by Mrs. Ada Byron in the year 1842 did not have
any support for graphics.
 William Fetter first time introduced the term “Computer Graphics” in
the year 1960.
 Edward Zajak of Bell Labs created the first computer animated film
“Two Gyro Gravity” in the year 1961.
  In the same year, Larry Breed of Stanford University came up with the
first ever computer animation language called MACS.
 In 1961Steve Russell at MIT developed the first video game called
“Spacewar”.
 Till the year 1963, graphics was not supported by any computer system.
 Year 1965 is again a milestone in computer graphics when Jack
Brasenham developed the line drawing algorithm.
 In the year 1966, Ralph Baer developed the first home video game
called “Odyssey” which allowed the users to move a pointer across the
monitor.

Computer graphics is the field of Computer Science in which we are interested in generating objects &
images using pixels (picture elements). It started with elementary programs like point, line & circle
generation. Earlier Graphics systems used primitives to generate simple graphics. But with the
development of interactive input & output devices and the technology, it is possible virtually to design
anything on the computer system. Animation and cartoons have reached high quality.
With the use of Advanced Graphics. The scene showing Titanic sinking in the sea was possible
through Graphic design with Maya. The movies like Spiderman, Superman, and Hanuman etc. have
generated special effects using Computer Graphics.

Multimedia, CAD and CAM have all been possible because of Computer graphics.

TYPES/ CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS-

There are mainly 2 categories of Computer Graphics-

1. Non-Interactive Computer Graphics /Passive Computer Graphics/ Off-line

Graphics

2. Interactive Computer Graphics/Active Computer Graphics/ On-line Graphics

Non-Interactive Computer Graphics-This is also called Off-line Graphics. Once the graphics
program is developed, the user has no control over the display even if he/she wishes to change the
display. E.g- Static Web Page (Using HTML) where user has no control over the contents.

Interactive Computer Graphics- This is also called On-line Graphics. User can dynamically control
the display on the monitor. Display is controlled by Mouse, Keyboard, Trackball, Joystick etc. This is
known as Interactive Computer Graphics (ICG), Because user can interact with & control contents,
formats, size or the color on the display surface by means of interaction devices.

Cartoons, Special effects in movies (e.g. in Avatar, Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park), video games &
dynamic websites (using Dynamic HTML) are all making use of ICG.
COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS / HOW ARE PICTURES ACTUALLY
STORED & DISPLAY-

Interactive Computer Graphics consists of three components namely-

1. DIGITAL MEMORY
2. MONITOR
3. DISPLAY CONTROLLER

Using these components, we are able to see the o/p on the screen in form of Pixels(Picture
Element).Following is the explanation of these components:-

Digital Memory Buffer: This is the place where images or pictures are stored as an array ( in matrix
form of 0 and 1,O represents darkness & 1 represents image or picture).This is also called Frame
Buffer. In today’s terms, frame buffer is called V-RAM (Video RAM).It helps to store the image in
bit form. And to increase the Speed of graphics.(Sometimes we watch movie on our P.C and the
movie runs slowly. System engineer is then called for. He comes & fits a V-RAM (in Mega bytes) into
our system and the movie runs perfectly).

TV Monitor : Monitor helps us to view the display & they make use of CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
Technology.

Display Controller: It is an interface between Digital Memory Buffer and TV Monitor. Its job is to
pass the contents of Frame Buffer to the monitor. This passing has to be fast for steady display on the
monitor. The image must be passed repeatedly to the monitor to maintain a steady picture on the
screen. The display controller reads each successive byte of data from the F.B memory and converts
0’s & 1’s into corresponding video signal. This signal is then fed to the TV monitor to produce a Black
& White picture on the Screen. (Display Controller is also capable of displaying image in colors).

FRAME
BUFFER DISPLAY CONTROLLER MONITOR
APPLICATIONS/ USES OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS-
With the increasing use of graphics in the information technology, it is very difficult to find out an
area which has remained untouched by Computer Graphics. There are countless no. of areas exists
where computer graphics is used extensively. Some of them are-

1) Art & Entertainment

2) Engineering and Technology
3) Modeling & Simulation
4) Teaching
5) Learning and Training.
6) Medical Sciences
7) Civil & Architecture
8) Information Visualization & Processing
9) Image Processing
10) Virtual Reality
11) CAD
12) CAM
13) Animation
14) Electronic Circuit Designing
15) Geographic Applications (G.I.S)
16) Pattern Recognizing
17) Artificial Intelligence
18) Robotics
19) Data Presentation
20) Special Effects
21) Cartography
22) PCB & Electronic Circuits Design field
23) Plotting of Graphs & Charts
Etc.
 Art & Entertainment: Using Computer Graphics we can represent
information in a more convenient way. Today computer graphics is an emerging
technology in the field of Art & Entertainment Industry. Artists use a variety of
computer methods, specially developed s/w as paint brush, CAD packages,
Animation packages etc to give more realistic view to their art. Computer Graphics
methods are now commonly used in making motion pictures, music videos &
television shows.

 Advertisement: Audio visual media is always more useful in

advertisement. With the use of C.G advertisements becomes more attractive
& successful. E.g. - Bajaj Pulsar, ALLOUT, Hajmola Kandy, Sprite, Mentos
etc.

 Modeling & Simulation: Modeling & Simulation is a branch related to the

CG. Many times a problem becomes very complex & difficult then in such
situation its handy tool for experimenting & analyzing such kind of problems.

 Education & Training: Computer generated models of physical, financial,

financial, & economic systems are often used as education aids. Models of
physical system, population trends, equipments etc can help trainees to
understand the operation of the system. For some training applications,
special systems are designed. E.g. - For the training of ship captains, aircraft
pilots, heavy-equipment operators & air traffic controllers. Etc.
  ARCHITECTURE: Using a graphics software package like COOL Architects,
Architect’s work become easy these kind of s/w packages give more realistic view
of buildings to them.

 VIRTUAL REALITY: (V.R) is an area is where a real situation is created

virtually. One of the many definitions of Virtual Reality:

“Virtual Reality is an artificial intelligent, created with computer h/w & s/w and presented
to the users in such a way that it appears & feels like a real world environment.” Computer
Graphics is extensively used in Virtual Reality. This is the field which is used in training
centers. Etc

 Image Processing: An image processing is one of the important area of (C.G) .

Image Processing mainly deals with manipulating & interpreting the existing
picture rather then developing new one such as photographs & TV scenes etc.

 Plotting of Graphs & Charts: In Industry, Business, Governments &

educational organizations C.G is most commonly used to create 2-D & 3-D
Graphics of mathematical, Physical & economical function in the form of Bars &
Pie-Charts, these graph & charts are very useful to decision making.

 CAD (Computer Aided Design): In CAD, Graphics helps in various ways.

Some of them are as-

(a) Mechanical Design Field: Presently engineers use C.G for designing & developing
mechanical parts, specially for the complex design equipments.

(b) AERO- Dynamic Modeling & Design Field: The design of airplane is very
difficult considering its velocity, air pressure, light weight and other factors. C.G is
very much useful in such kind of situations & other designing fields.

 PCB & Electronic Circuits Design field: Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is made of
using (1’s & 0’s) & used in almost all electronic circuits .The design of PCB is very
sophisticated type of design where Thousand of IC’s are on the Circuit Board
(PCB). C.G made it possible to minimizing the Labor cost & Time.

 Information Visualization & Processing: Scientists, Engineers, Medical

personnel, Business analysts & others often need to analyze large amounts of
information’s or to study the behavior of certain processes. Numerical simulations
carried out on supercomputers frequently.

Producing Graphical representations for Scientific, Engineering, Industry,

Medical & other fields is referred to as Information Visualization & Processing.
Etc.