Graphics Primitives

Learning Objectives

 Understand how the important input and

output devices for computer graphics
work.
Display Devices
 Display System : where the graphics are rendered in the console
screen of the computer.
 Responsible for graphics display.
 Display System may be attached with a PC to display character ,
picture, video output.
Common Display Systems are :-
 Raster Scan Display
 Random Scan Display.
 Direct View Storage Tube.
 Flat Panel Display.
 Common Device CRT Monitors.
 Different types of CRT’s Available:-

1) Direct View Storage Tube

2) Calligraphic or Random Scan Display
System.
3) Refresh and Raster Scan Display
System.
Cathode Ray Tube
 Primary Output Device in Graphic System is Video Monitor. Based
on CRT. Invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun (1897).
 CRT consists of Gas Filled Glass Tube in which two metal plates
( Cathode –ve charge and Anode +ve Charge).
 Large voltage is placed across the electrodes ; then Neutral Gas
inside the tube will ionoize into Conducting Plasma and current flow
from Cathode to Anode.
 CRT’s are Analog Display Device ( tubes are spec. vacum tubes
that use focused electron beams to display images).
 Application : Television, Computer, ATMs, Video Game
Equipment.
Operation of CRT

 Beam of electron emitted by Electron Gun, which passes

through Focusing and Deflection System that directs the Beam
toward specific position on Phosphor Coated Screen.
 Phosphor emits the small spot of light at each position
concatenated by Electron Beam. The light emitted by
Phosphor fades rapidly. To Maintain this we need Refresh
CRT.
 CRT's have three main elements:
 An Electron gun.
 Deflection System.
 Screen.
Basic Operation of a CRT
 The electron gun provides an electron beam, which is a highly
concentrated stream of electrons.

 The deflection system positions the electron beam on the screen.

 The screen displays a small spot of light at the point where the
electron beam strikes it.

 Phosphor emits photon of light, when hit by an electron, of varied

persistence (long 15-20 ms for texts / short < 1ms for animation) .

 Refresh rate (50-60 Hz / 72-76 Hz) to avoid flicker / trail.

 Phosphors are organic compounds characterized by their persistence

and their color (blue, red, green).
 Left Side : Cathode is placed and Temp. raised by Heater and
electrons evaporate from surface of cathode.
 Accelerating Anode : has a small hole in the center, maintained at
high potential of order 1 to 20 kV.
 Accelerating Anode will increase the Speed of Electron.
 Electron will pass through the hole from an arrow beam and it travel
at constant horizontal velocity from Anode to Florescent Screen.
Area where electrons strike will glow Brightly.
 Control Grid : regulates the number of electrons that reach the anode
and hence the brightness of the spot on the screen.
 Focusing Anode: ensures the electrons leaving the cathode is
slightly different directions are focused down to narrow beam and
they arrive at same spot on the screen.
 Assembly of Accelerating Anode, Focussing System, Acelerating
Anode called Electron Gun.
Electron Gun
 Primary components of an electron gun in a CRT are the heated
metal cathode and a control grid.
 The cathode is heated by an electric current passed through a coil of
wire called the filament. This causes electrons to be boiled off the
hot cathode surface.
 In the vacuum inside the CRT envelope, negatively charged
electrons are then accelerated toward the phosphor coating by a high
positive voltage.
 The accelerating voltage can be generated with a positively charged
metal coating on the in side of the CRT envelope near the phosphor
screen, or an accelerating anode can be used.
 The electron gun is built to contain the accelerating anode and
focusing system within the same unit.
Focusing System

 Used to create a clear picture by focusing the electrons into a

narrow beam. Otherwise, electrons would repel each other and
beam would spread out as it reaches the screen. Focusing is
acomplished with either electric or magnetic fields.
Deflection System

 Deflection of the electron beam can be controlled by either

electric fields or magnetic fields.
 In case of magnetic field, two pairs of coils are used, one for
horizontal deflection and other for vertical deflection.
 In case of electric field, two pairs of parallel plates are used,
one for horizontal deflection and second for vertical deflection
as shown in figure below.
Cathode-Ray Tubes

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

Cathode-Ray Tubes

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

Cathode-Ray Tubes

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

 Focusing
 Focusing forces the electron beam to converge to a point on
the monitor screen
 Can be electrostatic (lens) or magnetic (field)
 Deflection
 Deflection directs the electron beam horizontally and/or
vertically to any point on the screen
 Can be controlled by electric (deflection plates, slide 9) or
magnetic fields (deflection coils, slide 5)
 Magnetic coils: two pairs (top/bottom, left/right) of tube neck
 Electric plates: two pairs (horizontal, vertical)
Working of CRT

 Beam passes between two pairs of metal plates, one is Vertical and
another is Horizontal.
 Voltage Difference is applied to each pair of plates acc. To amount
of beam to be deflected in each direction.
 Electron beam passes between each pair of Plates bent towards plate
with higher positive charge.
 Beam can deflect towards either side and to get proper deflection
adjust the current through coils placed around the outside of CRT
Envelope.
 Characteristics of Cathode-Ray Tube
(CRT)
 Intensity is proportional to the number of electrons repelled
in beam per second (brightness).
 Resolution is the maximum number of points that can be
displayed without overlap; is expressed as number of
horizontal points by number of vertical points; points are
called pixels (picture elements); example: resolution 1024 x
768 pixels. Typical resolution is 1280 x 1024 pixels.
 High-definition systems: high resolution systems.
 The three existing CRT displays that are based on these
techniques are:
 The refresh (calligraphic) display. (based on random scan
technology)
 Direct view storage tube (based on random scan technology)
 Raster display (based on raster scan technology).
 The graphics display can be divided into two types based on the
scan technology used to control the electron beam when generating
graphics on the screen:

1. Random scan: the screen is not scanned in particular order.

2. Raster scan: the screen is scanned from left to right, top to bottom,
all the times to generate graphics.
Refresh CRT
 A beam of electrons (cathode rays), emitted by an electron gun,
passes through focusing and deflection systems that direct the
beam towards specified position on the phosphor-coated screen.

 The phosphor then emits a small spot of light at each position

contacted by the electron beam.

 Because the light emitted by the phosphor fades very rapidly,

some method is needed for maintaining the screen picture.

 One way to keep the phosphor glowing is to redraw the picture

repeatedly by quickly directing the electron beam back over the
same points.

 This type of display is called a refresh CRT.

CRT Screen

 The inside of the large end of a CRT is coated with a fluorescent

material that gives off light when struck by electrons.
 When the electrons in the beam is collides with phosphor coating
screen, they stopped and their kinetic energy is absorbed by the
phosphor.
 Then a part of beam energy is converted into heat energy and
the remainder part causes the electrons in the phospor atom to
move up to higher energy levels.
 After a short time the excited electrons come back to their
ground state.
 During this period, we see a glowing spot that quickly fades after
all excited electrons are returned to their ground state.
Persistence
 Time they continue to emit light after the CRT beam is removed.
 Persistence is defined as the time it take the emitted light from
the screen to decay to one-tenth of its original intensity.
 Lower-persistence phosphors require higher refresh rates to
maintain a picture on the screen without flicker. A phosphor with
low persistence is useful for animation .
 High-persistence phosphor is useful for displaying highly
complex, static pictures.
 Although some phosphor have a persistence greater than 1
second, graphics monitor are usually constructed with a
persistence in the range from 10 to 60 microseconds.
Resolution

 The number of points per centimeter that can be used be

plotted horizontally and vertically. Or Total number of points
in each direction.
 The resolution of a CRT is depend on
 Type of Phosphor.
 Intensity to be displayed.
 Focusing and Deflection system
Aspect Ratio

 It is ratio of horizontal to vertical points.

 Example: An aspect ratio of 3/4 means that a vertical line
plotted with three points has same length as horizontal line
plotted with four points.
Color CRT
 Normal CRT : generate images of only Single Color due to
Limitation of Phosphor.

 For Displaying Color pictures, combination of Phosphor is used that

emits different colored light.

 Two Techniques for producing Color Display with CRT :-

 Beam Penetration Method.

 Shadow Mask Method.

Color CRT Monitors

o Beam-penetration method
o Used with random-scan monitors
o Two layers of phosphor: red and green are coated onto inside of CRT Screen.
o The Screen is coated with Green Layer over which a layer of Red Phosphor is
deposited.
o The displayed color depends on how far the electron beam penetrates into the
phosphor layers.
o If Electron Beam of Slow Intensity : excites RED Color.
o If Electron Beam of Fast Intensity : pass through RED Color and excites the Inner
Green Layer.
o If Electron Beam of Intermediate Intensity : then combination of Red and Green
Light are Emitted to show additional colors Orange and Yellow.
o Only four colors are possible: red, green, orange, and yellow.
o Speed of electron controlled by Beam Acceleration Method.

Manav Rachna College of Engineering

 Advantage :-
 Cost is half then Shadow Mask .
 Resolution Better.
Disadvantage :-
 Problem arise at time of Switching color………….
( When the beam acc. Potential needs to be changed by significant
amount in order to prevent smear and flicker of image ).
H/W of software must be designed to introduce adequate delays
between color change. So, there is time for Voltage to settle.
Change of Color takes time. Coz it does not suit to Interactive
Graphics.
 Prevent Delay and Flicker :- all Red Elements displayed first.
 Accelerating Potential Changed to display Yellow Elements and so
on.
Shadow-mask method

o Used in Raster Scan System.

o Including Color TV.
o Produce much wider range of color than Beam Pentrtaion
Method.
o Three phosphor color dots at each pixel position ( red ,
Green , Blue)
o Three electron guns one for each color dot.
o Color variations: Varying the intensity levels of the three
electron beams
o Full-color (true-color) system: 24 bits of storage per pixel
 Contain a Shadow Mask Grid behind the Phosphor coated Screen.
 Before the stream of electrons produced by CRT cathode reaches
the phosphor faceplate, it will enocounter shadow mask the shadow
mask ( a sheet of metal engraved with pattern of holes).
 Mask is positioned in the glass of funnel of CRT during
manufacture and phosphor is coated onto the screen. So, that
electron beam coming from Red, Green , Blue only land the
appropriate phosphor.
 Electrons strike the shadow mask are absorbed by it.
 Also Called Delta Delta Shadow Mask Method.
Color CRT

3 electron guns, 3 color phosphor dots at each pixel

Colors = (red, green, blue) Black = (0,0,0)

White = (1,1,1)
Red = 0 – 100% Red = (1,0,0)
Green = 0 – 100% Green = (0,1,0)
Blue = 0 – 100% Blue = (0,0,1)
…
 CRT , we have Two Types of Scan Images.

 Raster Scan Monitors.

 Random Scan Monitors.

Raster Scan Systems
 Raster Display
 Common type of Graphics Monitor which employ CRT is Raster Scan
Display and based on Television Technology.
 Electron beam sweeps across the screen one row at a time from Top to
Bottom.
 As, beam moves across each row the beam intensity is Turned On and
Off , to create pattern of illuminated spots.
 Picture definition is stored in Memory Area called Refresh Buffer or
Frame Buffer.
 Memory Area will hold the set of intensity values for all screen points.
Stored intensity are then retrieved from refresh buffer and “Painted” on the
screen one row at a time.
 Each screen point referred to “Pixel”
 Capability of Raster Scan System is to store intensity information for each
screen makes it well suited for realistic display of scene containing shading
and color pattern.
 Procedure:
 Starting from Top left corner of the screen. Electron gun scan
Horizontally from Left to Right. One Row at a time.
 Jump to the next lower left end row until bottom corner row is
reached.
 Again it jumps, to the top left corner and starts again, finishing
complete one refresh cycle.
 When beam is moved from left to right : ON
 When beam moved from right to left : Off.
 Example: Similar to reading different lines on page of book.
 Book Line by Line reading.
 Interlaced Refresh procedure: Each frame is displayed in two passes.
 Instead of refreshing every line of the screen , when interlacing is
used the electron gun sweeps alternate on each pass.
 First Pass: odd number lines are refreshed.
 Second Pass : Even Lines are refreshed.
 Horizontal retrace – beam returns to left of screen.
 Vertical retrace – bean returns to top left corner of screen.
 Interlacing is sued with slower refreshing rate.
 Without interlacing : Refreshing 30 frames per second.
 After Interlacing : 1/60th of second , which brings refresh rate nearer
to 60 frames per second.
 Retrace as shown in figure below:
 Capability of Rater Scan System is to store the intensity information
for each screen point ; which makes it suitable for real display of
scenes containing Shading , Color Patterns.

 Example: Home Television and Printers.

 Simple Black and White System the Intensity is either Turned On

and Off.

 Refresh rate is 60 to 80 frames per second.

 Units is cycle/sec or Hertz.

Advantages & Disadvantages
 produce realistic  low resolution
images  expensive
 also produced different  electron beam directed
colors and shadows to whole screen
scenes.
Raster Scan Display Systems
 Use set of special purpose processing units to generate the 3D View
of Object.
 Processor used known as Video Controller or Display Controller.
 Controller controls the whole operation.
 Contents of screen in each cycle is called Frame Buffer.
 Video Controller will accesses the contents of screen buffer from the
memory and will refresh the screen periodically.
 Drawback of Display Controller is that CPU remains busy to
Computer, manipulate and to transform the picture to be seen on
Monitor. Thus, operation becomes slow.
 Graphic System :- thousands of calculations are performed to
represent any movement for transformation of Picture. Thus, it
caused the CPU to remain busy.
 Overcome Limitation :- Separate Processors are used to do these
types of Jobs.
 Display Processor / Graphics Controller / Display Co-Processor.
Raster Scan System

 Frame Buffer is Digital Device and Raster CRT is Analog Device.

 Device To Convert Digital to Analog.

 Frame Buffer  Register  DAC  Electron Gun  CRT Screen.

Random Scan
Monitors
 Random-scan Displays
 Random scan systems are also called vector, stroke-writing,
or calligraphic displays.
 The electron beam directly draws the picture in any specified
order.
 A pen plotter is an example of such a system.
 Picture is stored in a display list, refresh display file, vector
file, or display program as a set of line drawing commands.
 Refreshes by scanning the list 30 to 60 times per second.
 More suited for line-drawing applications such as architecture
and manufacturing.

Manav Rachna College of Engineering

Random Scan Systems
 In Random Scan System, an electron beam is directed to only
those parts of the screen where a picture is to be drawn. The
picture is drawn one line at a time, so also called vector displays
or stroke writing displays. After drawing the picture the system
cycles back to the first line and design all the lines of the picture
30 to 60 time each second.

Random-scan
Advantages:
Displays
 High resolution
 Easy animation
 Requires little memory
 Disadvantages:
 Requires intelligent electron beam (processor controlled)

 Limited screen density, limited to simple, line-based images

 Limited color capability.

 Improved in the 1960’s by the Direct View Storage Tube

(DVST) from Tektronix.
Random Scan System
 Application Program is stored in the memory at first stage.
 At time of execution of program, Graphic Commands are translated
by the graphics system installed into a temporary file which will be
created at that time.
 Commands will be accessed by the Display Processor to draw the
Picture on the screen.
 Picture will be refreshed and drawn in every refresh cycle.
Random Scan System
Difference Raster Random
Raster Random
 Draw area filled with solid  Draw Lines and
color or patterns. Chartacers.
 Use Interlacing  Don’t use Interlacing.
 Lower Resolution  Higher Resolution
 Editing Difficult  Editing easy.
 Independent of Picture  Refresh rate depends on
Complexity Picture Complexity
 Scan Conversion  Scan conversion not
required required.
Full Color System
 Color CRTs in graphics systems are designed as RGB monitors.
These monitors use shadow mask method and take the intensity
level for each gun. A RGB color system with 34 bits of storage per
pixel is known as full color system or true color system.
Thank You !!!!