VIDEO HARDWARES

Display Devices
2.1 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Electron gun = cathode + control grid Pixel ratio = height of pixel width of pixel Aspect ratio = # rows in display __ # columns in display Resolution -- Number of pixels per linear distance (e.g., 640 400-pixel display).

COLOR -- 3 different phosphors + 3 different gusns (e.g., red, green, and blue)

2.2 Phosphore

The electron beam causes the phosphors atoms to move into higher energy state The atoms give off energy as light when they return to their stable state

REFRESHMENT

Persistence -- Time for emitted light to fade by 90% of its intensity (normally 10 to 60 microseconds). Refresh -- Redrawing of an image to preserve it on a screen Refresh rate -- Number of times per second the image is redrawn (normally > 60 Hz) Flicker -- Develops in low refresh rate because the eyes can not integrate the individual light impulses comming from a pixel. Critical fushion frequency -- Refresh rate above which a picture stops flickering and fuses into a steady image. Depends on o Phosphors persistence o Image intensity o Ambient room lighting o Wavelenght of emitted light o The observer

2.3 Raster Display

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

The screen is subdivided into a matrix of pixels (smallest addressable units).

Raster scanline -- A line of pixels along the screen

Frame (refresh) buffer -- Block of memory used to store the screen pattern

HOW IT WORKS

The DISPLAY PROCESSOR produces the raster image in the frame buffer from the commands The VIDEO CONTROLLER moves the beam row wise across the pixels setting it on and off according to the content of the frame buffer The display must be refreshed to avoid flickering (raster image redisplayed 30 to 60 times pers second)

2-BIT BLACK-AND-WHITE GRAY LEVEL

00 01 10 11

0 3 of full intensity 1 3 of full intensity 2 3 of full intensity 3 3 of full intensity

FRAME BUFFER

Single-bit black-and-white frame buffer (monochrome, bitmap) N-bit black-and-white gray level frame buffer (pixmap) N-bit black-and-white gray level frame buffer with M-bit lookup table N-bit color frame buffer with M-bit look-up table (typically N = 8 and M = 24)

WHY USE A LOOK-UP TABLE?

Reduced memory for full array of colors 24 bit color * 1280 by 1024 resolution/ 8 bits per byte \\ 4MB

Color table animation

2.4 Vector (or Random Scan) Display

Images are described in terms of line segments rather than pixels. Display processor cycles through the commands

2.5 Advantages / Disadvantages Accuracy of lines Refresh time dependent on image complexity Filled & Patterned Areas Raster Displays Poor No Yes Random Displays good Yes < 100,000 No

Bit manipulation Display Controller Memory Requirements

Yes cheaper

No Costly cheaper