Raster Scan Displays are most common type of graphics monitor which employs CRT.

It is
based on television technology. In raster scan system electron beam sweeps across the screen,
from top to bottom covering one row at a time.A pattern of illuminated pattern of spots is created
by turning beam intensity on and off as it moves across each row. A memory area called refresh
buffer or frame buffer stores picture definition. This memory area holds intensity values for all
screen points. Stored intensity values are restored from frame buffer and painted on screen taking
one row at a time.Each screen point is referred to as pixels.
In raster scan systems refreshing is done at done at a rate of 60-80 frames per second. Refresh
rates are also sometimes described in units of cycles per second / Hertz (Hz). At the end of each
scan line, electron beam begins to display next scan line after returning to left side of screen. The
return to the left of screen after refresh of each scan line is known as horizontal retrace of
electron beam. At the end of each frame electron beam returns to top left corner and begins the
next frame.

Raster Scan Display

Raster can be explained as a rectangular collection of dots or points plotted.
An image is subdivided into various horizontal lines which are referred to as scan lines which
are then further divided into different pixels which helps in the processing of an image.
 Image source: https://www.printcnx.com/resources-and-support/addiational-resources/raster-images-vs-vector-
graphics/
Basic working of Raster Scan
 In this system, a beam of an electron is moved across the screen. It moves from top to
bottom considering one row at a time.
 As the beam of electron moves through each row, its intensity is alternatively turned on
and off which helps to create a pattern of spots that are illuminated.
When each scan of the line is refreshed it returns to the left side of the screen. This
motion is known as Horizontal retrace.
 As a particular frame ends, the beam of electron moves to the left top corner of the screen
to move to another frame. This motion is referred to as Vertical retrace.
 The picture is then stored in an area of memory which is referred to as the frame buffer
or refresh buffer.
 The buffer in a raster scan is that area that is responsible for containing intensity of the
various points on the screen.
 The values stored in the buffer are then fetched and traced over scan lines one by one on
the screen.
 Image source: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_graphics/computer_graphics_basics.htm
 The image formed through this raster scan is known as a raster image. The quality of this
image is determined by the number of pixels which is termed as the resolution of the
image.
 The amount of information each pixel represents is known as the color depth of the
image.
 The raster graphics system of high quality contains 24 bits per pixel in the frame buffer.
This is referred to as a full color or true color system. Refreshing of raster scan displays
is carried out at the rate of 60 to 80 frames per second.
Interlacing
A TV video signal is graphically interlaced, which means every full screen of information is
made up of two separate fields which include the odd field and even field. First, the odd lines are
printed on the graphics screen. Then, the even lines are printed in between the odd lines before
the odd lines fade away. This all happens faster than any human eye can perceive.
Random Scan Display
In Random Scan Display a beam of the electron is directed only to the screen areas where any
picture has to be displayed or drawn on the screen. It is also termed as vector display, as it
displays or draws a picture in the form of one line at a time. It can draw and refresh lines on the
screen of a picture in any sequence not particularly specific.

Image source: https://webeduclick.com/random-scan-display/

Basic working of random scan display
 Random scan monitors are used to draw a picture in one line at a time and are thus also
referred to as vector displays.
 The cathode ray tube when operates as a random scan display device directs the beam of
an electron only to those areas of the screen where display or a picture has to be drawn.
 To draw a picture or display it on the screen the system goes through a line or set of
commands and draws each of them one at a time in a line turn by turn.
The refresh rate here depends on the number of lines that are to be displayed on the screen and
are designed so that they draw the component lines of the picture 30 to 60 times in a second.
They have a high resolution of pictures and produce smooth line drawing. It's that smooth that
while zooming also it doesn't spread.

Difference Between Raster Scan and Random

Scan
 Ras
ter scan and random scan are the mechanisms used in displays for rendering the picture of an
object on the screen of the monitor. The main difference between raster scan and random scan
lies in the drawing of a picture where the raster scan points the electron beam at the entire screen
but incorporating just one line at a time in the downward direction. On the other hand, in the
random scan, the electron beam is guided on just those regions of the screen where the picture
actually lies.
Content: Raster Scan Vs Random Scan
1.
1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion
Comparison Chart
Basis for
Raster Scan Random Scan
comparison
Swept across the screen and handles one Directed to the portions of the screen
Electron beam
row at a time and in downward direction. where a picture is to be rendered.
Poor, since it generates meander lines Good, as this produces even lines
Resolution
which are organized as distinct point sets. drawing.
Picture Stored as the combination of intensity Stored as a group of line drawing
definition values for all screen points. instructions in a display file.
Unable to display realistic shaded
Realistic display Effectively displays realistic scenes.
scenes.
Picture With the help of mathematical
Using pixels
rendering functions

Definition of Raster Scan

The Raster Scan is a scanning technique in graphics monitor where the electron beam is moved
along the screen covering one line at a time from top to bottom. The beam intensity is set at high
and low levels as the beam sweeps around the screen to generate a pattern of illuminated spots.
Refresh buffer or frame buffer is then used to save the picture definition, more specifically the
memory area contains the combination of intensity values for various screen points. These stored
intensities are fetched from refresh buffer and represented on the screen one scan line at a time.
The fundamental unit for defining a single screen point is known as Pixel or Pel (Picture
element).
The raster scan systems are appropriate for the realistic display of scenes as these systems are
capable of saving the intensity data for each screen point where subtle shading and colour
patterns can also be involved. However, the television sets and printers are examples of other
systems.
The capability of the raster scan specifies the intensity range of the pixel position. It requires
only one bit per pixel to handle the intensity of the screen positions in a black-and-white system.
On the other hand, to display the intensities of different colour variants, supplementary bits are
required. The high-quality systems include up to 24 bits per pixel in which case a high amount of
memory is needed to store frame buffer depending on the resolution such as in megabytes.

A
typical system having a screen resolution of 1024 by 1024 and contain 24 bits per pixel can
consume 3 megabytes for the frame buffer. In black-and-white systems, the frame buffer is
known as a bitmap where only one bit per pixel is consumed while the frame buffer of systems
with multiple bits per pixel is called as a pixmap.
The rate of refreshing on raster-scan displays is operated at the rate of 60-80 frames per second.
Definition of Random Scan
The Random scan works in a completely different manner to the raster scan where the electron
beam is pointed to merely those areas of the screen where the picture is to be drawn. However, it
only involves one line at a time when drawing a picture that is why it is also known as the vector
or calligraphic display. The component lines of an object by a random scan is drawn in the way
as shown in the diagram below.

The refresh rate of a random scan relies on the number of lines that are to be showed on the
screen. Similar to the raster scan the random scan also stores the picture definition as a set of line
drawing commands using some sort of medium known as refresh display file. The other names
for refresh file display are display list, display program or refresh buffer. A system displays a
certain picture by revoluting the group of commands in the display file and drawing each
component line after each turn. After processing all line drawing commands, the system cycle is
sent to the first line command.
A random scan is capable of drawing all the component of a picture about 30 to 60 times per
second. In the provided refresh rate the high-quality vector systems are competent enough to
handle 100000 short lines. At the time displaying short lines, the refresh cycles are delayed to
eliminate refresh rates higher than 60 frames per second. Otherwise, swift refreshing of the group
of lines can damage or burn the phosphor.
Key Differences Between Raster Scan and Random Scan
1. The raster scan monitors make use of the whole screen for displaying the object while in
random screen monitors the certain part of the screen is used where the electron beam is
projected.
2. Resolution of random scan displays is better than raster scan.
3. Raster scan saves the picture definition as the group of intensity measures for various
screen points and consumes more size. As against, in the random scan, the picture
 definition is stored in the form of a collection of line drawing instructions within a
display file.
4. Random scan systems are mainly devised for line-drawing applications and are unable to
display the naturalistic shaded scenes. On the contrary, a raster scan system is suitable for
rendering realistic shaded scenes. However, random scan creates a sleek line drawing.
5. Raster scan uses screen points/pixels to draw an image whereas a random scan employs
mathematical functions for painting the image.
Conclusion
When it comes to refreshing rate, the raster scan has higher refresh rate about 60 to 80 times per
second while random scan consumes less time for refreshing the screen, i.e., 30 to 60 times per
second. Raster scan can also use interlaced refresh method which is not used in the random scan.