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Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Graphics

Computer graphics is commonly seen as a computer science branch that deals with the
computerized image fusion theory and technology. As simple as a triangle outline, a
computer-generated image may represent a scene. The computer has become a powerful
tool for producing images quickly and economically.
When a computer is used to create images, the same process is followed as creating
images manually. The process's primary computational steps give a boost to several
important computer graphics areas.
Also on computers, the term computer graphics covers almost everything. Here in the
computer graphics program's classroom, we think of computer graphics as drawing
images on machines, often known as rendering. The images can be photos, sketches,
animations, or pictures of items imagined. Or they may be pictures, we cannot see
directly, like internal body parts.
We have put a great deal of our time to develop how computer images can replicate real-
world scenes. We want objects on computers not only to look more real, but also their
colors to be more realistic and how different materials appear. We can call it "real
synthesis of the image."
The term computer graphics has been used to define "almost everything on the computer,
including text or sound." Generally, the term computer graphics refer to the following
things:

 Computer representation and manipulation of image data.

 Various technologies for creating and manipulating images.
 Computer graphics study is a sub-field of computer science that studies
methods for digitally incorporating and manipulating visual content.

The next area of computer graphics that deals with the placement of a triangle is
called transformation. Here we can use matrices to get the mapping of a triangle in

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image space. We can also set up the transformation matrix to control the location and
orientation of the displayed image. We can also resize the triangle. 

Definition of Computer Graphics-Computer graphics can be a series of images which is

most often called a video or single image. Computer graphics is the technology that
concerns with designs and pictures on computers. That’s why, computer graphics are
visual representations of data shown on a monitor made on a computer.
“Computer graphics is the use of a computer to define, store, manipulate, interrogate, and
represent the pictorial output.” An image in computer graphics is made up of a number of
pixels.

Types of Computer Graphics

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There are two kinds of computer graphics are-

I. Interactive Computer Graphics
In interactive computer graphics, users have some controls over the image, i.e., the user can
make any changes to the image produced. Interactive Computer Graphics involves computer-
user two-way communication.
For Example:
 Ping-pong game.
 Drawing on touch screens.
 Display weather forecast or other moving charts/graphs on the screen.
 Animating pictures or graphics in movies.
 Graphics animation in video games.
Working of Interactive Computer Graphics
The modern display of graphics is very simple to build. It is composed of three components:

 Display controller or video controller

 Digital memory or frame buffer
 Television monitor

1. Display controller or video controller- It's a Memory Buffer and TV Monitor interface. Its
task is to pass Frame Buffer's contents to the monitor. The display controller reads each
continuous byte of Memory frame buffer data and converts 0's and 1's into appropriate video
signals. In today's term, the display controller is recognized as a display card, and one of our
choices can be a VGA(Video Graphics Array) card with a resolution of 640x480. Display
Controller is also capable of displaying the image in colors.
2. Digital memory or frame buffer-This is a place where images and pictures are stored as an
array (matrix of 0 & 1, 0 represents darkness, and 1 represents image or picture). It is also called
a frame buffer. In today's term frame buffer is called V-RAM (video RAM), and it helps to store
the image in bit form. It helps to increase the speed of graphics.
3. Television monitor- Monitor helps us to view the display, and they make use of CRT
(Cathode ray tube) technology.

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Advantages

1. Superior Quality.
2. More accurate outcomes or products.
3. Increased Productivity.
4. Lower cost of development.
5. Increases the ability to understand information and interpret patterns significantly.

II. Non- Interactive Computer Graphics

Non-interactive computer graphics are also known as passive computer graphics. It is a type of
computer graphics in which the user has no control over the image. The photo is completely
controlled by the instructions of the program, not by the user.
For Example:
 Screen savers.
 Map representation of the data.
 Graphic elements are used in the text, document, and PDF presentation.
 Static images are used in mobile applications and websites.
 Business graphics are used as brochures, business cards, menu of the hotel.

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Representation of graphics
We can represent the graphics by following two ways:
 Raster (Bitmap) Graphics
 Vector Graphics
1. Raster Graphics: In raster graphics, the image is presented as a rectangular grid of colored
squares. Raster images are also called bitmap images. Bitmap images are stored as the collection
of small individual dots called pixels.
Bitmap images require high resolution and anti-aliasing for a smooth appearance.
For example- Paint, Photoshop, etc.
2. Vector Graphics: In vector graphics, the image is represented in the form of continuous
geometric objects: line, curve, etc.
Vector images are not based on pixel pattern. They use mathematical formulas to draw line and
curves. The lines and curves can be combined to create an image.
For Example- PowerPoint, Corel Draw, etc.

Fig: Raster (Composition of Paths) Vector (Composition of Pixels)

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Difference between Raster and Vector Graphics:

               Raster Graphics               Vector Graphics

Raster images are the collection of the pixel. The Vector images are composed of paths.

Scan conversion is required. Scan Conversion is not required.

Vector Graphics are more costly compared to

Raster Graphics are less costly.
raster graphics.

Raster image takes less space to store. Vector image takes more space.

Raster graphics can draw mathematical curves, Vector graphics can only draw continuous and
polygons, and boundaries. smooth lines.

File Extension: .BMP, .TIF, .JPG etc. File Extension: .SVG, .PDF, .AI etc.

Applications of Computer Graphics

Some applications of computer graphics are mentioned below-

 Graphical User Interface (GUI): It is a way of interacting with a computer using the
icon, menu, and other visual, graphics by which user easily interacts. 
 Art: Computer Graphics provides a new way of making designs. Many artists and
designers use illustrator, coral draw, Photoshop, adobe muse, and other types of
applications for creating new designs.
 Entertainment: Computer graphics allow the user to make animated movies and games.
Computer graphics are used to create scenes. Computer graphics are also used for special
effects and animations.
 Presentations: Computer graphics are used for making charts, bar diagrams, and other
images for the presentation purpose, with the graphical presentation the user, can easily
understand the points.

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 Engineering Drawings: Computer Graphics has also provided us the flexibility to make

3D models, house circuits and engineering drawings, etc. which is helpful for us.
 Education and Training: Computer graphics are also used to provide training to
students with simulators. The students can learn about the machines without physically
trying them.
 Medical Imaging: MRIs, CT scans, and other internal scans are possible because of
computer graphics.
 Flight Simulator: Computer graphic is used to provide training to pilots of aircraft. The
pilots give much time to a flight simulator on the ground instead of real airplanes.
 Printing Technology: Computer graphics are used in textile designing and flex printing.
 Typography: Use of character pictures to replace the rough form of the past in printing.
 Satellite Imaging: Computer graphics are used to forecast the movement of the cloud
and to predict the weather.
 Cartography: Computer graphics are used in map drawing.
  CAD/CAM: CAD/CAM is also known as Computer-aided design and computer-aided
manufacturing. CAD/CAM is used to design and build prototypes, finished products, and
manufacturing processes.

Advantages of Computer graphics:  Some important benefits of Computer graphics are: 

 Increase Productivity
 Computer graphics give us tools for creating pictures of solid objects as well as of
theoretical, engineered objects.
 Computer graphics also point out the moving images.
 The computer can store complex drawings and display complex pictures.
 Sound cards are used to make computers produce sound effects led to other uses of
graphics.

Image Representation: In computer science, we can represent an image in various forms.

Most of the time, it refers to the way that brings information, such as color is coded digitally,
and how the image is stored, i.e., how an image file is structured.       

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Several open standards were recommended to create, manipulate, store, and exchange digital
images. The rules described the format of image files, the algorithms of image encoding, the
form of additional information often named as metadata.

A digital image is the composition of individual pixels or picture elements. The pixels are
arranged in the form of row and column to form a picture area. The number of pixels in an
image is a function of the size of the image and number of pixels per unit length (e.g., inch)
in horizontal as well as vertical direction.

Image Processing

It is a method to implement some operations on an image. It is also used to get an

enhanced image or to access some useful information from an image. It is a type of
processing in which the input is an image, and output may be the image or
characteristics/features correlated with that image.

For example- photographs, frames of video.

Most image processing techniques consider the image as a two-dimensional and applying

standard signal-processing technique on it.

Pixel: “Pixel is the smallest unit of a picture displayed on the computer screen.”

A pixel includes its own:-

 Intensity
 Name or Address

The size of the image is defined as the total number of pixels in the horizontal direction times
the total number of pixels in the vertical direction (512 x 512,640 x 480, or 1024 x 768).

The ratio of an image’s width to its height, we can measure it in unit length or number of
pixels, is known as the aspect ratio of the image.

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For example- A 2 x 2inch image and a 512 x 512 image have an aspect ratio of 1/1, whereas
a 6 x 4inch image and a 1024 x 768 image have an aspect ratio of 4/3.

Resolution: It is the number of separate pixels display on a screen expressed in terms of

pixels on the horizontal axis and vertical axis.

The sharpness of the picture on display depends on the resolution and the size of the monitor.

“The number of pixels per unit is called the resolution of the image.”

It also includes-

 Image Resolution: “The distance between two pixels.”

 Screen Resolution: “The number of horizontal and vertical pixels displayed on the
screen is called Screen Resolution.”

For Example- 640 x 480, 1024 x 768 (Horizontal x Vertical)

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Aspect Ratio: “The ratio of image’s width to its height is known as the aspect ratio of an
image.” The height and width of an image are measured in length or number of pixels.

For Example: If a graphics has an aspect ratio of 2:1, it means the width is twice large to
height.

It includes-

 Frame aspect ratio: Horizontal /Vertical Size

 Pixel aspect ratio: Width of Pixel/Height of Pixel

Applications of Image Processing

Some application areas of Image Processing are as follow:

1. Computerized Photography
2. Space Image Processing (e.g., Hubble space telescope image, Interplanetary probe
images)
3. Medical/ Biological Image Processing
4. Automatic Character Recognition
5. Fingerprint/ Face/ Iris Recognition

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6. Remote sensing
7. Industrial application

Review Questions
1. The art of representing moving pictures is called ________________________-

2. The concept of changing one picture gradually into another is called _____________

3. The combination of calculations, sound and pictures in computer is called __________

4. Building a mockup of an environment with the aim of studying the same is called ______

5. The equation of a straight line is given by _______________________

6. A block of memory to store pixel values is called ________________________

7. The number of pixels available for display of pictures is indicated by ________________

8. The concept of creating pictures directly on the screen is called ______________

9. In a CRT, a stream of electrons falling on a ___________of the screen produces images.

10. The path of the electron beam is focused on to the screen using _____________ or
_________________.

11. The term ____________________ indicates how long the picture created on the

phosphorescent screen remains on it.

12. The three basic colors are ___________, ____________ and ________________

13. Different electron beams are accelerated to different levels in a ______________

14. When the picture has to remain on the screen for a long time _______________

type of CRT is sued.

15. The first device to allow the user to move the cursor to any point, without actually, knowing
the coordinates was ____________________

16. The input device that allows user to write pictures on it an input them directly to the
computer is called _______________________

18. Name one device that allows a 3-dimensional input to be given to the computer

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