CHAPTER – 2

Hardware Concepts
 Input Devices
• Input device are used to feed data or
information into a computer system.
• They are usually used to provide input to the
computer upon whose reaction, outputs are
generated.
• The various type of input devices are
keyboard, mouse, light pens, touch panels
etc.
Tablet
• Tablet is a digitizer which is used to scan over an object
and to put a set of discrete coordinate positions.
• These positions can then be joined with straight line
segments to approximate the shape of the original object.
• A tablet digitizes an object detecting the position of a
movable stylus (pencil-shaped device) or puck (like mouse)
held in the user’s hand.
• A tablet is flat surface and its size varies from about 6 by 6
inches up to 48 by 72 inches or more.
• The accuracy of the tablets usually falls below 0.2 mm.
 There are three types of tablets

Electric tablet:
• A grid of wires on ¼ to ½ inch centers is embedded in the
tablet surface, and electromagnetic signals generated by
electrical pulses applied in sequence to the wires in the grid
induced an electrical signal in a wire coil in the stylus (or
puck).
• The strength of the signal induced by each pulse is used to
determine roughly how far the stylus is from the tablet.
• They cannot digitize the bulky objects because the
movement of stylus over the object cannot sense by the
electric tablet surface.
 1.Sonic tablet: The sonic tablet uses sound waves to couple the stylus to microphones positioned on the periphery

• Sonic tablet: The sonic tablet uses sound waves to couple

the stylus to microphones positioned on the periphery of the
digitizing area.
• An electrical spark at the tip of the stylus creates sound bursts.
• The position of the stylus or the coordinate values is
calculated using the delay between when spark occurs and
when its sound arrives at each microphone.
• They can digitize the bulky objects because the position point
out by the stylus by generating the sound wave can easily
encounter by the system with the help of microphones.
•
Resistive tablet:
• The tablet is transparent and flexible with a thin layer of
conducting material.
• When a battery-powered stylus is activated at certain
position, it emits high- frequency radio signals which
induce the radio signals on the conducting layer.
• The strength of the signal received at the edges of the
tablet is used to calculate the position of the stylus.
• They can also able to digitize some object of screen.
•
 Touch Panel
• A touch panel is an input device that accepts user input by means of a touch
sensitive screen directly with a finger to move the cursor around the screen or to
select the icons. Because of their compact nature and ease-of-use, touch panels are
typically deployed for user interfaces in automation systems, such as high-end
residential and industrial control.
• Polyester Film
• Upper Resistive Circuit Layer
•
Conductive ITO (Transparent Metal Coating)
• Lower Resistive Circuit Layer
• Insulating Dots
• Glass/Acrylic Substrate
• Touching the overlay surface causes (2) Upper Resistive Circuit Layer to contact
the
• (4) Lower Resistive Circuit Layer, producing a circuit switch from the activated
area.
• The touch screen controller gets the alternating voltages between the (7) two circuit
layers and converts them into the digital X and Y coordinates of the activated area.
•
Followings are mostly used touch
panels:
– Optical touch panel:
• It uses a series of infrared light emitting diodes (LED)
along one vertical edge and along one horizontal edge
of the panel.
• The opposite vertical and horizontal edges contain
photo detectors to form a grid of invisible infrared
light beams over the display area.
• Touching the screen breaks one or two vertical and
horizontal light beams, thereby indicating the finger’s
position.
• This is low resolution panel, which offers 10 to 50
positions in each direction.
 Sonic panel

• Burst of high-frequency sound waves traveling

alternately horizontally and vertically generated at the
edge of the panel.
• Touching the screen causes part of each wave to
reflected back to its source.
• The screen position at the point of contact is then
calculated using the time elapsed between when the
wave is emitted and when it arrives back at source.
• This is a high-resolution touch pane having about 500
positions in each direction.
 Electric touch panel:
• It consists of slightly separated two transparent
plates one coated with a thin layer conducting
material and the other with resistive material.
• When the panel is touched with finger, the two
plates are forced to touch at the point of contact
thereby creating the voltage drop across the
resistive plate which is then used to calculate the
co-ordinate of the touched position.
• The resolution of this panel is similar to that of
sonic touch panel.
 Light pen

• It is a pencil-shaped device to determine the

coordinate of a point on the screen (i.e. digitizer).
• In raster display, Y is set at Ymax and X changes from 0
to Xmax the first scanning line.
• For second line, Y decreases by one and X again
changes from 0 to Xmax, and so on.
• When the activated light pen “sees” a burst of light at
certain position as the electron beam hits the
phosphor coating at that position, it generates an
electric pulse, which is used to save the video
controller’s X and Y registers and interrupt the
computer.
• By reading the saved values the graphics package can
determine the coordinates of the positions seen by the
light pen.
• Because of the following drawbacks the light pens are not
popular.
• Light pen obscures or hides the screen images as it is
pointed to the required spot.
• Prolong use of it can cause arm fatigue.
• It cannot report the coordinates of a point that is
completely black.
• It gives sometimes false reading due to background
lighting in room.
 Keyboard

• A keyboard creates a code such as ASCII

uniquely corresponding to a pressed key (i.e.
work on Hall’s effect). It usually consists of
alphanumeric key, function keys, cursor-
control keys, and separate numeric pad.
 Mouse
• A mouse is a small hand held device used to
position the cursor on the screen. Following
are the mice, which are mostly used in
computer graphics.
– Mechanical mouse: It moves the curser position
on the screen according as the moment of the
roller in the base of this mechanical mouse.
– Optical mouse: A LED in the bottom of the mouse
directs a beam of light down onto the pad from
which it is reflected and sensed by the detectors.
 Barcode reader

• A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an

electronic device for reading printed barcodes.
Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source,
a lens and a light sensor translating optical
impulses into electrical ones.
• Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain
decoder circuitry analyzing the barcode's image
data provided by the sensor and sending the
barcode's content to the scanner's output port.
• The barcode reader can be categories as:
 Pen-type readers

• Pen-type readers consist of a light source and a photodiode

that are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or
wand.
• To read a bar code, the tip of the pen moves across the bars in
a steady motion.
• The photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected
back from the light source and generates a waveform that is
used to measure the widths of the bars and spaces in the bar
code.
• Dark bars in the bar code absorb light and white spaces
reflect light so that the voltage waveform generated by the
photo diode is a representation of the bar and space pattern in
the bar code.
• This waveform is decoded by the scanner in a manner similar
to the way Morse code dots and dashes are decoded.
 Laser scanners

– Laser scanners work the same way as pen type

readers except that they use a laser beam as the
light source and typically employ either a
reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism to scan
the laser beam back and forth across the bar
code.
– As with the pen type reader, a photodiode is used
to measure the intensity of the light reflected back
from the bar code.
 Data Glove

• A data glove is an interactive device, resembling a

glove worn on the hand, which facilitates physical
sensing and fine-motion control in robotics and virtual
reality.
• Data gloves are one of several types of
electromechanical devices used in haptic applications.
Tactile sensing involves simulation of the sense of
human touch and includes the ability to perceive
pressure, linear force, torque, temperature, and
surface texture.
 Output Devices

• All the output devices can be categorized as

hardcopy and softcopy devices.
• Hard copy devices are those that give the
output in the tangible form. Printers and
Plotters are two common hard copy devices.
• Soft copy devices give output in the intangible
form or the virtual form, e.g. something
displayed on a screen. All the computer
monitors are covered under this category.
 Hardcopy Devices
• Printers
• All the printers irrespective of the technology used can be
categorized as:
– Impact printers: There is a direct contact between the printing
head and the paper on which the print is produced. They work
by striking a head or a needle against an inked ribbon which
leaves a mark on the paper. These printers produce a lot of
noise when printing, because of the head striking the paper.
Examples are Dot Matrix, Daisy Wheel and Line printers.
– Non-impact printers: the printing head never comes in direct
contact with the paper. These printers work by spraying ink on
the paper. Electrostatic or electromagnetic charge is used in
these printers. Examples are Ink-Jet and Laser printers.
 Plotter

• The plotter is a computer printer for printing vector

graphics. Plotters differ from printers in that they draw
lines using a pen. As a result, they can produce
continuous lines, whereas printers can only simulate
lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots.
• Multicolor plotters use different-colored pens to draw
different colors.
• Thus, plotters are considerably more expensive than
printers.
• The various type of plotter is: Drum plotter, Flatbed
plotter, Electrostatic plotter etc.
 Display Devices

• The devices which can give the user interface of the inputted data are the display
devices.
• In the case of computer, the monitor is most common display device that can be
categories as the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor and the flat panel monitor.
• To display the image, computers have some assigned memory called the frame
buffer.
• The graphic cards also have the memory buffer and the graphics processors so
that it can increase the display strength of the computer graphics.
– Pixel: Graphic displays are like very large dot matrices. Each dot in a graphic display is called
picture element, pixel or pel. The capabilities of a graphic display depend on number of pixels
horizontally and vertically.
– Dpi =Dot per inch-number of printed dots contained within one inch of an image printed
by a printer
– Ppi = Point per inch-number of pixels contained within one inch of an image displayed on
a computer monitor.
•
– Pixel: Graphic displays are like very large dot matrices.
Each dot in a graphic display is called picture element,
pixel or pel. The capabilities of a graphic display
depend on number of pixels horizontally and
vertically.
– Dpi =Dot per inch-number of printed dots contained
within one inch of an image printed by a printer
– Ppi = Point per inch-number of pixels contained
within one inch of an image displayed on a
computer monitor
 Typical Term for Display Devices

• Fluorescence/ Phosphorescence
• When the electron beam strikes the phosphor coated
screen of the CRT, the individual electrons are moving
with kinetic energy proportional to the accelerating
voltage.
• Some of this energy is dissipated as heat, but rest is
transferred to the electrons of phosphor atoms
making jump to higher quantum energy levels.
• In returning to their previous quantum levels, these
excited electrons give up their extra energy in the
form of light of different frequencies i.e. colored light,
predicted by the quantum theory.
 • Both fluorescence and phosphorescence are
based on the ability of a substance to absorb
light and emit light of a longer
wavelength and therefore lower energy.
• The main difference is the time in which it
takes to do so. ... So if it disappears
immediately, it's fluorescence. If it lingers,
it's phosphorescence.
 Persistence

• A phosphor’s persistence is the time for the

emitted light to decay to 10 % of the initial
intensity.
• The persistence may be varied with different
phosphors.
• The phosphors used for graphics display usually
have persistence of 10 to 60 microseconds.
• A phosphor with low persistence is useful for
animation; a high persistence phosphor is useful
for high complex static picture.
 Refresh Rate

• The refresh rate is the number of times per second the

image is redrawn to give a feeling of un-flickering
pictures and is usually 50 per second.
• The refresh rate above which a picture stops flickering
and fuses into a steady image is called the critical
fusion frequency (CFF).
• The factors affecting the CFF are persistence, image
intensity, room light, wave length of light & observer.
• This is measured in Hertz (Hz). For example, if your
display has a refresh rate of 144Hz, it is refreshing the
image 144 times per second.
 Resolution

• Resolution is defined as the maximum number of

points that can be displayed horizontally and
vertically without overlap on the display device.
• Resolution measures the number of pixels in a
digital image or display. It is defined as width by
height, or W x H, where W is the number of
horizontal pixels and H is the number of vertical
pixels. For example, the resolution of an HDTV is
1920 x 1080.
 Aspect ratio

• The ratio of vertical points to horizontal point

necessary to produce equal length line in both
directions on screen (as monitor is rectangular
not the square) is called aspect ratio.
• An aspect ratio of ¾ means that a vertical line
is plotted with 3 points has the same length
as horizontal line plotted with 4 points.
• Generally, the aspect ratio is not one.
 Retrace procedure

• At the end of each scan line in raster scan

display, the electron beam returns to the left
side of the screen to begin displaying the next
scan line.
• The return to the left of the screen, after
refreshing each scan line is called the horizontal
retrace of the electron beam.
• And at the end of each frame the electron beam
returns to the top left corner of the screen to
begin the next frame which is called vertical
retrace.
 Interlaced refresh procedure
• On some raster scan systems each frame is
displayed in two passes using an interlaced
refresh procedure so that the whole picture
should displaced in half time. Here, the first scan
does the even lines 0, 2, 4,... then the second
scan does the odd lines 1, 3, 5,....
• Interlacing is primarily used with slower
refreshing rates to avoid the flickering.
• To show the animation, we have to move 24-
frame per second (fps).
 Color CRT

• The cathode ray tube (CRT) technology was first

used for computer displays, video monitors,
televisions, radar displays and oscilloscopes.
• The CRT is an Evacuated gas tube that uses the
filament to produce the electron beams which
are focused in proper position of phosphorous
coated screen by the help of magnetic focusing
& deflection coils.
• Phosphors are organic compounds characterized
by their persistence and their color (blue, red,
green).
• A cathode ray tube (CRT) contains these basic parts:
– Electron guns
– Electron beams
– Focusing coils
– Deflection coils
– Anode connection
– Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part
of displayed image
– Phosphor layer with red, green, and blue zones
– Close-up of the phosphor-coated inner side of the screen
• CRTs, or video monitors, are the most common output device
on computers today that uses the phosphors coated screen.
• After the generation of electrons of weaker negative charge
by heating the filament, it is focused to accelerate it by the
repulsion of the inner cylinder walls in just the way that
water is speeds up when its flow though a smaller diameter
pipe.
• Then, the electron beam is deflected at proper position by the
help of two set of plates of opposite charge, one positive the
other negative.
• The first set displaces the beam up and down, and the
second displaces the beam left and right. This helps us to
focus the electron beam in proper position.
• The user can vary the voltage on the control grid
to attenuate the electron flow.
• The electron beam causes the phosphor’s atoms
to move into higher energy state.
• The atoms give off energy as light when they
return to their stable state i.e. glow & decay
operation occurs & hence we need to refresh the
screen continuously.
• A refresh rate of 50 - 60 Hz is usually sufficient to
prevent flicker, but some systems refresh at even
higher rates such as 72-76 Hz.
 Methods for Color CRT

• Two Methods are used in Color CRT for the raster display
method
• Beam Penetration Method
• The beam penetration method is for the random scan
monitor display where two different layers of phosphor
coating are used, Red (outer) and Green (inner) coated on
the CRT screen.
• The display of color depends on the depth of penetration
of the electron beam into the phosphor layers.
• Screen color is controlled by the beam acceleration
voltage.
• In this method, only four colors possible and hence the
poor picture quality
– A beam of slow electrons excites only the outer red
layer
– A beam of very fast electrons penetrates thru the
red phosphor and excites the inner green layer.
– Intermediate is a combination of red and green so
two additional colors orange and yellow color.
• When quantity of red is more than green then
color appears as orange
• When quantity of green is more than red then
color appears as yellow
 Shadow Mask Method

• Shadow is a perforated metal sheet that ensures

that the electron beam hits only the correctly
colored phosphor dots and does not illuminate
more than one dot.
• Essentially, the shadow mask "masks" the
electron beam, thereby forming a smaller and
more rounded point that can hit individual
phosphor dots.
• The shadow mask absorbs electrons that are
directed at the wrong color phosphor.
• Shadow Mask (Delta-Delta CRT)
– Normally for Raster Scan System
– Inner side of viewing has several groups of Electron
gun closely spaced. red, green and blue phosphor
dots called triad in delta fashion
– Thin metal plate is perforated with many holes near
to inner surface called shadow mask
– Shadow mask mounted in such a way that each hole
is aligned with respective triad
– Triad so small that, it is perceived as a mixture of
color.
Shadow Mask (Precision Inline CRT)

– Eliminates drawback of delta-delta CRT at the

cost of slight reduction of images sharpness
– Normally 1000 scan lines
– Distance between centers of adjacent triads is
called pitch.
– In very high resolution pitch=0.21mm (0.61mm
for home TV)
– Diameter of a electron beam is set at 1.75 * pitch
– But small pitch is difficult to manufacture due to
small triads too many holes in the shadow mask
– Also shadow mask decreases brightness only 20%
electron beam hit the phosphorous
– No. of electron increased by increasing beam
current
 Raster Graphics

• A raster graphics image, digital image, or bitmap, is a data file or

structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or
points of color, on a computer monitor, paper, or other display
device.
• The color of each pixel is individually defined; images in the RGB
color space, for instance, often consist of colored pixels defined by
three bytes—one byte each for red, green and blue.
• Here, the images are loaded on memory called the frame buffer
before they display on the monitor.
• Less colorful images require less information per pixel; for
example, an image with only black and white pixels requires only a
single bit for each pixel.
• Raster graphics are distinguished from vector graphics in that
vector graphics represent an image through the use of geometric
objects such as curves and polygons.
 Raster Display
– A raster display device is a large matrix of discrete cells or
dots, each of which can be made bright to show the image
on the screen.
– Our Computer Televisions uses raster display where the
scanning of the pixel is done one row (scan line or raster line)
at a time from the top-left of the screen to the bottom-right,
even if there is change on the single pixel, in regular time
interval as shown in figure.
– Here, we add a large continuous piece of special memory,
called the frame buffer, to store the intensity values (define
shading & coloring) of each pixel and this is mapped on the
screen using DAC.
– Frame buffer is a digital device but raster CRT is an analog
device so DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) is required for
reading from frame buffer and displaying on raster CRT.
– The bit plane is the minimum amount of memory for the
pixel representation.
– In this memory, the bits are placed in continuous fashion as
array to place the bits in matrix order.
– When there is bit-1, the electron gun strikes for one pixel &
when bit-0, then nothing will happen.
– The different intensity level can be described by the number
of bit planes.
– The process of digitizing the picture definition given in an
application program into a set of pixel intensity values for
storage in the frame buffer is called scan conversion.
• The display processor produces the raster
image in the frame buffer from the
commands, called scan conversation.

• 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 per second
Raster Display Technology
– When a particular command is called by the application
program the graphics subroutine package sets the
appropriate pixels in the frame buffer.
– The video controller then cycles thru the frame buffer, one
scan line at a time, typically 50 times per second. It brings a
value of each pixel contained in the buffer and uses it to
control the intensity of the CRT electron beam.
– So there exists a one to one relationship between the pixel in
the frame buffer and that on the CRT screen
– 640 pixels by 480 lines is an example of medium resolution
raster display & 1600 by 1200 is a high resolution one.
 Advantages
• Ability to fill areas with solid color or patter
• Refreshing independent of the complexity of
the image
• If interlaced refresh procedure is used, it
draw picture quickly
• Can be used for intensity calculation and
support large number of color combination.
• Can be used in any resolution, i.e., aspect ratio
can be maintained easily.
 Limitations

• Require special algorithm to move a pixels

• The “stair case effect” is unavoidable. Since the
image are stores on the basis of pixel on the grid like
structure so on making the small image more large,
we seems the stair like image boundary of pixel.
• This is happen because we cannot draw the image
on the half area of grid.
• To refresh a single pixel, it has to scan all frame
buffers from top to bottom so is time consuming
compared to the vector scan technology.
• Require more memory space ( to increase frame
buffer size)
• Works only with high speed display processor.
stair case effect
 Frame Buffer
• Frame buffer (bit map) is a large continuous piece of
memory that stores the color values of each pixel &
hence the video controller connected to it, map these
pixel intensity value one by one on the screen.
• Color values are commonly stored in 1-bit
monochrome, 4-bit palletized, 8-bit palletized, 16-bit
high color and 24-bit true color formats.
• An additional alpha channel is sometimes used to
retain information about pixel transparency.
• The total amount of the memory required to drive the
frame buffer is dependent on the resolution of the
output signal, as well as the color depth and palette
size.
Frame Buffer Architecture of
Raster Displays

• Each pixel requires at least 3

bytes. One byte for each primary
color.
• Sometimes combined with a look-
up table per primary
• Each pixel can be one of 224 colors
= 16777216 colors.
Frame Buffer Architecture of Indexed-
Color
• Each pixel uses one byte
• Each byte is an index into a color map
• If the color map is not updated
synchronously then Color-map flashing
may occur.
• Color-map Animations
• Each pixel may be one of 2 24 colors, but
only 256 color be displayed at a time
 Simple color frame buffer
• Three bit planes required one for each primary color.
• Each bit plane drives individual color gun for each 3
colors.
• These 3 colors are combined at CRT to yield 8
different colors.
• Each RGB electron beam being able to be set at one
of 256 intensity levels.
• Total color depth of 24 bits per pixel, referred to as a
true color system.
• Color and intensity are big topics in CRT design.
• Numerical-1: If a pixel is accessed from the frame buffer with an
average access time of 300ns then will this rate produce an un-
flickering effect for the screen size: 640 x 480.
Solution
• The size of the screen = 640 x 480
• The average access time of one pixel = 300ns
• Thus, the time required for total pixel to show the image on the full
screen = 640 x 480 x 300ns
= 640 x 480 x 300 x10-9 sec = 0.09216 sec
Now, The frequency of cycle for image = 1/ 0.09216 sec = 10.86
frame / sec (since, f = 1/t)
As we know that the minimum number of frame on monitor must
be more than 60fps for the un-flicker image display. Hence, we
conclude that this monitor has fickleness.
• Numerical-2: If the total intensity achievable for a
pixel is 256 and the screen resolution is 640 x
480. What will be the size of the frame buffer?
Solution
• There is only one frame buffer with pixel intensity
256 = 28
• Thus, the number of bits required for the screen
of size 640 x 480 x 8 = 2457600 bits = 300 KB.
• Numerical-3: What is the time required to display
a pixel on the monitor of size 1024 X 768 with
refresh rate 60 Hz.
Solution
• To refresh a display of 1024 * 768 pixels at a
moderate refresh rate of 60 Hz requires
• Now, the time required to display a pixel on
monitor is = 1/(1024 * 768 * 60) seconds = 21 ns.
 Random Graphics or Vector
Graphics
• Vector graphics (also called geometric modeling or
object oriented graphics) is the use of geometrical
primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons,
which are all based upon mathematical equations to
represent images in computer graphics.
• It has complexity on drawing the complex images.
• The vector graphic system is seems on oscillators,
medical diagnosis monitors etc.
• All modern current computer video displays translate
vector representations of an image to a raster format.
• The raster image, containing a value for every pixel on
the screen, is stored in memory.
 Vector Display
– Developed in 60’s also called random scan, a stroke, a line
drawing or a calligraphic display.
– This technique uses the geometrical shapes for constructing
the image & hence if we require changing some portion of
image in screen then it is not necessary to scan the whole
screen as the raster system, we simply perform the change in
that area only. Thus, it is more faster technique.
– In this technology we have to change the whole basic
geometric shape in same manner so the special effects like
shadowing are not possible.
– The image on the CRT's face must be constantly redrawn,
refreshed, or updated.
– The two primary problems with vector displays are that they
required constant updates to avoid fading, thus limiting the
drawn scene's complexity, and they only drew wire frames.
Vector Display Technology
• The architecture of vector display technology consists of a central
processing unit, display processor, a monitor, system memory and
peripheral devices such as mouse and key board.
• A display processor is also called a display processing unit or
graphics controller, which totally responsible for picture draw on
the screen according to the command line stored on system
memory.
• The. application program and graphics subroutine package both
reside in the system memory.
• A graphics subroutine package creates a display list.
• A portion of the system memory where display list resides is
called a refresh buffer.
• A display list contains point and line plotting commands with end
point coordinates as well as character plotting commands.
• Advantages
– Can produce smooth output with high resolution & better
time interval.
– No problem of stair case effect like raster scan display
method because the random or vector display method
use direct line drawing primitive or algorithms not the
frame buffer.
– Better than raster for animation, requires only end point
information.
• Limitations
– Can’t fill area with patterns and manipulate bits
– Refreshing an image depends upon its complexity (more
lines takes, longer time), flicker if complex image.
 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
• LCDs are organic molecules that, in the absence of external forces,
tend to align themselves in crystalline structures.
• When an external force is applied they will rearrange themselves
as if they were a liquid.
• Some liquid crystals respond to heat (i.e. mood rings), others
respond to electromagnetic forces.
• In their unexcited or crystalline state the LCDs rotate the
polarization of light by 90 degrees.
• In the presence of an electric field, LCDs behave like a liquid and
align the small electrostatic charges of the molecules with the
impinging E-field.
• Two glass plates, each containing a light polarizer at right angles to
the other plate, sandwich the liquid crystal material
• Rows of horizontal transparent conductors are built into
one glass plate, and columns of vertical conductors are
put into the other plate
• The intersection of two conductors defines a pixel
position.
• Picture definitions are stored in refresh buffer, and the
screen is refreshed at the rate of 60 frames per second.
• Back lighting is also commonly applied using solid state
electronic devices, so that the system is no completely
dependent on out light sources.
• Colors can be displayed by using different materials or
dyes and by placing a triad of color pixels at each screen
location.
 LCD operation
– A very small electric field is required to excite the crystals into
their liquid state.
– Most of the energy used by an LCD display system is due to
the back lighting.
– LCD's slowly transition back to their crystalline state when the
E-field is removed.
– In scanned displays, with a large number of pixels, the
percentage of the time that LCDs are excited is very small.
– Thus the crystals spend most of their time in intermediate
states, being neither "On" or "Off". This behavior is indicative
of passive displays.
– LCD displays have a native resolution.
 COLOR MODELS
• A color model is an orderly system for creating a
whole range of colors from a small set of primary
colors.
• There are two types of color models, those that
are subtractive and those that are additive.
• Additive color models use light to display color
while subtractive models use printing inks.
• Colors perceived in additive models are the result
of transmitted light.
• Colors perceived in subtractive models are the
result of reflected light.
• There are several established color models used in
computer graphics, but the two most common are the RGB
model (Red-Green-Blue) for computer display and the
CMYK model (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-blacK) for printing.
• Notice the centers of the two color charts. In the RGB
model, the convergence of the three primary additive
colors produces white. In the CMYK model, the
convergence of the three primary subtractive colors
produces black.
• In the RGB model notice that the overlapping of additive
colors (red, green and blue) results in subtractive colors
(cyan, magenta and yellow). In the CMYK model notice that
the overlapping of subtractive colors (cyan, magenta and
yellow) results in additive colors (red, green and blue).
• Also notice that the colors in the RGB model are
much brighter than the colors in the CMYK
model. It is possible to attain a much larger
percentage of the visible spectrum with the RGB
model.
• That is because the RGB model uses transmitted
light while the CMYK model uses reflected light.
The muted appearance of the CMYK model
demonstrates the limitation of printing inks and
the nature of reflected light. T
 RGB COLOR

• The RGB model forms its gamut from the primary additive colors of
red, green and blue. When red, green and blue light is combined it
forms white.
• Computers generally display RGB using 24-bit color. In the 24-bit
RGB color model there are 256 variations for each of the additive
colors of red, green and blue.
• Therefore there are 16,777,216 possible colors (256 reds x 256
greens x 256 blues) in the 24-bit RGB color model.
• In the RGB color model, colors are represented by varying
intensities of red, green and blue light.
• The intensity of each of the red, green and blue components are
represented on a scale from 0 to 255 with 0 being the least
intensity (no light emitted) to 255 (maximum intensity). For
example in the above RGB chart the magenta color would be R=255
G=0 B=255. Black would be R=0 G=0 B=0 (a total absence of light).
 CMYK OR "PROCESS COLOR"

• The CMYK printing method is also known as

"four-color process" or simply "process" color. All
of the colors in the printable portion of the color
spectrum can be achieved by overlapping "tints"
of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.
• A tint is a screen of tiny dots appearing as a
percentage of a solid color. When various tints of
the four colors are printed in overlapping
patterns it gives the illusion of continuous tones -
• The CMYK model forms its gamut from the
primary subtractive colors of cyan, magenta
and yellow. When cyan, magenta and yellow
inks are combined it forms black - in theory.
• However, because of the impurities in ink,
when cyan, magenta and yellow inks are
combined it produces a muddy brown color.
Black ink is added to this system to
compensate for these impurities.
• In the CMYK color model, colors are
represented as percentages of cyan, magenta,
yellow and black. For example in the above
CMYK chart the red color is composed of 14%
cyan, 100% magenta, 99% yellow and 3%
black.
• White would be 0% cyan, 0% magenta, 0%
yellow and 0% black (a total absence of ink on
white paper).