Chapter One

Introduction To Computer Graphics And Graphics Hardware

By Getaneh Tilahun

Computer graphics 11/09/2025

 OUTLINE
 Introduction

 Initial Development of Computer Graphics

 Applications of Computer Graphics

 Graphics Software and hardware

 Graphics Display Devices

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WHAT IS CG?
Image is the visual representation.

An image can represent a realistic scene from the real world.

 Computer-generated imagery can be categorized into several different

types: 2D, 3D, and animated graphics.

As technology has improved, 3D computer graphics have become more

common, but 2D graphics are still widely used.

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CONT.…

Typically, the term computer graphics refers to:-

 the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer

 the various technologies used to create and manipulate images.

 the sub-field of computer science that studies methods for digitally

synthesizing and manipulating, or managing visual content.

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CONT.…
The term computer graphics has been used in a broad sense to describe

"almost everything on computers that is not text or sound“…

The development of computer graphics has made computers easier to

interact with, and better for understanding and interpreting many types
of data.

The aim of computer graphics is to produce realistic and/or useful

images on a computer.

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CONT.…

The process of starting with a model (often a 3-D model) of the world

and taking a picture of it with a virtual camera is known in computer

graphics as rendering.

The rendering process can include many stages, such as hidden surface

elimination, surface rendering and clipping.

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 Initial Development Of Computer Graphics

The advance in computer graphics was to come from an engineering

university in Cambridge student in Sutherland.

In 1961, Sutherland created another computer drawing program called

Sketchpad.

Using a light pen, Sketchpad allowed one to draw simple shapes on the

computer screen, save them, and even recall them later.

Even today, many standards of computer graphics interfaces got their

start with this early Sketchpad program.

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CONT…

 Currently, if one wants to draw a square, for example, s/he don’t have to

worry about drawing four lines perfectly to form the edges of the box.

One can simply specify that s/he wants to draw a box, and then specify

the location and size of the box.

The software will then construct a perfect box, with the right

dimensions and at the right location.

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 Graphics Terminology

 Alignment/Justification: Arrangement or positioning of visual elements.

 Aspect Ratio: The proportional relationship between the width and height of an image.

 Color Theory: The study of how colors interact with each other.

 RGB: Stands for Red, Green, and Blue, the primary colors of light.

 Pixel: The smallest unit of a digital image or display.

 Vector: A type of digital image that is made up of points, lines, and curves.

 Raster: A type of digital image that is made up of a grid of pixels, where each pixel has

its own color value.

 DPI: Dots per inch, a measure of image resolution or print quality, showing how many

dots of color fit into on inch.

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 Applications Of Computer Graphics

Before we look in any more detail at how computers can generate

graphical images, let us consider why we would want to do this.

 Since the early days of computing, the field of computer graphics has

become a very popular one because of its wide range of applications.

 Graphs and Charts
 Computer-Aided Design

 Data Visualisation
 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
 Education and Training
 Entertainment etc…
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CONT.…
1. Graphs and Charts

Graphs and charts have long been used for visualising data.

They are particularly widely used for visualising relationships in

scientific, mathematical, financial and economic data.

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CONT.…
2. Computer-Aided Design
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) involves using a computer application to

enable designers to construct and visualise 3-D models.

They are commonly used in fields such as architecture, engineering, and

circuit design.

Computer Graphics used for Computer-Aided Design

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CONT.…
3. Data Visualisation

More complex, often multidimensional datasets can also be

visualised using graphics techniques.

In this case, it is often difficult to visualise such datasets without

computer graphics.

These complex datasets are particularly common in science

(scientific visualisation) and business (business visualisation).

For example, the following figure shows a three-dimensional

medical dataset of a patient.

Here we use computer graphics to visualise the paths of blood

vessels inside the patient’s head.

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CONT…

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CONT.… VR- create an immersive
virtual environment

4. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) allows users to be immersed in a computer-

generated world, and to interact with it as if they were interacting

with the real world.

Typically, the user will wear special hardware such as a VR headset.

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CONT.…
Augmented Reality (AR) combines a computer-generated virtual world

with the real world.

In AR, computer-generated images are overlaid onto a user’s view of the

real world. For example, the following Figure shows an AR system used
for surgery, in which computer-generated images of hidden features
such as blood vessels and tumours are overlaid on the surgeon’s view of
the patient through a surgical microscope.

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CONT.…

5. Education and Training

Computer graphics can be very beneficial in education and training.

For example, the following figure shows a screenshot from some

educational software that teaches students about human anatomy.

Graphics are used to help students visualise the appearance and location

of different organs inside the body.

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CONT.….

Another common application of computer graphics is in training.

In many jobs it is difficult for workers to get direct experience of the

environment that they are expected to work in.

This may be because the environment is inaccessible (e.g. space),

dangerous (e.g. bomb disposal), expensive (e.g. flying aircraft) or high-

risk (e.g. surgery).

Computer graphics, combined with specialised hardware, can be used to

simulate the working environment, so that workers can gain the skills
required for their work.

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CONT..
 Example

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CONT.…

6. Entertainment

The applications of computer graphics in entertainment fall into three

categories: computer art, special effects and animations, and games.

Computer-generated images (CGI) have been widely used in the

entertainment industry for producing special effects for films, and also
for producing completely computer-generated films.

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CONT.…

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 Graphics Software

 To generate graphical images like those we have seen above, we need some

type of graphics software.

 We can divide graphics software into two categories:

1. Special-purpose graphics packages

2. General-purpose graphics packages

1. Special-purpose packages are designed for a specific purpose.

 For example Paint accessory: it is designed to allow users to draw simple

pictures consisting of lines, curves and other basic components.

 Special-purpose graphics packages tend to be used mostly by end-users, not

programmers
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CONT.…
 In other words, you do not need to know about computer graphics

theory to use them.

 Other examples of special-purpose packages are the drawing applications

Adobe Photoshop, the visualisation software like Microsoft Excel.

 2. General-purpose packages are a pre-defined library of routines for

drawing graphics primitives( line, circle, rectangles etc.).

 They are used by computer programmers to add graphical capability to

their programs.

 They provide a lot more flexibility than special-purpose packages but

they require technical knowledge of computer graphics and programming

and they are not suitable for end-users.
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 Graphics Hardware
 Graphics hardware is computer hardware that generates computer

graphics and allows them to be shown on a display, usually using a

graphics card (video card) in combination with a device driver to create
the images on the screen.

 The most important piece of graphics hardware is the graphics card,

which is the piece of equipment that renders out all images and sends
them to a display.

 A display driver is a piece of software which allows your graphics

hardware to communicate with your operating system.

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CONT.…

The most common graphics display device is the video monitor, and the

most common technology for video monitors is the Cathode Ray Tube
(CRT).

Reading assignment

CRT display and 3D display?

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NEXT CLASS:-

Chapter two:- Introduction to OpenGL ?

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