Course File - CG

Computer Graphics Dept of Computer Science & Engg, VJCET
Module 1
Introduction to Computer Graphics
1.1) Introduction
Today there are very few aspects of our lives not affected by computers.
Practically every cash or monetary transaction that takes place daily involves a computer.
In many cases, the same is true of computer graphics. Whether you see them on
television, in newspapers, in weather reports or while at the doctor’s surgery, computer
images are all around you. “A picture is worth a thousand words” is a well-known saying
and highlights the advantages and benefits of the visual presentation of our data. We are
able to obtain a comprehensive overall view of our data and also study features and areas
of particular interest.
A well-chosen graph is able to transform a complex table of numbers into
meaningful results. You know that such graphs are used to illustrate papers, reports and
thesis, as well as providing the basis for presentation material in the form of slides and
overhead transparencies. A range of tools and facilities are available to enable users to
visualize their data, and this document provides a brief summary and overview.
Computer graphics can be used in many disciplines. Charting, Presentations, Drawing,

Painting and Design, Image Processing and Scientific Visualization are some among
them.
In particular, we will emphasize the following
a) Basic concepts of Computer Graphics

b) Different types of Computer Graphics
c) Origin of Computer Graphics
d) Working of an interactive graphics display
e) Importance of speed in displaying pictures
f) The change in size an orientation of pictures
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g) Applications of Computer Graphics
1.2) Basic concepts of Computer Graphics

I hope all of you are fond of video games and you may be good at playing them.
Have you seen the game of ping-pong? It’s a game played by two people with a pair
video game controller and a home television set. You can see that when a game is
switched on, a small bright spot , representing a ball, is seen bouncing to and fro across
the screen. Now each player uses his video game controller to position a ‘paddle’ to
bounce the ball back to his opponent. The player who hits the ball past his opponent wins
a point and the one who gains 15 points wins the game. Now how did you invent this
video game? This has been done with the aid of Computer Graphics. Video games
represent a major use in the home of computer graphics. Computer graphics helps to
create and manipulate pictures with the aid of computers.
Computer graphics is concerned with all aspects of producing images using a
computer. It concerns with the pictorial synthesis of real or imaginary objects from their
computer-based models.
1.3) Different types of Computer Graphics
Computer Graphics can be broadly divided into two
a) Non Interactive Computer Graphics

b) Interactive Computer Graphics
Non Interactive Computer Graphics: In non interactive computer graphics otherwise

known as passive computer graphics, the observer has no control over the image.
Familiar examples of this type of computer graphics include the titles shown on TV and
other forms of computer art.
Interactive Computer Graphics: Interactive Computer Graphics involves a two way

communication between computer and user. Here the observer is given some control over
the image by providing him with an input device for example the video game controller
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of the ping pong game. This helps him to signal his request to the computer. The
computer on receiving signals from the input device can modify the displayed picture
appropriately. To the user it appears that the picture is changing instantaneously in
response to his commands. He can give a series of commands, each one generating a
graphical response from the computer. In this way he maintains a conversation, or
dialogue, with the computer.
Interactive computer graphics affects our lives in a number of indirect ways. For
example, it helps to train the pilots of our airplanes. We can create a flight simulator
which may help the pilots to get trained not in a real aircraft but on the grounds at the
control of the flight simulator. The flight simulator is a mock up of an aircraft flight deck,
containing all the usual controls and surrounded by screens on which we have the
projected computer generated views of the terrain visible on take off and landing. Flight
simulators have many advantages over the real aircrafts for training purposes, including
fuel savings, safety, and the ability to familiarize the trainee with a large number of the
world’s airports.
1.4) Origin of Computer Graphics
Years of research and development were made to achieve the goals in the field of
computer graphics. In 1950 the first computer driven display was used to generate only
simple pictures. This display made use of a cathode ray tube similar to the one used in
television sets. During 1950’s interactive computer graphics made little progress because
the computers of that period were so unsuited to interactive use. These computers were
used to perform only lengthy calculations.
The single vent that did the most to promote interactive computer graphics as an
important new field was the publication in 1962 of a brilliant thesis by Ivan E.
Sutherland. His thesis, entitled ‘Sketchpad: A Man- Machine Graphical Communication
System’, proved to many readers that interactive computer graphics was a viable, useful,
and exciting field of research. By the mid -1960’s large computer graphics research
projects were under taken at MIT, Bell Telephone Labs and General Motors. Thus the
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golden age of computer graphics began. In 1970’s thee researches began to bear fruit.
The instant appeal of computer graphics to users of all ages has helped it to spread into
many applications throughout the world.
1.5) Working of an interactive graphics display
Interactive graphics display consists of three components
a) A display controller
b) A digital memory or frame buffer
c) A television monitor
d) A video controller
The display controller gets the inputs and commands from the user and determines the
image to be displayed on the monitor. The display controller will divide the image into a
number of pixels. This image which is to be displayed is stored in the frame buffer. The
image will be stored as a matrix of intensity values. The image will be displayed onto the
television monitor and the video controller will act as a simple interface that passes the
contents of the frame buffer to the monitor. The image must be repeatedly passed to the
monitor, 30 or more times a second. This helps you to maintain a steady picture on the
screen.
In the frame buffer the image is stored as a pattern of binary digital numbers. These
binary digital numbers represents a rectangular array of picture elements or pixels (a
picture can be divided into a number of picture elements or pixels. You will learn more
about pixels in the coming lectures.). So corresponding to each pixel you have a binary
digital number in the frame buffer. If your image is a black and white image you can
represent the black pixels by 0 s and white pixels by 1s. Therefore a 16 X 16 array of
black and white pixels could be represented by the binary values stored in the 32 8-bit
bytes. Now what happens to this data?
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The video controller simply reads each successive byte of data from the frame buffer and
converts its 0s and 1s into the corresponding video signal. This signal is then fed into the
TV monitor, producing a black and white pattern on the screen. The video controller
repeats this operation 30 times a second in order to maintain a steady picture on the TV
screen.
Now what should be done to change or modify this image?
All we need is to modify the frame buffer’s contents. Set the frame buffer with a new set
of values so that it represents the new image. In this way we can achieve effects like a
rotating wheel and a wheel that grows and shrinks.
The figure given below gives an idea about the graphics display system
1.6) Importance of speed in displaying pictures
Why is speed so important in displaying pictures?
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One reason behind this is that any display based on the CRT must be refreshed by
repeatedly passing it to the monitor. The image must be transmitted to the display
monitor point by point. If the image is not transmitted at least 25 times per second, the
image will start to flicker in an unpleasant manner. If the speed of transmitting each
picture element is less, then only fewer elements will be transmitted and only less
information will be displayed.
The second reason is that the response of a computer program to the actions by its user
should be very fast i.e. the response time should be very small. The speed of response
depends on two factors.
1. The rate at which the computer can generate a fresh image in response to each
action by its users.
2. The rate at which the image is transmitted to the display monitor.
Generally speaking, slow response always makes interactive graphics program more
difficult to operate .Perhaps that’s the reason why research efforts are made to improve
the speed of interactive response.
1.7) The change in size an orientation of pictures
How are pictures made to rotate? How are pictures made to shrink? How are pictures
made to grow? Pictures can be made to change the orientation and size. How are these
changes possible?
These transformations or changes are based on standard mathematical techniques:

coordinate geometry, trigonometry and matrix methods. These techniques tell us how to
compute the new coordinates after applying the transformations. We will study more
about transformations of objects in the coming lectures.
1.8) Applications of Computer Graphics
The following are also considered graphics applications:
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Paint programs: Allow you to create rough freehand drawings. The images are stored as
bit maps and can easily be edited. It is a graphics program that enables you to draw
pictures on the display screen which is represented as bit maps (bit-mapped graphics). In
contrast, draw programs use vector graphics (object-oriented images), which scale better.
Most paint programs provide the tools shown below in the form of icons. By selecting an
icon, you can perform functions associated with the tool.In addition to these tools, paint
programs also provide easy ways to draw common shapes such as straight lines,
rectangles, circles, and ovals.
Sophisticated paint applications are often called image editing programs. These
applications support many of the features of draw programs, such as the ability to work
with objects. Each object, however, is represented as a bit map rather than as a vector
image.
Illustration/design programs: Supports more advanced features than paint programs,

particularly for drawing curved lines. The images are usually stored in vector-based
formats. Illustration/design programs are often called draw programs.
Presentation graphics software: Lets you create bar charts, pie charts, graphics, and other
types of images for slide shows and reports. The charts can be based on data imported
from spreadsheet applications.
A type of business software that enables users to create highly stylized images for slide
shows and reports. The software includes functions for creating various types of charts
and graphs and for inserting text in a variety of fonts. Most systems enable you to import
data from a spreadsheet application to create the charts and graphs. Presentation graphics
is often called business graphics.
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Animation software: Enables you to chain and sequence a series of images to simulate
movement. Each image is like a frame in a movie. It can be defined as a simulation of
movement created by displaying a series of pictures, or frames. A cartoon on television is
one example of animation. Animation on computers is one of the chief ingredients of
multimedia presentations. There are many software applications that enable you to create
animations that you can display on a computer monitor.
There is a difference between animation and video. Whereas video takes continuous
motion and breaks it up into discrete frames, animation starts with independent pictures
and puts them together to form the illusion of continuous motion.
CAD software: Enables architects and engineers to draft designs. It is the acronym for
computer-aided design. A CAD system is a combination of hardware and software that
enables engineers and architects to design everything from furniture to airplanes. In
addition to the software, CAD systems require a high-quality graphics monitor; a mouse,
light pen, or digitizing tablet for drawing; and a special printer or plotter for printing
design specifications.
CAD systems allow an engineer to view a design from any angle with the push of a
button and to zoom in or out for close-ups and long-distance views. In addition, the
computer keeps track of design dependencies so that when the engineer changes one
value, all other values that depend on it are automatically changed accordingly.
Until the mid 1980s, all CAD systems were specially constructed computers. Now, you
can buy CAD software that runs on general-purpose workstations and personal
computers.
Desktop publishing: Provides a full set of word-processing features as well as fine control
over placement of text and graphics, so that you can create newsletters, advertisements,
books, and other types of documents. It means by using a personal computer or
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workstation high-quality printed documents can be produced. A desktop publishing

system allows you to use different typefaces, specify various margins and justifications,
and embed illustrations and graphs directly into the text. The most powerful desktop
publishing systems enable you to create illustrations; while less powerful systems let you
insert illustrations created by other programs.
As word-processing programs become more and more powerful, the line separating such
programs from desktop publishing systems is becoming blurred. In general, though,
desktop publishing applications give you more control over typographical characteristics,
such as kerning, and provide more support for full-color output.
A particularly important feature of desktop publishing systems is that they enable you to
see on the display screen exactly how the document will appear when printed. Systems
that support this feature are called WYSIWYGs (what you see is what you get).
Until recently, hardware costs made desktop publishing systems impractical for most
uses. But as the prices of personal computers and printers have fallen, desktop publishing
systems have become increasingly popular for producing newsletters, brochures, books,
and other documents that formerly required a typesetter.
Once you have produced a document with a desktop publishing system, you can output it
directly to a printer or you can produce a PostScript file which you can then take to a
service bureau. The service bureau has special machines that convert the PostScript file to
film, which can then be used to make plates for offset printing. Offset printing produces
higher-quality documents, especially if color is used, but is generally more expensive
than laser printing.
In general, applications that support graphics require a powerful CPU and a large
amount of memory. Many graphics applications—for example, computer animation
systems—require more computing power than is available on personal computers and
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will run only on powerful workstations or specially designed graphics computers. This is
true of all three-dimensional computer graphics applications.
In addition to the CPU and memory, graphics software requires a graphics monitor and
support for one of the many graphics standards. Most PC programs, for instance, require
VGA graphics. If your computer does not have built-in support for a specific graphics
system, you can insert a video adapter card.
The quality of most graphics devices is determined by their resolution—how many pixels
per square inch they can represent—and their color capabilities.
1.9) pixel
A pixel (short for picture element, using the common abbreviation "pix" for
"picture") is one of the many tiny dots that make up the representation of a picture in a
computer's memory. Each such information element is not really a dot, nor a square, but
an abstract sample. With care, pixels in an image can be reproduced at any size without
the appearance of visible dots or squares; but in many contexts, they are reproduced as
dots or squares and can be visibly distinct when not fine enough. The intensity of each
pixel is variable; in color systems, each pixel has typically three or four dimensions of
variability such as red, green and blue, or cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
A
1.10) pixel resolution
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Pixel resolution
The term resolution is often used as a pixel count in digital imaging, even though
American, Japanese, and international standards specify that it should not be so used, at
least in the digital camera field. An image of N pixels high by M pixels wide can have
any resolution less than N lines per picture height, or N TV lines. But when the pixel
counts are referred to as resolution, the convention is to describe the pixel resolution with
the set of two positive integer numbers, where the first number is the number of pixel
columns (width) and the second is the number of pixel rows (height), for example as 640
by 480. Another popular convention is to cite resolution as the total number of pixels in
the image, typically given as number of megapixels, which can be calculated by
multiplying pixel columns by pixel rows and dividing by one million. Other conventions
include describing pixels per length unit or pixels per area unit, such as pixels per inch or
per square inch. None of these pixel resolutions are true resolutions, but they are widely
referred to as such; they serve as upper bounds on image resolution.
Below is an illustration of how the same image might appear at different pixel
resolutions, if the pixels were poorly rendered as sharp squares (normally, a smooth
image reconstruction from pixels would be preferred, but for illustration of pixels, the
sharp squares make the point better).
Resolution in various media

 DVDs have roughly 500 lines (or TV lines, or lines per picture height).
 High definition television has 1,080 lines.
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 35mm movie film is scanned for release on DVD at 1080 or 2000 lines as
of 2005.
 35mm optical camera negative motion picture film can resolve up to 6,000
lines.
 35mm projection positive motion picture film has about 2,000 lines which
results from the analogue printing from the camera negative of an
interpositive, and possibly an internegative, then a projection positive.
 Newer films are scanned at 4,000 lines, called 4K scanning, anticipating
any advances in digital projection or higher resolution in flat panel
display.
1.11) Image resolution
Image resolution describes the detail an image holds. The term applies equally to
digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more
image detail. Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Basically, resolution
quantifies how close lines can be to each other and still be visibly resolved. Resolution
units can be tied to physical sizes (e.g. lines per mm, lines per inch) or to the overall size
of a picture (lines per picture height, also known simply as lines, or TV lines).
Furthermore, line pairs are often used instead of lines. A line pair is a pair of adjacent
dark and light lines, while a line counts both dark lines and light lines. A resolution of 10
lines per mm means 5 dark lines alternating with 5 light lines, or 5 line pairs per mm.
Photographic lens and film resolution are most often quoted in line pairs per mm.
Image resolution on raster displays

A television or raster image display with 525 scan lines makes a picture with
somewhat less than 525 TV lines of resolution. The ratio of lines of resolution to the
number of format lines in known as the Kell factor, after Raymond D. Kell, who worked
out details of visual resolution in scanned systems at RCA in the 1930s.
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1.12) Graphics Primitives and Attributes
Even the most complex computer-generated graphic images are produced by a

relatively small set of Graphics Primitives. The usual sets of basic primitives provided in
Graphics Packages are:
1. A single point.
2. A line with given end-points.
3. A polyline i.e. a line joining a sequence of points.
4. A filled polygonal area with given points as vertices.
5. Text.
There may be additional, but not essential, primitives such as rectangles, circles, curves
of various types, images etc.
Associated with each graphics primitive is a set of Attributes. The attributes of a

primitive determine its appearance on the output device. For example a line commonly
has attributes such as colour, width, style (full, dotted, dashed etc.) etc.
1.13) Frame Buffer

. A frame buffer is a large, contiguous piece of computer memory. At a minimum
there is one memory bit for each pixel in the rater; this amount of memory is called a bit
plane. The picture is built up in the frame buffer one bit at a time. You know that a
memory bit has only two states, therefore a single bit plane yields a black-and white
display. You know that a frame buffer is a digital device and the CRT is an analog
device. Therefore, a conversion from a digital representation to an analog signal must
take place when information is read from the frame buffer and displayed on the raster
CRT graphics device. For this you can use a digital to analog converter (DAC).Each pixel
in the frame buffer must be accessed and converted before it is visible on the raster CRT.
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A single bit-plane black white frame buffer raster CRT graphics device
N-bit colour Frame buffer

Color or gray scales are incorporated into a frame buffer rater graphics device by
using additional bit planes. The intensity of each pixel on the CRT is controlled by a
corresponding pixel location in each of the N bit planes. The binary value from each of
the N bit planes is loaded into corresponding positions in a register. The resulting binary
number is interpreted as an intensity level between 0 (dark) and 2n -1 (full intensity). This
is converted into an analog voltage between 0 and the maximum voltage of the electron
gun by the DAC. A total of 2N intensity levels are possible. Figure given below illustrates
a system with 3 bit planes for a total of 8 (23) intensity levels. Each bit plane requires the
full complement of memory for a given raster resolution; e.g., a 3-bit plane frame buffer
for a 1024 X1024 raster requires 3,145,728 (3 X 1024 X1024) memory bits.
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An N- bit plane gray level frame buffer
An increase in the number of available intensity levels is achieved for a modest increase
in required memory by using a lookup table. Upon reading the bit planes in the frame
buffer, the resulting number is used as an index into the lookup table. The look up table
must contain 2N entries. Each entry in the lookup table is W bit wise. W may be greater
than N. When this occurs, 2W intensities are available; but only 2N different intensities are
available at one time. To get additional intensities, the lookup table must be changed.
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Because there are three primary colours, a simple color frame buffer is implemented with
three bit planes, one for each primary color. Each bit plane drives an individual color gun
for each of the three primary colors used in color video. These three primaries (red,
green, and blue) are combined at the CRT to yield eight colors.
Simple Color buffer
1.13)Display devices
The working of a Cathode Ray Tube
The primary output device in a graphics system is a video monitor. The operation
of most video monitors is based on the standard cathode ray tube (CRT) design.
The Cathode Ray Tube
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Operation of an electron gun with an accelerating anode
Basic design of a magnetic deflection CRT
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The electron gun emits a beam of electrons which are focused to a point on the screen
phosphor. The beam is positioned on the screen by a deflection system which operates in
the horizontal and vertical directions. The intensity of the beam is controlled by the
intensity signal on the control grid. When the phosphor is hit by the electron beam it
absorbs energy and jumps to a higher quantum-energy level. As it returns to its normal
level it emits visible light i.e. it phosphoresces. In the phosphors used in graphics devices
the persistence of the phosphorescence is typically 10-60 microseconds.
Before the human visual system can see a transient image it must be continually redrawn
(refreshed) at a rate higher than the critical fusion frequency of the human visual system.
To allow the human visual system to see a continuously refreshed image without flicker
the refresh rate has to be at least 60 c/s.
To allow continuous refreshing of an image there must be some stored representation of

the image from which the refresh system can obtain the graphical information required to
re-draw the image. This representation nowadays is invariably a set of values of
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intensity/colour at each of a discrete set of points laid out in a rectangular array covering
the screen.
While it may seem a disadvantage to continually refresh the image there are some very
important advantages of such refresh type systems. For example it is possible to edit an
image by changing the stored representation between refresh cycles for what appears to
be instantaneous updating of the image. Compare this with some earlier systems in which
the only way to carry out an edit was to clear the whole screen and then redraw the whole
image. Also by changing the stored representation between refresh cycles animation is
possible.
1.14)Shadow Mask CRT

In Shadow Mask CRT tiny holes in a metal plate separate the colored phosphors
in the layer behind the front glass of the screen. The holes are placed in a manner
ensuring that electrons from each of the tube's three cathode guns reach only the
appropriately-colored phosphors on the display. All three beams pass through the same
holes in the mask, but the angle of approach is different for each gun. The spacing of the
holes, the spacing of the phosphors, and the placement of the guns is arranged so that for
example the blue gun only has an unobstructed path to blue phosphors. The red, green,
and blue phosphors for each pixel are generally arranged in a triangular shape (sometimes
called a "triad"). All early color televisions and the majority of computer monitors, past
and present, use shadow mask technology.
Traditionally, shadow masks have been made of materials which temperature variations
cause to expand and contract to the point of affecting performance. The energy the
shadow mask absorbs from the electron gun in normal operation causes it to heat up and
expand, which leads to blurred or discolored (see doming) images. The invar shadow
mask is composed of the nickel-iron alloy invar. Therefore it expands and contracts much
less than other materials in response to temperature changes. This property allows
displays made with this technology to provide a clearer, more accurate picture. It also
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reduces the amount of long-term stress and damage to the shadow mask that can result
from repeated expand/contract cycles, thus increasing the display's life expectancy.
In other words, In Shadow Mask CRT, before the stream of electrons produced by the
CRT's cathode reach the phosphor coated faceplate, it encounters the shadow mask, a
sheet of metal etched with a pattern of holes. The mask is positioned in the glass funnel
of the CRT during manufacture and the phosphor is coated onto the screen so that
electrons coming from the red, green and blue gun positions only land on the appropriate
phosphor.
Stray electrons strike the shadow mask and are absorbed by it, generating a great deal of
heat, which in turn causes the metal to expand. To allow flatter CRTs to be made, the
metal most commonly used now for shadow masks is Invar, an alloy of iron and nickel.
The metal has a low coefficient of expansion and its name derives from the supposed
invariability of its dimensions when heat is applied. In reality, its dimensions are not
completely invariable and the build up of heat in a shadow mask can lead to a form of
distortion known as doming, where the centre of the mask bulges towards the faceplate
slightly.
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An alternative to the shadow mask which is less prone to distortion, the aperture grille ,
was included as part of the design of Trinitron CRTs by Sony in 1968 and Mitsubishi in
its Diamondtron products in the early 1990s.
Importance of Refresh Rates
When choosing a monitor, one of the factors that the customer usually considers is the
refresh rate. A high refresh rate is important in providing a clear picture and avoiding eye
fatigue.
What is a refresh rate and why is a monitor's refresh rate important?

An image appears on screen when electron beams strike the surface of the screen
in a zig-zag pattern. A refresh rate is the number of times a screen is redrawn in one
second and is measured in Hertz (Hz). Therefore, a monitor with a refresh rate of 85 Hz
is redrawn 85 times per second. A monitor should be "flicker-free meaning that the image
is redrawn quickly enough so that the user cannot detect flicker, a source of eye strain.
Today, a refresh rate of 75 Hz or above is considered to be flicker-free
How are refresh rates calculated?

Factors in determining refresh rates
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A refresh rate is dependent upon a monitor's horizontal scanning frequency and the
number of horizontal lines displayed.The horizontal scanning frequency is the number of
times the electron beam sweeps one line and returns to the beginning of the next in one
second. Horizontal scanning frequency is measured in kilohertz (kHz).A monitor with a
horizontal scanning frequency of 110 kHz means 110,000 lines are scanned per second.
The number of horizontal lines on the screen depends upon the monitor's resolution. If a
monitor is set to a resolution of 1024 x 768 then there are 768 horizontal lines (1024 is
the number of pixels on one line). For a monitor set to a 1280 x 1024 resolution, there are
1024 horizontal lines.
Additionally, the time it takes for the electron beam to return to the top of the screen and
begin scanning again must be taken into account. This is roughly 5% of the time it takes
to scan the entire screen. Therefore, the total is multiplied by 0.95 to calculate the
maximum refresh rate.
How to calculate maximum refresh rates?

The following formula is used to calculate maximum refresh rates
fV = fH / # of horizontal lines x 0.95
fV = vertical scanning frequency (refresh rate)
fH = horizontal scanning frequency
Example: A monitor with a horizontal scanning frequency of 96 kHz at a resolution of

1280 x 1024 would have the following refresh rate based on the calculation above.
fV = 96,000 / 1024 x 0.95

fV = 89.06
This figure is rounded down to produce a maximum refresh rate of 89Hz.
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If the same monitor is set to a resolution of 1600 x 1200, then the equation will be as
follows:
fV = 96,000 / 1200 x 0.95

fV = 76
The maximum refresh rate at this resolution is 76 Hz.
1.15) Raster Graphics Display Architecture

The figure which describes the architecture of Raster graphics is given below.
It includes:
1. Display controller
2. Refresh Buffer
3. Video Controller
4. CRT monitor
1.15.1)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
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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. Less colorful images require less
information per pixel; 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.
A colored raster image (or pixmap) will usually have pixels with between one and eight
bits for each of the red, green, and blue components, though other color encodings are
also used, such as four- or eight-bit indexed representations that use vector quantization
on the (R, G, B) vectors. The green component sometimes has more bits than the other
two to allow for the human eye's greater discrimination in this component.
The quality of a raster image is determined by the total number of pixels (resolution), and
the amount of information in each pixel (often called color depth). For example, an image
that stores 24 bits of color information per pixel (the standard for all displays since
around 1995) can represent smoother degrees of shading than one that only stores 16 bits
per pixel, but not as smooth as one that stores 48 bits (technically; this would not be
discernible by the human eye). Likewise, an image sampled at 640 x 480 pixels (therefore
containing 307,200 pixels) will look rough and blocky compared to one sampled at 1280
x 1024 (1,310,720 pixels). Because it takes a large amount of data to store a high-quality
image, data compression techniques are often used to reduce this size for images stored
on disk. Some techniques sacrifice information, and therefore image quality, in order to
achieve a smaller file size. Compression techniques that lose information are referred to
as "lossy" compression.
Raster graphics cannot be scaled to a higher resolution without loss of apparent quality.
This is in contrast to vector graphics, which easily scale to the quality of the device on
which they are rendered. Raster graphics are more practical than vector graphics for
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photographs and photo-realistic images, while vector graphics are often more practical
for typesetting or graphic design. Modern computer monitors typically display about 72
to 130 pixels per inch (PPI), and some modern consumer printers can resolve 2400 dots
per inch (DPI) or more; determining the most appropriate image resolution for a given
printer resolution can be difficult, since printed output may have a greater level of detail
than can be discerned on a monitor.
Raster example
To illustrate the matter further, here is the letter "J":
J
A close look at the letter will appear as such, where the "X" and "." characters represent a
grid of pixels:
.....X
.....X
.....X
.....X
.....X
.....X
X....X
X....X
.XXX..
A computer sees something more like this, where "." represents a zero and "X" represents
a one:
000001
000001
000001
000001
25
000001
000001
100001
100001
011100
Where a zero appears, the computer software instructs its video hardware to paint the
current background color. A one calls for the current foreground color. The software
makes a distinction between the colors of adjacent pixels, which together form an image.
This is the basic principle behind graphics editing on a computer.
Raster graphics was first patented by Texas Instruments in the 1970s, and is now ever-
present.
Rasterization
Rasterization is the task of taking an image described in a vector graphics format (shapes)
and converting it into a raster image (pixels or dots) for output on a video display or
printer.
Raster Display
System Components
• The screen is subdivided into a matrix of pixels (smallest

addressable units).
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Raster scanline -- A line of pixels along the screen
• Frame (refresh) buffer -- Block of memory used to store the screen

pattern
How it works
1. The DISPLAY PROCESSOR produces the raster image in the

frame buffer from the commands
2. The VIDEO CONTROLLER moves the beam row wise across the
pixels setting it on and off according to the content of the frame
buffer
3. The display must be refreshed to avoid flickering (raster image
redisplayed 30 to 60 times per second)
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Raster Scan Display
Raster Scan methods have increasingly become the dominant technology since about
1975. These methods use the TV type raster scan. The growth in the use of such methods
28
has been dependent on rapidly decreasing memory prices and on the availability of cheap
scan generating hardware from the TV industry.
The screen is coated with discrete dots of phosphor, usually called pixels, laid out in a
rectangular array. The image is then determined by how each pixel is intensified. The
representation of the image used in servicing the refresh system is thus an area of
memory holding a value for each pixel. This memory area holding the image
representation is called the frame buffer.
The values in the frame buffer are held as a sequence of horizontal lines of pixel values
from the top of the screen down. The scan generator then moves the beam in a series of
horizontal lines with fly-back (non-intensified) between each line and between the end of
the frame and the beginning of the next frame. This is illustrated below.
Unlike random-scan which is a line drawing device, refresh CRT is a point-plotting

device. Raster displays store the display primitives (lines, characters, shaded and
patterned areas) in a refresh buffer. Refresh buffer (also called frame buffer) stores the
drawing primitives in terms of points and pixels components
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This scan is synchronized with the access of the intensity values held in the frame buffer.
The maximum number of points that can be displayed without overlap by a system is
called the resolution and is quoted as the number of points per horizontal line versus the
number of horizontal lines. Typical resolutions are 640*480, 1024*768, and 1280*1024.
The maximum resolution is determined by the characteristics of the monitor and/or by the
memory capacity available for storing the frame buffer.
1.16) Random Scan Display

Random scan displays, often termed vector Vector, Stroke, and Line drawing
displays, came first and are still used in some applications. Here the characters are also
made of sequences of strokes (or short lines). The electron gun of a CRT illuminates
straight lines in any order. The display processor repeatedly reads a variable 'display file'
defining a sequence of X,Y coordinate pairs and brightness or color values, and converts
these to voltages controlling the electron gun.
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In random scan display an electron beam is deflected from endpoint to end-point.

The order of deflection is dictated by the arbitrary order of the display commands. The
display must be refreshed at regular intervals – minimum of 30 Hz (fps) for flicker-free
display.
Ideal line drawing Random Scan Display
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Colour in Raster Graphics
To handle colour the phosphor is applied to the screen in small triads of red, green
and blue phosphor dots, each triad representing one pixel. The CRT then has an electron
gun for each of the additive primary colours red, green and blue. When the three primary
colour dots are intensified the human visual system combines the triad of primary colours
into a single perceived colour.
To ensure the beams hit the correct elements of each triad there is a thin perforated metal
sheet (the shadow mask) behind the phosphor that ensures each of the three beams hits
the correct element of the triad.
1.17) Raster Scan Systems

You know that interactive raster graphics system typically employs several
processing units. In addition to central processing unit, or CPU, there is a special –
purpose processor, called the video controller or display controller. It is used to control
the operation of the display device.
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Architecture of a simple raster graphics system

Here the frame buffer can be anywhere in the system memory, and the video
controller accesses the frame buffer to refresh the screen.
Video Controller
In commonly used raster systems a fixed area is reserved for the frame buffer, and
the video controller is given direct access to the frame buffer memory. Frame buffer
locations and the corresponding screen positions are referenced in Cartesian coordinates.
Architecture of a raster system with a fixed portion of the system memory reserved
for the frame buffer
For the graphics monitor, the origin I defined at the lower left screen corner. The
screen is represented as a two dimensional system i.e. the x values increasing to the right
and the y values increasing from bottom to top. Each scan line is labeled as y max at the top
of the screen to 0 at the bottom. Along each scan line, screen pixel positions are labeled
from 0 to x max.
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Refresh operation of the video buffer

In the basic refresh operation, two registers are used. The purpose of this registers
are to store the coordinates of the screen pixels. Initially the x register is set to 0 and the y
register is set to y max . The value stored in the frame buffer for this pixel position is
retrieved and used to set the intensity of the CRT beam. Then the x register is
incremented by 1, and the process repeated for the next pixel on the top scan line. This is
repeated for each pixel along the scan line.
After the last pixel on the top of the scan line has been processed, the x register is reset to
0and the y register is decremented by 1. The pixels along this scan line are then processed
and the procedure is repeated for each successive scan line.
After cycling through all the pixels along the bottom scan line(y=0), the video controller
resets the registers to the first pixel position on the top scan line and refresh process starts
over.
As you know, a screen has to be refreshed at the rate of 60 frames per second. So this
cannot be accommodated in RAM chips. Therefore the cycle time is too low and as a
result the pixel processing is too slow. Now what can be done to speed up this process?
Multiple pixels can be retrieved in one pass i.e. video controller retrieve multiple pixel
values from the refresh buffer on each pass.
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Then how do you store all these different intensity values? They are stored using
separate registers and are used to control the CRT beam intensity for a group of adjacent
pixels .When that group of pixels has been processed; the next block of pixel values is
retrieved from the frame buffer.
In high quality systems two buffers are used so that one is used for refreshing and
other is being filled with intensity values. Then the two buffers can switch the roles. This
provides a fast mechanism for generating real time animations, since different views of
moving objects can be successively loaded into the refresh buffer.
Raster Scan Display processor

Raster Scan system may contain a separate display processor.
Raster Scan Display processor is sometimes referred to as graphics controller or a

display coprocessor. The purpose of this processor is to free the CPU from the graphics
tasks. But what is its major task? Its major task is to digitize a picture definition given in
an application program into a set of pixel intensity values for storage in the frame buffer.
This digitization process is called scan conversion. Graphics commands specifying
straight lines and other geometric shapes can be can converted into a set of intensity
points. When you scan convert a straight line segment we have to locate the pixel
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positions closest to the line path and store the intensity for each position in the frame
buffer.
Characters can be defined with rectangular grids or they can be defined with
outlines. The array size for character grids can vary from about 5 by 7 or 9 by 12.
defined as a grid of pixel position defined as a curve outline
Display processor are deigned to perform different other functions. They are
 To generate various line styles (dashed , dotted, or solid)
 To display colour areas
 To perform certain manipulations and transformations on displayed objects
 To interface with interactive input devices, such as mouse
How is the frame buffer implemented?
It is implemented as a linked list and encodes the intensity information. One way
to do this is to store each scan line as a set of integer pairs. One number of each pair
indicates an intensity value and the second number specifies the number of adjacent
pixels on the scan line that have that intensity. This technique is called run length
encoding.
1.18) Random Scan Systems
In Random Scan Systems an application program is input and stored in the system
memory along with a graphics package. Graphics commands in the application program
are translated by the graphics package into a display file stored in the system memory.
This display file is then accessed by the display processor to refresh the screen. The
display processor cycles through each command in the display file program once during
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every refresh cycle. Sometimes the display processor in the random scan system is
referred to as a display processing unit or a graphics controller. Graphics patterns are
drawn on a random scan system by directing the electron beam along the component lines
of picture. Lines are defined by the values for their coordinate endpoints, and these input
coordinate values are converted to x and y deflection voltage. A scene is then drawn one
line at a time by positioning the beam to fill in the line between specified endpoints.
1.19)Input/Output Devices
KEYBOARD
The different types of Keyboards are:
Dome-switch keyboard
Dome-switches mesh with keys (keyboard is upside down in this image).Dome-
switch keyboards are kind of a hybrid of membrane and mechanical keyboards. They
bring two circuit board traces together under a rubber "dome" or bubble. The inside of the
top of the bubble is coated in graphite. When a key is pressed, it collapses the dome,
which connects the two circuit traces and completes the connection to enter the character.
The pattern on the PC board is often gold-plated.This is a common switch technology
used in mass market keyboards today. It is considered very quiet, but purists tend to find
it "mushy" because the collapsing dome does not provide as much positive response as a
hard closing switch. These are also a good choice for office or consumer environments
because they are generally fairly quiet. This switch technology also happens to be most
commonly used in handheld controllers, such as those used with home video game
consoles.Dome-switch keyboards are also called direct-switch keyboards.
Scissor-switch keyboard
On a scissor-switch keyboard, the keys are attached to the keyboard via two
plastic pieces that interlock in a "scissor"-like fashion, and snap to the keyboard and the
key. Scissor-switch technology does not use a rubber-plunger assembly like most other
keyboards. Scissor-switch keyboards are normally responsive and crisp. These keyboards
are generally quiet. The keys require little force to press.This keyboard technology is
mainly used in laptops.
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Capacitive keyboard
In this type of keyboard, pressing the key changes the capacitance of a pattern
printed on a PC board. Usually this permits a pulse or pulse train to be sensed. Unlike
"dome switch" keyboards, the pattern will be covered by a thin, insulating film.
Capacitive keyboards are inexpensive, and resist wear, water, foreign objects and dirt.
They are common in PC keyboards.
Mechanical-switch keyboard
Mechanical-switch keyboards use real switches, one under each key.

Depending on the construction of the switch, these keyboards have varying responses and
travel times. Notable keyboards utilizing this technology are the Apple Extended II, and
its modern imitator, the Matias Tactile Pro. These two keyboards use ALPS switches.
Cherry Corporation of Germany also makes mechanical switches used in special purpose
and high end keyboards. In India, the TVS Gold mechanical keyboard is very popular
despite costing about five times a membrane keyboard.
Buckling-spring keyboard
Many typists prefer buckling-spring keyboards. [1][2] It is a common

misconception that the IBM Model M and its derivates are mechanical-switch keyboards.
In fact, the Model M uses membrane-sheet switches, much like those found in a dome-
switch keyboard. The buckling spring mechanism (U.S. Patent 4,118,611 ) atop the
switch is responsible for the tactile and aural response of the keyboard. This mechanism
controls a small hammer that strikes the membrane switch.[3].
Hall-effect keyboard
Hall effect keyboards use magnets and Hall effect sensors instead of an actual
switch. When a key is depressed, it moves a magnet, which is detected by the solid-state
sensor. These keyboards are extremely reliable, and are able to accept millions of
keystrokes before failing. They are used for ultra-high reliability applications, in
locations like nuclear powerplants or aircraft cockpits. They are also sometimes used in
industrial environments. These keyboards can be easily made totally waterproof. They
also resist large amounts of dust and contaminants. Because a magnet and sensor is
required for each key, as well as custom control electronics, they are very expensive.
Laser keyboard
A laser projection device approximately the size of a computer mouse

projects the outline of keyboard keys onto a flat surface, such as a table or desk. When
the laser is interrupted in the position of a key, a keystroke is registered. This type of
keyboard is portable enough to be easily used with PDAs and cellphones, and many
models have retractable cords and wireless capabilities. However, sudden or accidental
38
disruption of the laser will register unwanted keystrokes. Also, if the laser malfunctions,
the whole unit becomes useless, unlike conventional keyboards which can be used even if
a variety of parts (such as the keycaps) are removed. This type of keyboard can be
cumbersome to use since it is susceptible to errors, even in the course of normal typing,
and its complete lack of tactile feedback makes it even less user-friendly than the
cheapest membrane keyboards.
Membrane keyboard
Membrane keyboards are usually flat. They are most often found on appliances
like microwave ovens or photocopiers. A common design consists of three layers. The
top layer (and the one the user touches) has the labels printed on its front and conductive
stripes printed on the back. Under this it has a spacer layer, which holds the front and
back layer apart so that they do not normally make electrical contact. The back layer has
conductive stripes printed perpendicularly to those of the front layer.
When placed together, the stripes form a grid. When the user pushes down at a particular
position, his finger pushes the front layer down through the spacer layer to close a circuit
at one of the intersections of the grid. This indicates to the computer or keyboard control
processor that a particular button has been pressed. Membrane keyboards do not
generally have much of a "feel", so many machines which use them issue a beep or flash
a light when the key is pressed. They are often used in harsh environments where water
or leak proofing is desirable. Although used in the early days of the personal computer
(on the ZX80, ZX81 and Atari 400), they have been supplanted by the more tactile dome
and mechanical switch keyboards. However, membrane keyboards with interchangeable
key layouts, such as the IntelliKeys and Discover:board are still commonly used by
people with physical, visual, or cognitive disabilities as well as people who require
assistive technology to access a computer.
Roll-up keyboard
Most keyboards are rigid, but this foldable keyboard demonstrates one of many
variations from the usual. Some keyboards are designed out of flexible materials that can
roll up in a moderately tight bundle. Normally the external materials are either silicone or
polyurethane. It is important to note that although many manufacturers claim that the
keyboards are foldable, they cannot be folded without damaging the membrane that holds
the circuitry.Typically theyare completely sealed in rubber, making them watertight like
membrane keyboards. Like membrane keyboards, they are reported to be very hard to get
used to, as there is little tactile feedback.
Other parts of the PC keyboard
The modern PC keyboard is more than just the switch technology, however.
It also includes a control processor and indicator lights to provide feedback to the user
about what state the keyboard is in. Depending on the sophistication of the controller's
programming, the keyboard may also offer other special features. The processor is
39
usually a single chip 8048 microcontroller variant. The keyboard switch matrix is wired
to its inputs and it processes the incoming keystrokes and sends the results down a serial
cable (the keyboard cord) to a receiver in the main computer box. It also controls the
illumination of the "caps lock", "num lock" and "scroll lock" lights.
A common test for whether the computer has crashed is pressing the "caps
lock" key. The keyboard sends the key code to the BIOS code running in the main
computer; if the main computer is operating, it commands the light to turn on. All the
other indicator lights work in a similar way. The BIOS also tracks the shift, alt and
control state of the keyboard. When pressing a keyboard key, the key "bounces" like a
ball against its contacts several times before it settles into firm contact. When released, it
bounces some more until it reverts to the uncontacted state. If the computer was watching
for each pulse, it would see many keystrokes for what the user thought was just one.
Keyboard switch matrix
The keyboard switch matrix is often drawn with horizontal wires and vertical
wires in a grid, with a switch at some or all intersections, much like a multiplexed
display. Some keyboards have only the switch at each intersection, which causes "ghost
keys" and "key jamming" when multiple keys are pressed. Other, more expensive
keyboards have the switch and a diode at each intersection, allowing the keyboard
microcontroller to accurately sense any number of simultaneous keys being pressed.
MOUSE
The Mouse is a popular input device. You move it across the desk and its movement is
shown on the screen by a marker known as a 'cursor'. You will need to click the buttons
at the top of the mouse to select an option.A mouse contains a rotating ball with two
rollers held at right angles to each other which touch the ball. The rollers register the x
and y axis movements of the ball. Each roller is attached to an optical encoder, a disc
which has gaps in its surface. The rotation of the encoder interrupts two beams of light
between the LEDs and their detectors. These pulses of light are fed to the computer and
are used to determine the speed and direction of the mouse's movement.
LIGHT PEN
A Light Pen is a pointing device shaped like a pen and is connected to a VDU.
The tip of the light pen contains a light-sensitive element which, when placed against the
40
screen, detects the light from the screen enabling the computer to identify the location of
the pen on the screen.
A light pen
Light pens have the advantage of 'drawing' directly onto the screen, but this
can become uncomfortable, and they are not as accurate as digitising tablets.
JOYSTICK
Logitech was distributing this device in the U.S. 1994 that could be used to
replace a space ball or possibly used as a joystick The Cyberman is sort of a cross
between a mouse and a joystick. It uses a spring mounted 6DOF puck about 3
inches across with a few millimeters of displacement. Joysticks are mainly used in
the entertainment industry. They are used to control cursor movements in 2D and
are equipped with one or more buttons. It connects to a RS232 serial port and
provides data for 6 motions:
1. X translation
2. Y translation
3. Z translation (Vertical push/pull)
4. Twist
5. Front-to-back tilt
6. Left-to-right tilt
OPTICAL MARK READER
The Optical Mark Reader (OMR) can read information in the form of
numbers or letters and put it into the computer. The marks have to be precisely located as
in multiple choice test papers.
TOUCH SENSITIVE SCREEN
41
A Touch Sensitive Screen is a pointing device that enables the user to

interact with the computer by touching the screen. There are three forms of touchscreen:
pressure-sensitive, capacitive surface and light beam. Touchpad/Touchscreen are
operated by a pen or by the user's fingertips. With the touchscreen, the user can directly
point to objects on the screen. Both devices are mainly used for simple pointing and
selection tasks.
SCANNERS
Scanners allow information such as a photo or text to be input into a computer.
Scanners are usually either A4 size (flatbed), or hand-held to scan a much smaller area. If
text is to be scanned, you would use an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program to
recognise the printed text and then convert it to a digital text file that can be accessed
using a computer.A flatbed scanner used for digital image input.
DIGITIZERS
Digitizers are 2D input devices for exact inputs of points, usually from already
existing sketches. Their main purpose is to digitize hand-drawings, i.e. to get 2D scenes
in a format which can be processed by a CAD program.
Imaging and Video input devices
• Webcam
• Image scanner
• Fingerprint scanner
• Barcode reader
• 3D scanner
o laser range-finder
• medical imaging sensor technology
o Computed tomography
o Magnetic resonance imaging
o Positron emission tomography
o Medical ultrasonography
Audio input devices
• Microphone
• Speech Recognition
HARD COPY DEVICES
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You can print out information that is in the computer onto paper. By printing
you create what is known as a 'hard copy'. There are different kinds of printers which
vary in their speed and print quality. The two main types of printer are impact and non-
impact.
IMPACT PRINTERS
Impact Printers use a print head containing a number of metal pins which
strike an inked ribbon placed between the print head and the paper. Some print heads
have only 9 pins to make the dots to build up a character; some have 24 pins which
produce a better resolution. A dot matrix printer is an example.
Dot matrix printer: Characters are formed from a matrix of dots. The speed is usually
30 - 550 characters per second (cps). This is the cheapest and noisiest of the printer
family.The standard of print obtained is poor. These printers are cheap to run and
relatively fast. They are useful for low quality carbon copy printing.
NON-IMPACT PRINTERS
Non-impact printers are much quieter than impact printers as their printing
heads do not strike the paper. Most non-impact printers produce dot-matrix patterns.
Several different technologies have been used to provide a variety of printers.
The main types of non-impact printer are:
o Thermal Printer
o Laser Printer
o Ink Jet Printer
Thermal Printer
Characters are formed by heated elements being placed in contact with special
heat sensitive paper forming darkened dots when the elements reach a critical
temperature. Thermal printer paper tends to darken over time due to exposure to sunlight
and heat. The standard of print produced is poor. Thermal printers are widely used in
battery powered equipment such as portable calculators.
Laser Printer
Laser Printers use a laser beam and dry powdered ink to produce a fine dot
matrix pattern. This method of printing can generate about 4 pages of A4 paper per
minute. The standard of print is very good and laser printers can also produce very good
quality printed graphic images too. A photoconductive drum is initially charged and then
a high intensity laser beam is used to discharge selected areas on the drum. These
43
discharged areas correspond to the white areas of the printed document. Toner is attracted
to parts of the drum with a high charge. The drum rotates and transfers the toner to the
paper which has an even greater electrical charge. Finally a heater fixes the toner onto the
paper.Characters are formed as a result of electrically charged or heated ink being
sprayed in fine jets onto the paper. Individual nozzles in the printing head produce high
resolution (up to 400 dots per inch or 400 dpi) dot matrix characters.
Inkjet printer
Inkjet printers use colour cartridges which combine magenta, yellow and
cyan inks to create colour tones. A black cartridge is also used for crisp monochrome
output. This method of printing can generate up to 200 cps and allows for good quality,
cheap colour printing.
PLOTTERS
Plotters are used to produce graphs or diagrams. Plotters can be of two types:
• Pen plotters
• Electrostatic plotters
Pen plotters have an ink pen attached to draw the images, and electrostatic plotters work
similarly to a laser printer.
Flatbed Plotter is a plotter where the paper is fixed on a flat surface and pens are moved
to draw the image. This plotter can use several different colour pens to draw with. The
size of the plot is limited only by the size of the plotter's bed.Hardware - Peripherals
In drum plotters the pen is moved in a single axis track and the paper itself moves on a
cylindrical drum to add the other axis or dimension. The size of the graph is therefore
limited only by the width of the drum and can be of any length.
An Electrostatic Plotter produces a raster image by charging the paper with a high
voltage. This voltage attracts toner which is then melted into the paper with heat. This
type of plotter is fast, but the quality is generally considered to be poor when compared to
pen plotters.
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Direct-View Storage Tube (DVST)

DVST provides an alternative method for maintaining screen image. It is
done by storing the picture information inside the CRT instead of refreshing the screen.
A DVST stores the picture information as a charge distribution just behind the phosphor
coated screen. Two electron guns are used in a DVST. One the primary gun is used to
store the picture pattern. The second, flood gun is used to maintain the picture display.
No refreshing is needed for DVST. Disadvantage is that they do not ordinarily display
colour and that selected parts of image cannot be erased.
A storage tube is a special monochromatic CRT whose screen has a kind of
'memory' (hence the name): when a portion of the screen is illuminated by the CRT's
electron gun, it stays lit until a screen erase command is given. Thus, screen update
commands need only be sent once and this allows the use of a slower data connection,
typically serial—a feature very well adapted to computer terminal. DVBST was an
acronym used by Tektronix to describe their line of "Direct-View Bistable Storage
Tubes". These were cathode ray tubes that stored information written to them using an
analog technique inherent in the CRT and based upon the secondary emission of
electrons from the phosphor screen itself. Some DVBST implementations also allowed
the "write-through" of a small amount of dynamically refreshed, non-stored data. This
allowed the display of cursors, graphic elements under construction, and the like on
computer terminals. Another version of a DVBST was the "dark trace" CRT also known
as the Skiatron This CRT replaced the conventional light-emitting phosphor layer on the
face of the tube screen with a Scotophor such as Potassium Chloride (KCl). KCl has the
property that when a crystal is struck by an electron beam that spot would change from
translucent white to a dark magenta color. By back lighting such a CRT with a white or
green fluorescent lamp, the resulting image would appear as black information against a
green background or as magenta information against a white background. A benefit, aside
from the semi-permanent storage of the displayed image is that the brightness of the
resultant display is limited by the illumination source and optics. The image would be
45
retained until erased by flooding the scotophor with a high-intensity infrared light or by
electro-thermal heating.
b) Flat panel display
Flat panel displays are of two categories: Emissive and non-emissive. Emissive
displays include plasma panels, electroluminescent thin film display and light-emitting
diodes. Non-emissive displays include LCD. Flat panel display refers to a class of video
devices that have reduced volume, weight and power requirements compared to a CRT.
PLASMA DISPLAY
Plasma display
Plasma displays are bright, have a wide color gamut, and can be produced in
fairly large sizes, up to 262 cm (103 inches) diagonally. They have a very low-luminance
"dark-room" black level, creating a black some find more desirable for watching movies.
The display panel is only about 6 cm (2½ inches) thick, while the total thickness,
including electronics, is less than 10 cm (4 inches). Plasma displays use as much power
per square meter as a CRT or an AMLCD television. Power consumption will vary
greatly depending on what is watched on it. Bright scenes (say a football game) will draw
significantly more power than darker scenes. The xenon and neon gas in a plasma
television is contained in hundreds of thousands of tiny cells positioned between two
plates of glass. Long electrodes are also sandwiched between the glass plates, in front of
and behind the cells. The address electrodes sit behind the cells, along the rear glass plate.
The transparent display electrodes, which are surrounded by an insulating dielectric
material and covered by a magnesium oxide protective layer, are mounted in front of the
cell, along the front glass plate. Control circuitry charges the electrodes that cross paths at
46
a cell, creating a voltage difference between front and back and causing the gas to ionize
and form a plasma; as the gas ions rush to the electrodes and collide, photons are emitted.
In a monochrome plasma panel, the ionizing state can be maintained by applying a low-
level voltage between all the horizontal and vertical electrodes – even after the ionizing
voltage is removed. To erase a cell all voltage is removed from a pair of electrodes. This
type of panel has inherent memory and does not use phosphors. A small amount of
nitrogen is added to the neon to increase hysteresis. In color panels, the back of each cell
is coated with a phosphor. The ultraviolet photons emitted by the plasma excite these
phosphors to give off colored light. The operation of each cell is thus comparable to that
of a fluorescent lamp. Every pixel is made up of three separate sub pixel cells, each with
different colored phosphors. One sub pixel has a red light phosphor, one sub pixel has a
green light phosphor and one sub pixel has a blue light phosphor. These colors blend
together to create the overall color of the pixel, analogous to the "triad" of a shadow-
mask CRT.
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Thin film electro-luminescent display
Electroluminescence is the result of radiative recombination of electrons and holes in a

material (usually a semiconductor). The excited electrons release their energy as photons
- light. Prior to recombination, electrons and holes are separated either as a result of
doping of the material to form a p-n junction (in semiconductor electroluminescent
devices such as LEDs), or through excitation by impact of high-energy electrons
accelerated by a strong electric field (as with the phosphors in electroluminescent
displays). Powder phosphor-based electroluminescent panels are frequently used as
backlights to liquid crystal displays. They readily provide a gentle, even illumination to
the entire display while consuming relatively little electric power. They do, however,
require relatively high voltage. Recently, blue, red and green emitting thin film
electroluminescent materials have been developed that offer the potential for long life and
full color electroluminescent displays. In either case, the EL material must be enclosed
between two electrodes and at least one electrode must be transparent to allow the escape
of the produced light. Glass coated with indium oxide or tin oxide is commonly used as
the front (transparent) electrode while the back electrode is or is coated with reflective
metal. Additionally, other transparent conducting materials, such as carbon nanotubes
coatings or PEDOT can be used as the front electrode. Unlike neon and fluorescent
lamps, EL lamps are not negative resistance devices so no extra circuitry is needed to
regulate the amount of current flowing through them. In principle, EL lamps can be made
in any color. EL devices have low power consumption when compared with neon signs,
and have a wide range of applications such as their use on advertising boards and safety
signs.
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Light-emitting diode (LED)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor diode that emits incoherent
narrow-spectrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction of the p-n
junction. This effect is a form of electroluminescence. An LED is usually a small area
source, often with extra optics added to the chip that shapes its radiation pattern. The
color of the emitted light depends on the composition and condition of the semi
conducting material used, and can be infrared, visible, or near-ultraviolet. An LED can be
used as a regular household light source. Like a normal diode, an LED consists of a chip
of semi conducting material impregnated, or doped, with impurities to create a p-n
junction. As in other diodes, current flows easily from the p-side, or anode, to the n-side,
or cathode, but not in the reverse direction. Charge-carriers—electrons and holes—flow
into the junction from electrodes with different voltages. When an electron meets a hole,
it falls into a lower energy level, and releases energy in the form of a photon. The
wavelength of the light emitted, and therefore its color, depends on the band gap energy
of the materials forming the p-n junction. In silicon or germanium diodes, the electrons
and holes recombine by a non-radiative transition which produces no optical emission,
because these are indirect band gap materials. The materials used for an LED have a
49
direct band gap with energies corresponding to near-infrared, visible or near-ultraviolet

light.
LEDs are usually built on an n-type substrate, with an electrode attached to the p-
type layer deposited on its surface. P-type substrates, while less common, occur as well.
Many commercial LEDs, especially GaN/InGaN, also use sapphire substrate. Substrates
that are transparent to the emitted wavelength, and backed by a reflective layer, increase
the LED efficiency. The refractive index of the package material should match the index
of the semiconductor, otherwise the produced light gets partially reflected back into the
semiconductor, where it may be absorbed and turned into additional heat, thus lowering
the efficiency. An anti-reflection coating may be added as well.
c) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

An active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) is a type of flat panel display,
currently the overwhelming choice of notebook computer manufacturers, due to light
weight, very good image quality, wide color gamut, and response time. The most
common example of an active matrix display contains, besides the polarizing sheets and
cells of liquid crystal, a matrix of thin-film transistors (TFTs) to make a TFT LCD. Each
pixel of an LCD typically consists of a layer of molecules aligned between two
transparent electrodes, and two polarizing filters, the axes of transmission of which are
(in most of the cases) perpendicular to each other. With no liquid crystal between the
polarizing filters, light passing through the first filter would be blocked by the second
(crossed) polarizer. The surface of the electrodes that are in contact with the liquid crystal
material are treated so as to align the liquid crystal molecules in a particular direction.
This treatment typically consists of a thin polymer layer that is unidirectionally rubbed
using, for example, a cloth. The direction of the liquid crystal alignment is then defined
by the direction of rubbing. When a voltage is applied across the electrodes, a torque acts
to align the liquid crystal molecules parallel to the electric field, distorting the helical.
This reduces the rotation of the polarization of the incident light, and the device appears
gray. If the applied voltage is large enough, the liquid crystal molecules in the center of
the layer are almost completely untwisted and the polarization of the incident light is not
50
rotated as it passes through the liquid crystal layer. This light will then be mainly
polarized perpendicular to the second filter, and thus be blocked and the pixel will appear
black. By controlling the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer in each pixel, light
can be allowed to pass through in varying amounts thus constituting different levels of
gray.Both the liquid crystal material and the alignment layer material contain ionic
compounds. If an electric field of one particular polarity is applied for a long period of
time, this ionic material is attracted to the surfaces and degrades the device performance.
This is avoided either by applying an alternating current or by reversing the polarity of
the electric field as the device is addressed. When a large number of pixels is required in
a display, it is not feasible to drive each directly since then each pixel would require
independent electrodes. Instead, the display is multiplexed. In a multiplexed display,
electrodes on one side of the display are grouped and wired together (typically in
columns), and each group gets its own voltage source. On the other side, the electrodes
are also grouped (typically in rows), with each group getting a voltage sink.
University Questions
(a) Write short note on Raster Scan displays (6 marks) [F 3875 Computer
Graphics November 2005]
(b) Explain the following in detail a) Generation of a raster image.(6 marks)
[3794 Computer Graphics (R, T) November 2005]
(c) What is interactive graphics system?(4 marks) [G 1693 Computer Graphics
(R, T) June/ July 2006]
(d) Enumerate the applications of raster scan graphics.(4 marks) [G 1693
Computer Graphics (R, T) June/ July 2006]
(e) Explain in detail the basic concepts in Computer graphics.(12 marks) [G 1693
Computer Graphics (R, T) June/ July 2006]
(f) What are the requirements of interactive graphics? ?(4 marks) [G 1867
Computer Graphics May 2005]
51
(g) Explain the potential applications of computer graphics.(4 marks) [3794

Computer Graphics (R, T) November 2005]
(h) Explain with a neat diagram the working of a shadow mask CRT bringing out
its merits and demerits.(12 marks) [G 1867 Computer Graphics May 2005]
(i) Explain in detail the basic concepts in Computer Graphics (12 marks) [G 1693
Computer Graphics (R) June/July 2006]
(j) Explain and compare the working of raster scan and random scan display
systems.(12 marks) [G 1867 Computer Graphics (R) May 2005]
(k) Write short note on display file interpreter.(6 marks) [F 3879 Computer
Graphics (R) November 2005]
(l) Explain with the help of a block diagram, display processor for a refresh line
drawing display. (12 marks) [Computer Graphics (R) old scheme November
2001]
(m)Using an illustrate example, explain how a picture can be represented using
linked lists.(12 marks) [Computer Graphics (R) old scheme November 2001]
(n) Explain in detail the display processor (6 marks) [3794 Computer Graphics
(R) November 2005]
(o) Explain in detail the generation of a raster image (6 marks) [3794 Computer
(p)
Summary
In this lecture we had a first look at the basic concepts of computer graphics. We
developed an idea on the history of evolution of computer graphics. We also discussed
how an interactive display system works. We have also discovered the different
application areas of computer graphics.
In this lecture we familiarized the terms pixel and resolution. We learned that the
primary output device in a graphics system is a video monitor and its operation is based
52
on CRT design. We also discussed the working of a Shadow mask CRT. We learned how
refresh rates of a monitor is calculated.
We discussed about the two display methods and understood that a raster system
uses a frame buffer to store intensity information for each screen position (pixel).
Pictures are then painted on the screen by retrieving this information from the frame
buffer as the electron beam in the CRT sweeps across each scan line, from top to bottom.
In random scan display we know that pictures are constructed by drawing lines between
specified line endpoints. Picture information is then stored as a set of line drawing
instructions.
53
Module 2
Introduction
In the introductory lecture of this course we have discussed about the key features
and applications of computer graphics. We have discussed that the end product of
computer graphics is a picture. In its broadest sense you know that a picture means any
collection of lines, points, text, etc. that can be displayed on a graphics device. In your
Higher Secondary classes you have learned that the fundamental building block of picture
representation is a point and the algorithms that organize these points. As stated above, in
this lecture, we plan to explore how the graphics system convert the graphical primitives
such as points and lines from its geometrical definition into a set of pixels that make up
the primitive in the image space. We will also discuss on DDA algorithm that helps in
drawing a straight line from one point to another. Before we begin on this topic, a
revision of the concepts developed earlier like CRT raster display, pixels -the smallest
picture unit accepted by the display and the Cartesian slope intercept equation for straight
lines may be helpful. Once we finish this aspect, we will proceed towards exposition of
items listed in the synopsis. In particular, we will emphasize the following
(a) Rasterization and Scan Conversion
(b) Scan converting a point
(c) Design criteria of straight lines
(d) Scan converting a line
(e) Implementing the Digital Differential Analyzer
Representing pictures
Points are the fundamental building blocks of picture representation. Of equal
fundamental importance is the algorithm, which explains how to organize these points.
To illustrate this consider a unit square in the first quadrant. Refer the figure given below
54
The unit square can be represented by its four corners points

P1 (0, 0) P2 (1, 0) P3 (1, 1) P4 (0, 1)
An associated algorithm description might be
Connect P1P2P3P4P1 in sequence
The unit square can also be described by its four edges
E1 = P1P2 E2= P2P3 E3 = P3P4 E4 = P4P1
Here, the algorithm description is
Connect E1E2E3E4 in sequence
The fundamental building blocks, i.e., points can be represented as either pairs or triplets
of numbers, depending whether the data are two or three dimensional. Thus (x1, y1) or
(x1, y1, z1) represent a point in either two or three dimensional space. Two points
represents a line or edge, and a collection of three or more points represents a polygon.
The representation of curved lines is usually accomplished by approximating them by
connected short straight line segments.
Preparing pictures for presentation
Pictures ultimately consist of points and a drawing algorithm to display them.
This information is generally stored in a file before it is used to present the picture; this
file is called a data base. Very complex pictures require very complex data bases, which
require a complex algorithm to access them.
Presenting previously prepared pictures

The data used to prepare the picture for presentation is rarely the same as that
used to present the picture. The data used to present the picture is frequently called a
55
display file. The display file represents some portion, view or scene of the picture
represented by the total database.
Also, refer to pages 86 to 94 of your text book.
Raster CRT graphics device

Before discussing what rasterization is we first look at some fundamentals of
cathode ray tubes and how they are used in computer graphics. The most common
method to implement a raster CRT graphics device is to use a frame buffer. A frame
buffer is a large, contiguous piece of computer memory. At a minimum there is one
memory bit for each pixel in the rater; this amount of memory is called a bit plane. The
picture is built up in the frame buffer one bit at a time. You know that a memory bit has
only two states, therefore a single bit plane yields a black-and white display. You know
that a frame buffer is a digital device and the CRT is an analog device. Therefore, a
conversion from a digital representation to an analog signal must take place when
information is read from the frame buffer and displayed on the raster CRT graphics
device. For this you can use a digital to analog converter (DAC).Each pixel in the frame
buffer must be accessed and converted before it is visible on the raster CRT.
Color or gray scales are incorporated into a frame buffer rater graphics device by
using additional bit planes. The intensity of each pixel on the CRT is controlled by a
corresponding pixel location in each of the N bit planes. The binary value from each of
the N bit planes is loaded into corresponding positions in a register. The resulting binary
number is interpreted as an intensity level between 0 (dark) and 2n -1 (full intensity). This
is converted into an analog voltage between 0 and the maximum voltage of the electron
gun by the DAC.
Rasterization of straight lines

You know that a raster graphics device can be considered as a matrix of discrete
cells, each of which can be made bright. You can find that it is not possible to directly
draw a straight line from one addressable point, or pixel, in the matrix to another. The
line can be approximated by a series of dots (pixels) close to the path of the line. The
56
process of determining which pixels provides the best approximation to the desired line is
properly known as rasterization. Only in a special case of completely horizontal, vertical
or for square pixels 45o lines, does a straight line or pixels result. All the other lines
appear as a series of stair steps; this is called aliasing, or the ‘jaggies’.
Scan Conversion
When the process of rasterization is combined with the process of generating a
picture in scan line order, it is known as scan conversion.
Scan converting a point

A mathematical point (x, y) where x and y are real numbers within an image area,
needs to be scan converted to a pixel at location (x’, y’). This may be done by making x’
to be the integer part of x, and y’ to be the integer part of y. In other words, x’ = floor(x)
and y’ = floor(y), where function floor returns the largest integer that is less than or equal
to the arguments. Doing so in essence places the origin of a continuous coordinate system
for (x, y) at the lower left corner of the pixel grid in the image space. All the points that
satisfy x’≤ x ≤ x’ + 1 and y’≤ y ≤ y’ + 1 are mapped to pixel (x’, y’).
Let us take for example a point P1(1.7, 0.8). It will be represented by pixel (1, 0).
Points P2 (2.2, 1.3) and P3(2.8, 1.9) are both represented by pixel (2, 1).
Let us take another approach to align the integer values in the coordinate system
for (x, y) with the pixel coordinates. Here we can convert (x, y) by making x’ = floor(x +
0.5) and y’ = floor(y + 0.5). This approach places the origin of the coordinate system for
(x, y) at the center of pixel(0,0). All points that satisfy x’- 0.5 ≤ x ≤ x’+0.5 and y’- 0.5 ≤
y ≤ y’+0.5 are mapped to pixel (x’, y’). This means that points P1 and P2 are now both
represented by pixel (2, 1), whereas point P3 is represented by pixel (3, 2).
Scan converting a line

You know that a line in computer graphics typically refers to a line segment,
which is a portion of a straight line that extends indefinitely in opposite directions. You
can define a line by its two end points and by the line equation y = mx + c, where m is
57
called the slope and c the y intercept of the line. Let the two end points of a line be P1(x1,
y1) and P2(x2, y2). The line equation describes the coordinates of all the points that lie
between the two endpoints.
A simple approach to scan convert a line is to first scan convert P1 and P2 to pixel
coordinates (x1’, y1’) and (x2’, y2’) respectively. Then let us set m = (y2’- y1’)/(x2’-
x1’) and b = y1’-mx1’. Find |m| and if |m| ≤ 1, then for every integer value of x between
and excluding x1’ and x2’, calculate the corresponding value of y using the equation and
scan convert (x, y). If |m| >1, then for every integer value of y between and excluding y1’
and y2’, calculate the corresponding value of x using the equation and scan convert (x, y).
Design criteria of straight lines

From geometry we know that a line, or line segment, can be uniquely specified by
two points. From algebra we also know that a line can be specified by a slope, usually
given the name m and a y-axis intercept called b. Generally in computer graphics, a line
will be specified by two endpoints. But the slope and y-intercept are often calculated as
intermediate results for use by most line-drawing algorithms.
The goal of any line drawing algorithm is to construct the best possible
approximation of an ideal line given the inherent limitations of a raster display. Before
discussing specific line drawing algorithms, it is useful to consider general requirements
for such algorithms. Let us see what are the desirable characteristics needed for these
lines.
The primary design criteria are as follows

• Straight lines appear as straight lines
• Straight lines start and end accurately
• Displayed lines should have constant brightness along their length,
independent of the line length and orientation.
• Lines should be drawn rapidly
58
2.1) Digital Differential Analyzer

DDA algorithm is an incremental scan conversion method. Here we perform
calculations at each step using the results from the preceding step. The characteristic of
the DDA algorithm is to take unit steps along one coordinate and compute the
corresponding values along the other coordinate. The unit steps are always along the
coordinate of greatest change, e.g. if dx = 10 and dy = 5, then we would take unit steps
along x and compute the steps along y.
Suppose at step i we have calculated (xi, yi) to be a point on the line. Since the
next point (x i+1,y i+1) should satisfy ∆y/∆ x =m where ∆y= y i+1–yi and ∆ x= x i+1–xi , we
have y i+1= yi + m∆ x or x i+1=xi+ ∆ y/m
These formulas are used in DDA algorithm as follows. When |m| ≤ 1, we start
with x = x1’≤ (assuming that x1’ <x2’) and y = y1’, and set ∆ x =1( i.e., unit increment in
the x direction). The y coordinate of each successive point on the line is calculated using
y i+1= yi + m. When |m| >1, we start with x= x1’ and y= y1’ (assuming that y1’ < y2’), set
∆ y =1 ( i.e., unit increment in the y direction). The x coordinate of each successive point
on the line is calculated using x i+1 =xi+ 1/m. This process continues until x reaches
x2’(for m| ≤ 1 case )or y reaches y2’ (for m| > 1 case ) and all points are scan converted
to pixel points.
The explanation is as follows: In DDA algorithm we have to find the new point
xi+1 and yi+1 from the existing points xi and yi. As a first step here we identify the major
axis and the minor axis of the line to be drawn. Once the major axis is found we sample
the major axis at unit intervals and find the value in the other axis by using the slope
equation of the line. For example if the end points of the line is given as (x1,y1)= (2,2)
and (x2, y2)= (9,5). Here we will calculate y2-y1 and x2-x1 to find which one is greater.
Here y2-y1 =3 and x2-x1 =7; therefore here the major axis is the x axis. So here we need
to sample the x axis at unit intervals i.e.∆ x = 1 and we will find out the y values for each
∆ x in the x axis using the slope equation.
In DDA we need to consider two cases; one is slope of the line less than or equal
to one (|m| ≤ 1)and slope of the line greater than one (m| > 1). When |m| ≤ 1 means y2-y1
= x2-x1 or y2-y1 <x2-x1.In both these cases we assume x to be the major axis. Therefore
59
we sample x axis at unit intervals and find the y values corresponding to each x value.
We have the slope equation as
∆y=m∆x
y2-y1 = m (x2-x1)
In general terms we can say that y i+1 - yi = m(x i+1 - xi ). But here ∆ x = 1; therefore the
equation reduces to y i+1= yi + m = yi + dy/dx.
When m| > 1 means y2-y1> x2-x1 and therefore we assume y to be the major axis. Here
we sample y axis at unit intervals and find the x values corresponding to each y value.We
have the slope equation as
∆y=m∆x
y2-y1 = m (x2-x1)
In general terms we can say that y i+1 - yi = m(x i+1 - xi ). But here ∆ y = 1; therefore the
equation reduces to 1 = m(x i+1 - xi). Therefore
x i+1=xi+ 1/m
x i+1=xi+ dx/dy
DDA Algorithm is given below:
procedure DDA( x1, y1, x2, y2: integer);
var
dx, dy, steps: integer;
x_inc, y_inc, x, y: real;
begin
dx := x2 - x1; dy := y2 - y1;
if abs(dx) > abs(dy) then
steps := abs(dx); {steps is larger of dx, dy}
else
steps := abs(dy);
x_inc := dx/steps; y_inc := dy/steps;
{either x_inc or y_inc = 1.0, the other is the slope}
x:=x1; y:=y1;
set_pixel(round(x), round(y));
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for i := 1 to steps do
begin
x := x + x_inc;
y := y + y_inc;
set_pixel(round(x), round(y));
end;
end; {DDA}
The DDA algorithm is faster than the direct use of the line equation since it calculates
points on the line without any floating point multiplication.
2.2)Bresenham’s line drawing Algorithm
In lecture <1> we discussed about the line drawing algorithm. You know that DDA
algorithm is an incremental scan conversion method which performs calculations at each
step using the results from the preceding step. Here we are going to discover an accurate
and efficient raster line generating algorithm, the Bresenham's line-drawing algorithm.
This algorithm was developed by Jack E. Bresenham in 1962 at IBM. As stated above, in
this lecture, I will explain how to draw lines using the Bresenham's line-drawing
algorithm. And then show you the complete line drawing function. Before we begin on
this topic, a revision of the concepts developed earlier like scan conversion methods and
rasterization may be helpful. Once we finish this aspect, we will proceed towards
exposition of items listed in the synopsis. In particular, we will emphasize the following
(a) The working of Bresenham’s algorithm.
(b) Implementation of the Bresenham’s algorithm.
The working of Bresenham’s algorithm

The following is an explanation of how the Bresenham's line-drawing algorithm works,
rather than exact implementation.
61
Let’s take a look at this image. One thing to note here is that it is impossible to draw the
true line that we want because of the pixel spacing. Putting it in other words, there's no
enough precision for drawing true lines on a PC monitor especially when dealing with
low resolutions. The Bresenham's line-drawing algorithm is based on drawing an
approximation of the true line. The true line is indicated in bright color, and its
approximation is indicated in black pixels.
In this example the starting point of the line is located exactly at 0, 0 and the
ending point of the line is located exactly at 9, 6. Now let discuss the way in which this
algorithm works. First it decides which axis is the major axis and which is the minor axis.
The major axis is longer than the minor axis. On this picture illustrated above the major
axis is the X axis. Each iteration progresses the current value of the major axis (starting
from the original position), by exactly one pixel. Then it decides which pixel on the
minor axis is appropriate for the current pixel of the major axis. Now how can you
approximate the right pixel on the minor axis that matches the pixel on the major axis? -
That’s what Bresenham's line-drawing algorithm is all about. And it does so by checking
which pixel's center is closer to the true line.
Now you take a closer look at the picture. The center of each pixel is marked with
a dot. The algorithm takes the coordinates of that dot and compares it to the true line. If
the span from the center of the pixel to the true line is less or equal to 0.5, the pixel is
drawn at that location. That span is more generally known as the error term.
62
You might think of using floating variables but you can see that the whole
algorithm is done in straight integer math with no multiplication or division in the main
loops(no fixed point math either). Now how is it possible? Basically, during each
iteration through the main drawing loop the error term is tossed around to identify the
right pixel as close as possible to the true line. Let's consider these two deltas between the
length and height of the line: dx = x1 - x0; dy = y1 - y0; This is a matter of precision and
since we're working with integers you will need to scale the deltas by 2 generating two
new values: dx2 = dx*2; dy2 = dy*2; These are the values that will be used to change the
error term. Why do you scale the deltas? That’s because the error term must be first
initialized to 0.5 and that cannot be done using an integer. Finally the scaled values must
be subtracted by either dx or dy (the original, non-scaled delta values) depending on what
the major axis is (either x or y).
The implementation of Bresenham’s algorithm

The function given below handles all lines and implements the complete Bresenham's
algorithm.
function line(x0, x1, y0, y1)

boolean steep := abs(y1 - y0) > abs(x1 - x0)
if steep then
swap(x0, y0)
swap(x1, y1)
if x0 > x1 then
swap(x0, x1)
swap(y0, y1)
int deltax := x1 - x0
int deltay := abs(y1 - y0)
real error := 0
real deltaerr := deltay / deltax
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int y := y0
if y0 < y1 then ystep := 1 else ystep := -1
for x from x0 to x1
if steep then plot(y,x) else plot(x,y)
error := error + deltaerr
if error ≥ 0.5
y := y + ystep
error := error - 1.0
Note:-To draw lines with a steeper slope, we take advantage of the fact that a steep line
can be reflected across the line y=x to obtain a line with a small slope. The effect is to
switch the x and y variables throughout, including switching the parameters to plot.
2.3)2D Transformations
In lecture #1 we have discussed that the end product of computer graphics is a
picture. In its broadest sense you know that a picture means any collection of lines,
points, text, etc. that can be displayed on a graphics device. Also, a graphics system
should allow the programmer to define pictures that include a variety of transformations.
So let’s discuss about two dimensional transformations. As stated above, in this lecture,
we plan to explore the transformation principles, the different forms of two dimensional
transformations and their matrix representations. Before we begin on this topic, a revision
of the concepts developed earlier in your Engineering Mathematics classes like vector
calculus, trigonometry and matrices may be helpful. Once we finish this aspect, we will
proceed towards exposition of items listed in the synopsis. In particular, we will
emphasize the following
(a) Transformation Principles
(b) The coordinate systems
(c) Different forms of transformation
i. Translation
64
ii. Rotation
iii. Scaling
(d) The Matrix representations
(e) The concatenation process
Transformation Principles
You can say that transformations are a fundamental part of computer graphics.
Transformations are used to position objects, to shape objects, to change viewing
positions, and even to change how something is viewed (e.g. the type of perspective that
is used).Putting it in other words a transformation is a function that maps every position
(x, y) into a new position (x', y'). Instead of applying the transformation to every point in
every line that makes up the object, we simply apply the function to the objects vertices
and then draw new lines between the resulting new endpoints.
Two aspects of the formulation of transformation should be emphasized:
• A transformation is a single mathematical entity and such can be denoted by a

single name or symbol.
• Two transformations can be combined, or concatenated, to yield a single
transformation with the same effect as the sequential application of the original
two. Thus transformation A might be a translation and transformation B a scaling.
• The concatenation property allows us to determine a transformation C = AB
whose effect is to translate and then scale.
Each of the transformations is used to generate a new point (x’, y’) from the coordinates
of a point to (x, y) in the original picture description. If the original definition includes a
line, it suffices to apply the transformation to the endpoints of the line and display the
line between the two transformed endpoints.
65
2.5)World and Modeling Coordinates
Before going into details let us discuss on 3D coordinate systems. As you all know in 3D
graphics, one uses a coordinate system in order to represent points in space by a series of
numbers. Usually Cartesian coordinates are used, as these are the easiest to work with. It
defines three straight fixed perpendicular lines called axes (usually referred to as X, Y,
and Z). A point in 3D can be described by three numbers, which indicate the distance of
the point from each axis. This is represented by an ordered triple: (x,y,z). However, there
is not just one Cartesian coordinate system. There are many, which have their origins in
different places and their axes aligned with different things.
World Coordinates
The world coordinate system forms the "base" on which you can think of all other
coordinates being defined. Usually, its origin is at the center of your game world,
and its axes might be aligned with directions like north/south, east/west, and
up/down. (For example, it is very common for the X axis to be east, the Y axis to
be north, and the Z axis to be up. Another way is for X to be east, Y to be up, and
Z to be south.) This is the coordinate system in which most of your level
geometry - such as rooms, hallways, and landscapes - will probably be defined
Modeling coordinates
Modeling coordinates is the one in all drawing primitives do their drawing. The user can
select the position and orientation of the modeling space with regard to the world
space by means of translations, rotations, scales, or generalized transformations.
The relation between modeling coordinates and world coordinates is determined
by the modeling matrix. Modeling coordinates are a useful conceptual device
when drawing complex or repetitive scenes. For instance, a paper clip can be
defined once in modeling coordinates, and then drawn hundreds of times by
moving the modeling coordinate around in world space.
2.6)Different types of Transformation
66
There are three basic 2D Transformation functions:

• Translation
• Scaling
• Rotation
Now let’s consider the figures given below. Here we are trying to transform a picture in
the world coordinate into an object in the modeling coordinates.
Modeling Coordinates
y Scale
Translate
Scale
Rotate
Translate
World Coordinates
Figure 1
Modeling Coordinates
67
Let’s look
at this
in detail.
World Coordinates
Figure 2
Modeling
Coordinates
y
World Coordinates
Initial
Figure 3 location
at (0, 0) with
x- and y-axes
aligned
World Coordinates
Figure 3
68
Modeling
Coordinates
y
Scale .3, .3
World Coordinates
Figure 4 : Scaling Transformation is done
Modeling
Coordinates
y
Rotate -90
World Coordinates
69
Figure 5: Rotating the object by 90o
Modeling
Coordinates
y
Translate 5, 3
World Coordinates
Figure 6: Translating the object to a new position
Translation
Translations with 2 dimensional points are not very difficult. All we need to do is
determine how much we want to move the object in the x and y direction, and add those
variables to the point's x and y respectively
Translation means a shift by Tx in the x direction and Ty in the y direction is
x' = x + Tx
y' = y + Ty
Tx and Ty are translation amounts in the x direction in the y direction respectively. For
example let us see the figure given below. An object at position (4,5) and (7,5) has been
shifted to a new position (7,1) and (10,1)
70
Scaling
A scaling by Sx in the x direction and Sy in the y directions about the origin is
x' = Sx x
y' = Sy y
If Sx and Sy are not equal this results in a stretching along the axis of the larger scale
factor. To scale about a particular point, first translate to the origin, scale, and translate
back to the original position. For example, to scale about the point (x0,y0)
x' = x0 + Sx ( x - x0 )
y' = y0 + Sy ( y - y0 )
In other words scaling a coordinate means multiplying each of its components by a

scalar. Uniform scaling means this scalar is the same for all components. For example,
we have an object initially at (4, 5) and (7, 5). A scaling Factor of ¼ is applied to this
object. Look at the figure given below
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Note that the house changes position, since the scaling is about the origin. If scaling were
uniform, the amount of scaling in each dimension would be equal.
Rotation
Rotation about the origin by an angle A in a clockwise direction is
x' = x cos(A) + y sin(A)

y' = y cos(A) - x sin(A)
To rotate about a particular point apply the same technique as described for scaling,
translate the coordinate system to the origin, rotate, and the translate back. Putting it in
other words to rotate about another point, first translate the point to the origin, rotate, and
then translate back.
The following transforms perform rotation:
The angle of rotation is about the origin. Positive angles are measured counterclockwise.
You should be able to reformulate the rotational transformations for negative angles also.
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Use the identities:
Proof:
Consider:
By simple trigonometry:
x = r cosΦ and y= r cosΦ
x’ = r cos(θ +Φ ) = r cos Φ cos θ – r sinΦ sin θ
y’ = r sin(θ +Φ ) = r cos Φ sin θ + r sinΦ cos θ
By substitution
x’ = x cos θ- y sin θ
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y’ = x sin θ + y cos θ
Matrix representation of Transformations

The matrix representation of different transformations are given below
Translation
Scaling
Rotation
Concatenation
Now we have discussed about different types of transformations. Now is it possible to
combine one transformation into another? The answer is yes. We can combine a sequence
of transformation into one transformation. This process is called concatenation. Look
again at transformations in terms of vectors.
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Scaling: x' = x * Sx, y' = y * Sy, which can be written as:
(x' y') = (x y) * (Sx 0)
(0 Sy)
Rotation: x' = x cos q - y sin q, y' = y cos q + x sin q, which can be written as:
(x' y') = (x y) * ( cos q sin q)

(-sin q cos q)
So if we wanted to scale and then rotate the object we could do the following:
(x' y') = (x y) * ( Sx 0 )
( 0 Sy )
(x" y") = (x' y') * ( cos q sin q )

(-sin q cos q)
But this is the same as:
(x" y") = (x y) * (Sx 0) * ( cos q sin q )

(0 Sy) (-sin q cos q )
= (x y) * ( Sx * cos q Sx * sin q)
(-Sy * sin q Sy * cos q)
Hence, we can concatenate the Scaling and Rotation matrices, and then multiply the old
points by resultant matrix.
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2.6)Scan converting a circle
Circles have the property of being highly symmetrical, which is handy when it comes to
drawing them on a display screen.
We know that there are 360 degrees in a circle. First we see that a circle is symmetrical
about the x axis, so only the first 180 degrees need to be calculated. Next we see that it's
also symmetrical about the y axis, so now we only need to calculate the first 90 degrees.
Finally we see that the circle is also symmetrical about the 45 degree diagonal axis, so we
only need to calculate the first 45 degrees
We only need to calculate the values on the border of the circle in the first octant. The
other values may be determined by symmetry. Assume a circle of radius r with center at
(0,0).
Procedure Circle_Points(x,y: Integer);

Begin
Plot(x,y);
Plot(y,x);
Plot(y,-x);
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Plot(x,-y);
Plot(-x,-y);
Plot(-y,-x);
Plot(-y,x);
Plot(-x,y)
End;
2.7) The Bresenham’s Method of scan conversion
Bresenham's circle algorithm calculates the locations of the pixels in the first 45 degrees.
It assumes that the circle is centered on the origin. So for every pixel (x, y) it calculates,
we draw a pixel in each of the eight octants of the circle. This is done till when the value
of the y coordinate equals the x coordinate.
PutPixel (CenterX + X, Center Y + Y)

PutPixel (CenterX + X, Center Y - Y)
PutPixel (CenterX - X, Center Y + Y)
PutPixel (CenterX - X, Center Y - Y)
PutPixel (CenterX + Y, Center Y + X)
PutPixel (CenterX + Y, Center Y - X)
PutPixel (CenterX - Y, Center Y + X)
PutPixel (CenterX - Y, Center Y - X)
The Bresenham’s Circle-Drawing Algorithm
The algorithm is given as follows:
Given a radius for the circle we perform this initialization:
d := 3 - (2 * RADIUS)
x := 0
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y := RADIUS
Now for each pixel we do the following operations:
Draw the 8 circle pixels

if d < 0 then
d := d + (4 * x) + 6
else
begin
d := d + 4 * (x - y) + 10
y := y - 1;
end;
2.8)Mid point circle algorithm

In midpoint circle algorithm, we sample at unit intervals and determine the closest pixel
position to the specified circle path at each step. For a given radius r and screen center
position (xc, yc), this algorithm first calculate pixel positions around a circle path centered
at the coordinate origin (0, 0). Then each calculated position (x, y) is moved to its proper
position by adding xc to x and yc to y. Along the circle section from x = 0 to x = y in the
first quadrant, the slope of the curve varies from 0 to -1. Therefore, we can take steps in
the positive x direction over this octant and use a decision parameter to determine which
of the two possible y positions is closer to the circle path at each step. Positions of the
other seven octants are then obtained by symmetry.
f circle (x, y) = x2 + y2 – r2
Any point on the boundary of the circle with radius r satisfies the equation f circle (x, y) = 0.
If the point is in the interior of the circle, the circle function is negative. If the point is
outside the circle, the circle function is positive. This test is performed for the mid
positions between pixels near the circle path at each sampling step.
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Assuming we have plotted the pixel at (Xk, Yk), we next need to determine whether the
pixel at position (Xk +1, Yk -1) is closer to the circle. For that we calculate the circle
function at the midpoint between these points.
Pk = f circle (Xk +1, Yk - ½)
If Pk < 0, this midpoint is inside the circle and the pixel on the scan line Y k, is closer to
the circle boundary, and we select the pixel on the scan line Y k -1. Successive parameters
are obtained using incremental calculations. The initial decision parameter is obtained by
evaluating the circle function at the staring position (X0, Y0) = (0, r).
= f circle (1, r – ½)
= 1 +(r – ½)2 - r 2
= 5/4 - r
The algorithm is given as follows:
Initialize x=0, y= r and p =1-r

For x<=y do the following
Plot the pixel (x,y )
If (p <0)
p = p+2x + 3
Else
p=p + 2(x-y)+ 5
Decrement the value of y
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2.9)Clipping
Clipping algorithm is a procedure that identifies those positions of a picture that

are either inside or outside of a specified region of space. The region against which an
object is clipped is called Clip Window. The different types of clipping are:
1. Point Clipping.
2. Line Clipping.
3. Area Clipping.
4. Curve Clipping.
5. Text Clipping.
LINE CLIPPING METHODS
A line clipping methods involves several parts. First, we can test a given
segment to determine whether it lies completely inside the clipping window. If it does not
,we try to determine whether it lies completely outside the window. Finally if we cannot
identify a line as completely inside or outside, we must perform the intersection
calculations with one or more clipping boundaries.
The different clipping methods are
1.Cohen-sutherland line clipping
2. Liang-barsky line clipping
3. Nicholl-lee-nicholl line clipping
4 Line clipping using nonrectangular clip windows
5 Splitting concave polygons.
For a line segment with endpoints(x1,y1)and (x2,y2) and one or both endpoints outside
the clipping rectangle the parametric equation is
X=x1+u(x2-x1)
Y=y1+u(y2-y1), 0≤u≤1
Cohen-Sutherland line clipping

|
1001 | 1000 1010
---------|---------------------
|
0001 | 0000 0010
---------|------------------------
0101
In this
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bit 1:left
bit 2:right
bit 3:below
bit 4:above.
Intersection points with a clipping boundry can be calculated using the slope-intercept
form of the line equation.
Bit values in the region code are determined by compairing endpoint coordinate values
(x,y) to the clip boundries.bit 1 is set to 1 if x<xwmin . the other three values can be
determined using the same comparison.
Nicholl-lee-nicholl line clipping
This algorithm avoids multiple clipping of an individual line segment.in the cohen-
sutherland method for example multiple intersections may be calculated along the path of
a single line before a n intersection on the clipping rectangle is located.these extra
intersection calculations eliminated in the nln algorithm by carryng out more region
testing before intersection position are calculated.compared to the cohen-sutherland ,this
algorithm performs fewer comparisons and divisions.the trade off is that the nln alg.can
only be applied to two-dimensional clipping whereas the cohen-sutherland method are
easily extend to three-dimensional scenes.
POLYGON CLIPPING METHODS
THE VARIOUS POLYGON CLIPPING METHODS ARE

1.sutherland-hodgeman polygon clipping
2.weiler-atherton polygon clipping
3,other polygon-clipping algorithms.
Sutherland-Hodgeman polygon clipping

We can correctly clip a polygon by processing the polygon boundary as a whole against
each window edge.first clip the polygon against the left rectangle boundary to produce a
new sequence of vertices. The new set of vertices then successively passed to a right
boundary clipper,a bottom boundary clipper and a top boundary clipper.
The 4 main points are,
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1. if the first vertex Is outside the window and the second is

inside,both the intersection point on the polygon edge with the
window boundary and the second vertex are added to the output
vertex list.
2. if both the vertex are inside the window boundary ,then second
only added to the output window boundary.
3. if the first vertex is inside and the second is outside ,then only the
edge intersection is added to the output vertex list.
4. if both are outside the window ,nothing is added to the output
window boundary.
Weiler-atherton polygon clipping
This clipping was developed as amethod for identifying the visible surface,and it can be
applied to the arbitrary polygon clipping regions.
For clockwise processing of polygon vertices,we use following rules,
 For an outside to inside pair of vertices,follow the polygon

boundary.
 For an inside to outside pair of vertices,follow the window
boundary in a clockwise direction.
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University Questions
(a) Explain in detail the principle of 2D transformations (12 marks) [F 3794
Computer Graphics (R,T) November 2005]
(b) Prove that two successive rotations are additive(4 marks) [F 3879 Computer
(c) Prove that rotation and uniform scaling is a commutative pair of operations(4
marks) [F 3879 Computer Graphics (R) November 2005]
(d) What do you mean by scan conversion? Explain its significance in display
devices. (4 marks) [F 3879 Computer Graphics (R) November 2005]
(e) Discuss why incremental methods are used in line drawing in graphic
displays. (6 marks) [Computer Graphics (R) November 2001]
(f) What is real time scan conversion? Explain. (8 marks) [Computer Graphics
(R) November 2001]
(g)
Summary
In this lecture we have discussed about modeling transformation principles. We have

understood that to change the size of the object we can use scaling transformation. To
move the object and to rotate the object we are familiarized with the translation and
rotation transformations. We have also discussed how these transformations are
represented in the matrix format. We concluded by mentioning how these
transformations can be concatenated into one transformation.
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Module 3
3.1)3D OBJECT REPRESENTATION

One of the major concepts in computer graphics is modeling of objects. Modeling of
objects means describing the objects in terms of their geometric properties (like shape
and size) and how they interact with light (reflect, transmit).A graphics system usually
uses a set of primitives or geometric forms to model variety of objects . Geometric forms
that are often used as primitives include points, lines, polylines, polygons and polyhedra.
More complex geometric form includes curves, curved surface patches, and quadratic
surfaces.
SIMPLE GEOMETRIC FORMS
Points and lines

The basic building blocks of computer graphics can be termed as points and lines. How
do we specify a point? We do it by specifying its coordinate sin three or two dimensional
space. For example, a point can be represented as P (x, y, z). How do we specify a line
segment? It can be done by specifying the two end points P1(x1, y1, z1) and P2(x2, y2,
z2).
Polylines
What is a polyline? It’s a chain of connected line segments. It is specified by giving the
vertices or nodes that defines the line segment. For example, a polyline can be defined as
P0, P1…, Pn. The first vertex of the polyline is called the starting point or the initial point
and the last vertex is called the terminal point or the final point.
Polygons
How do you specify a polygon? A polygon can be treated as a closed polyline, that is, a
polyline where the initial and the terminal vertices coincides. It is specified by its vertex
list as P0, P1,….Pn, P0.The edges of the polygon are specified as line segments P0P1,
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P1P2, ………….PnP0. What is a planar polygon? A polygon in which all vertices lie on
the same plane can be called as a planar polygon.
WIRE FRAME MODELS

A wire frame model consists of edges, vertices, and polygons. In a wire frame the
vertices are connected by edges, and the polygons are sequences of vertices and edges.
The edges may be curves or it may be straight line segments. If the edges are straight line
segments then the wire frame model is called a polygonal net or polygonal mesh.
The wire frame models are used in engineering applications. The advantage of wire frame
model is that they are easy to construct. They are easy to clip and manipulate if they are
composed of straight lines. But they cannot be used in building up realistic models. For
modeling highly curved objects we will be forced to use very large number of polygons
to achieve the illusions of roundness and smoothness.
Polyhedron
A polyhedron is a closed polygonal net in which each polygon is planar. A closed
polygonal net means it encloses a definite volume. The polygons are called the faces of
the polyhedron. In modeling, polyhedrons are quite often treated as solid objects (block)
POLYGON SURFACES
The boundary of a three dimensional graphics object can be represented by a set of
polygon surfaces that enclose the object interior. The object descriptions are stores as sets
of surface polygons. Therefore all polygon surfaces can be easily described with linear
equations. A polygon representation of a polygon precisely defines the surface features of
the object.
Polygon Tables
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How do you specify a polygon surface? This can be done by using a set of vertex
coordinates and associated attributes parameters. We use polygon tables to store such
information. These tables are used in processing, display and manipulation of objects in a
scene. The polygon tables can be categorized into two: geometric tables and attribute
tables. The geometric table contains vertex coordinates and parameters to identify the
spatial orientation of the polygon surfaces. The attribute table contains information about
the degree of transparency of the object and its surface reflectivity and texture
characteristics.
Now let’s see how the geometric data is stored. This can be done by creating three lists:
1. Vertex table
2. Edge table
3. Polygon table
The coordinate value for each vertex in the object is stored in the vertex table. The edge
table contains the list of vertices that forms each edge. The polygon table contains the list
of edges that forms the polygon surfaces. Now how are these list linked inter related?
There is a back pointer pointing from the edge table to the vertex table. Similarly there is
another pointer that points back to the edge table from the polygon table.
Now how do you construct a polyhedron from these three tables? At first, the polygon
surface table will be searched to identify the edges that compose the polygon. From the
polygon table the information about the edges are obtained. Now we need to find the
details of the edges. The details of the edges are stored in the edge table. Using the
pointer from the polygon table we move to the edge table to locate the vertices that
compose the edges of the polygon. From the edge table we will get the details of the
vertices that compose each edge. But now we need to get the information about each
vertex. These details are stored in the vertex table. By using the pointer from the edge
table to the vertex table we can get the details about the x, y, and z coordinates that
compose each vertex.
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We can always add extra information to the data tables for faster information extraction.
For example we could expand the edge table to include forward pointers into the polygon
table so that common edges between the polygons could be identified more rapidly.
Similarly, the vertex table could be expanded so that the vertices are cross reference to
corresponding edges. We can also store additional information in the data tables like the
slope foe each edge and the coordinate extent for each polygon.
We can eliminate the edge table by letting the polygon table reference the vertices
directly, but we can run into problems, such as drawing some edges twice, because we
don't realize that we have visited the same set of points before, in a different polygon. We
could go even further and eliminate the vertex table by listing all the coordinates
explicitly in the polygon table, but this wastes space because the same points appear in the
polygon table several times.
Let’s consider the example of a polyhedron with two surfaces. The three tables that
describes the polygon is as shown in the figure
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Now what abut the spatial orientation of the individual surface of the object? Often in the
graphics pipeline, we need to know the orientation of an object. This information is
obtained from the equation of the plane that describes the polygon.
The equation of the plane can be expressed as Ax + By + Cz = 0 where (x, y, z) is any

point on the plane and coefficients A, AB, C, and D are constants defining the spatial
properties of the plane. Here the value of ABCD can be obtained by solving the set of
three plane equations using the coordinate for three non collinear points in the plane. For
this purpose let us select three consecutive polygon vertices (x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), (x3,
y3, z3) and solve the simultaneous linear plane equations.
(A/D)x k + (B/D)y k + (C/D)z k = -1
Then we can use the equation to determine whether a point is on the inside or outside of
the plane formed by this polygon:
Ax + By + Cz + D < 0 = the point (x, y, z) is inside the surface

Ax + By + Cz + D > 0 = the point (x, y, z) is outside the surface
Normal to the plane
The coefficients A, B, and C can also be used to determine a vector normal to the plane
of the polygon. This vector, called the surface normal, is given simply by:
N = (A, B, C).
If we specify the vertices of a polygon counterclockwise when viewing the outer side, in
a right-handed coordinate system, the surface normal N will point from inside to outside.
You can verify this from an alternate definition for N, based on three vertices:
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N = (V2 - V1) x (V3 - V1) = (A, B, C)
Polygon Meshes
Objects can be modeled by several polygon functions. But when object surfaces are to be
tiled, it is more convenient to specify the surface faces with mesh function. One
type of the polygon mesh is the triangle strip. The function produces n – 2
triangles given the coordinate for n vertices. A triangle list will produce only n/3
triangles for a polygon with n vertices.
Another similar function is the quadrilateral mesh, which generates a mesh of (n-1) by
(m-1) quadrilaterals, given the coordinates for an n by m array of vertices. A
quadrilateral mesh containing 12 quadrilaterals constructed from a 5 by 4 input vertex
array is shown in the figure below
3.2)3D DISPLAY METHODS
To obtain the display of a 3D scene, we must first set up a coordinate

reference. This defines a plane to display the view. This plane is referred to as display
plane. Object descriptions are transferred to the reference coordinates and projected onto
the selected display plane.
The different 3D display methods are:
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1. Parallel Projection
2. Perspective Projection
3. Depth Cueing
4. Visible surface and line detection
5. Surface Rendering
6. Exploded and Cutaway views
7. 3D and Stereoscopic views
3.3)CURVES AND SURFACES
You know that objects with complex shapes occur frequently in our 3D world. Therefore
special techniques have to be developed to model these objects so that we get realistic
images. These objects can be approximated as plane faced polyhedra. For example the
polyhedral approximation of a coffee cup may contain 1000 faces. In this case it will be
difficult to generate and modify the shape of the cup. We need a more direct
representation of shapes which is tractable both to the computer and to the person trying
to make modifications on the shape.
Representation of curves
Let’s discuss some of the crucial properties that our representation must have. These
properties are important in designing the curves.
1. Control Points
2. Multiple value
3. Axis independence
4. Global and local control
5. Variation Diminishing property
6. Versatility
7. Order of Continuity
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Control Points
How do you give shape to the curve? How do you control its shape? The answer to these
questions is control points. Control points are a set of coordinate positions that indicates
the general shape of the curve. It is by the control points the shape of the curve is
controlled. The control points influence the shape of the curve. it is through these control
points the curve pass. Examples are given below:
The line connecting the control points in order is called the control graph, or control
polygon, or even characteristic polygon. If the curve passes exactly through each of the
control points then the curve is said to interpolate the set of control points. If the curve
doesn’t pass necessarily through the control points then it is said to approximate the set of
control points. Examples re given below:
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Multiple values: The curve can have multiple values. It is not a graph that is plotted by
using a single values function. A curve can be multivalued with respect to all coordinate
systems.
Axis independence: The shape of the curve must not change when the control points are
measured in a different coordinate system. For example if the control points are rotated
60o the curve should rotate 60o but the shape of the curve should not change.
Global and local control: We know that control points are used to control the shape of
the curve. When we try to manipulate or change the position of a control point the shape
of the curve changes. Manipulation of the control point can bring in two effects on the
curve. The shape of the curve gets affected entirely or the shape of the curve changes
only in the region near to the control point .If the shape of the curve changes entirely then
it is said to have global control. If the shape changes only in the region near the control
point, it is said to have local control.
Variation-diminishing property: Certain curves have a tendency to amplify small

irregularities in the shape outlined by the control points. But there are certain other curves
that always smooth the designer’s control points diminishing the irregularities in the
shape. A curve that oscillates about its control points is usually undesirable. But there
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will not be such oscillations in curves that possess variation diminishing property. The
curve will always tend to smooth out the sequence of control points.
Versatility: The shapes of the curves formed from the control points should not be
limited. It should not lack versatility. How can we bring in versatility in curve designs?
This can be done by adding or removing control points from the framework. For
example, a straight line can be formed from two control points. This straight line can be
changed into a curve by simply adding one more control point. This third control point
can create a large number of additional shapes by just changing its location.
Order of continuity: Using simple curves simple object shapes can be modeled but for
complex shapes we need to depend on complex curves. Now you know how a curve is
formed from the control points. Now let’s discuss how a complex curve is formed? A
complex curve can be formed by joining simple curves together. The shape that cannot be
described by a simple curve can often be described by several curves joined together.
When the curves are joined the order of continuity has to be maintained. There are three
orders of continuity defined. They are:
1. Zero Order
2. First order
3. Second order
Zero order continuity means simply that two curves meet. First order continuity requires
the curve to be tangent at the point of intersection. Second order continuity requires that
the curvatures be the same.
3.4)BEZIER METHODS
This spline approximation method was developed by P.Bezier, a French engineer, for use
in the design of Renault automobile bodies.
Bezier Curves
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In general a Bezier curve section can be fitted to any number of control points. The
degree of the polynomial is determined by two factors. The number of control points and
their relative position are the factors that contribute to the degree of the Bezier curve. The
degree of the Bezier curve is one less than the number of control points used. If there are
n + 1 control points then the degree of the Bezier curve will be n. For example, three
points will generate a parabola and four control points will generate a cubic curve.
As we know the main form used to model curves and surfaces is the parametric function
or vector- valued function. A point on the curve is represented as a vector:
P(u) = [ x(u) y(u) z(u)]
Bezier defines the curve P(u) in terms of the location of n+1 control points pi
P(u)
where Bi, n (u) is a blending function
Bi, n (u) = C(n,i)u i(1-u) n-i
And C(n,i) is the binomial coefficient, C(n,i)= n!/(i! (n-i)!)
Here pi is the control point where pi can be defined as [xi yi zi].
X(u)= ∑Xk BEZk,n(u) 0<k<n
Y(u)= ∑Yk BEZk,n(u) 0<k<n
Z(u)= ∑Zk BEZk,n(u) 0<k<n
Here there are n+1 control points as pi ranges from 0 to n. These control points along
with the blending function gives the shape to the curve. The blending function defined
influences the control points i.e. it actually blends the control point pi. The blending
functions are the key to the behaviour of Bezier curves.
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Here let us take an example of a Bezier curve with four control points. So pi ranges from
0 to 3. Therefore the Bezier parametric function can be written as
P(u) = p0 B 0,3 + p1 B 1,3+ p2 B 2,3+ p3 B 3,3
Here the control points pi’s are influenced by their respective blending functions. The
graph
Algorithm:
a) Compute C(n,k), k ranging from 0 to n where n =Control points-1

b) Repeat steps 3,4,5,6 and 7 with k ranging from 1 to n
c) blend=nCk * uk * (1-u)n-k
d) x=x+x*blend
e) y=y+y*blend
f) z=z+z*blend
g) Join the points
h) End
Properties:
a) Curve always passes through first and last control points

i.e. P(0)=P0
P(1)=Pn
b) Values of the parametric first derivatives at the endpoints can be calculated from
control point coordinates as
P`(0)=-nP0+nP1
P`(1)=-nP¬n-1+nPn
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c) Slope at the beginning of curve is along the line joining the first two control
points and the slope at the end of the curve is along the line joining the last two
endpoints.
d) Curve lies within a convex hull (convex polygon boundary) of the control points.
The curve is contained by the polygon.
Applications:
a) Painting and drawing packages-for drawing curves

b) CAD systems- for drawing smooth curves
c) Curve Fitting- to fit a curve along the layout of an object
d) Animation- to transform from one shape to another or to simulate a motion
e) Accelerating 3D Graphics- to simulate transformation of an object
3.5)B-Spline Curves
a) B-spline functions of order m are piecewise polynomials of degree m-1. They are
m-2 smooth.
b) The B-spline functions form a basis; every spline function can be written as a
linear combination of B-splines.
c) Nk,m(t) has support [tk, t k+m].
d) A B-spline curve lies within the convex hull of m consecutive control points.
e) Knots can appear multiple times within the knot vector. A knot with multiplicity
m will cause the resulting curve to interpolate the corresponding control point.
f) Affine invariance.
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3.6)3D TRANSFORMATIONS
3D Coordinate Space
3D graphics content in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is encapsulated

in an element, Viewport3D, that can participate in the two-dimensional element structure.
The graphics system treats Viewport3D as a two-dimensional visual element like many
others in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). Viewport3D functions as a window
—a viewport—into a three-dimensional scene. More accurately, it is a surface on which a
3-D scene is projected. Although you can use Viewport3D with other 2-D drawing
objects in the same scene graph, you cannot interpenetrate 2-D and 3-D objects within a
Viewport3D. In the following discussion, the coordinate space described is contained by
the Viewport3D element. The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) coordinate
system for 2-D graphics locates the origin in the upper left of the rendering surface
(typically the screen). In the 2-D system, positive x-axis values proceed to the right and
positive y-axis values proceed downward. In the 3-D coordinate system, however, the
origin is located in the center of the screen, with positive x-axis values proceeding to the
right but positive y-axis values proceeding upward instead, and positive z-axis values
proceeding outward from the origin, toward the viewer.
Coordinate System Comparison
The space defined by these axes is the stationary frame of reference for 3-D objects in
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). As you build models in this space and create
lights and cameras to view them, it's helpful to distinguish this stationary frame of
reference, or "world space," from the local frame of reference you create for each model
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when you apply transformations to it. Remember also that objects in world space might
look entirely different, or not be visible at all, depending on light and camera settings, but
the position of the camera does not change the location of objects in world space.
In many applications, there is also a need for altering or manipulating

displays. This can be accomplished by arranging the orientations and sizes of component
parts of the scene.
The basic transformations are
1.translation
2.rotation
3.scaling
TRANSLATION
A translation is applied to an object by repositioning it along a straight-line path
from one coordinate location to another. We translate a two-dimensional point by adding
translation distances, tx, ty and tz, to the original coordinate position(x,y,z) to move the
point to a new position(x’,y’,z’).
X’=x+tx
Y’=y+ty
Z’= z+tz
In matrix form, we can write as P’=T.P

Translation is a rigid body transformation that moves objects without
deformation. Similar methods are used to translate curved objects.
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TranslateTransform3D moves all the points in the Model3D in the direction of the
offset vector you specify with the OffsetX, OffsetY, and OffsetZ properties. For example,
given one vertex of a cube at (2,2,2), an offset vector of (0,1.6,1) would move that vertex
(2,2,2) to (2,3.6,3). The cube's vertex is still (2,2,2) in model space, but now that model
space has changed its relationship to world space so that (2,2,2) in model space is
(2,3.6,3) in world space.
Translation with Offset
ROTATION
Rotations in three-dimensions are considerably more complicated than two-
dimensional rotations. In general, rotations are specified by a rotation axis and an angle.
In two-dimensions there is only one choice of a rotation axis that leaves points in the
planeA 3-dimensional rotation is applied to an object by repositioning it along a circular
path in the xyz plane.
To generate a rotation we specify a rotation angle θ and the position
(xr,yr,zr) of the rotation point about which the object is to be rotated. We can rotate a
model in 3-D in several different ways. A typical rotation transformation specifies an axis
and an angle of rotation around that axis. The RotateTransform3D class allows you to
define a Rotation3D with its Rotation property. You then specify Axis and Angle
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properties on the Rotation3D, in this case an AxisAngleRotation3D, to define the

transformation. The following examples rotate a model by 60 degrees around the Y axis.
Axis-angle rotations assume rotation about the origin if a value is not
specified for the CenterX, CenterY, and CenterZ properties on RotateTransform3D. As
with scaling, it's helpful to remember that the rotation transforms the model's entire
coordinate space. If the model was not created about the origin, or has been translated
previously, the rotation might "pivot" about the origin instead of rotating in place.
Positive value=anti-clockwise rotation.

Negative value =clockwise rotation.
The transformation can also be described as a rotation about a rotation axis. That is
perpendicular to xy plane and passes through the pivot point.
Coordinate-Axes Rotations
Around the x axis Around the y axis Around the z axis
P’=R .P
A rotation matrix for any axis that does not coincide with a coordinate axis can be set up
as a composite transformation involving combination of translations and the
coordinate-axes rotations.
Translate the object so that the rotation axis passes through the coordinate origin
Rotate the object so that the axis rotation coincides with one of the coordinate axes
Perform the specified rotation about that coordinate axis
Apply inverse rotation axis back to its original orientation
Apply the inverse translation to bring the rotation axis back to its original position
Properties of Rotation Matrix

1. A rotation matrix is a special orthogonal matrix
AAT = I
where AT is the transpose of A and I is the identity matrix.
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2.R is normalized: the squares of the elements in any row or column sum to 1.
3.R is orthogonal: the dot product of any pair of rows or any pair of columns is 0.
4.The rows of R represent the coordinates in the original space of unit vectors along the
coordinate axes of the rotated space.
5.The columns of R represent the coordinates in the rotated space of unit vectors along
the axes of the original space.
ow to get these matrix ? let's have a look first at the rotation around the z axis
SCALING
A scaling transformation alters the size of an object. ScaleTransform3D
changes the model's scale by a specified scale vector with reference to a center point.
Specify a uniform scale, which scales the model by the same value in the X, Y, and Z
axes, to change the model's size proportionally. For example, setting the transform's
ScaleX, ScaleY, and ScaleZ properties to 0.5 halves the size of the model; setting the
same properties to 2 doubles its scale in all three axes.
ScaleVector Example
By specifying a non-uniform scale transformation—a scale transformation
whose X, Y, and Z values are not all the same—you can cause a model to stretch or
contract in one or two dimensions without affecting the others. For example, setting
ScaleX to 1, ScaleY to 2, and ScaleZ to 1 would cause the transformed model to double
in height but remain unchanged along the X and Z axes.
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By default, ScaleTransform3D causes vertices to expand or contract about the origin

(0,0,0). If the model you want to transform is not drawn from the origin, however, scaling
the model from the origin will not scale the model "in place." Instead, when the model's
vertices are multiplied by the scale vector, the scale operation will have the effect of
translating the model as well as scaling it.
X’=x .sx
Y’=y .sy
Z’= z.sz
The scaling matrix is
Sx 0 0 0
0 Sy 0 0
0 0 Sz 0
0 0 0 1
P’=S .P;
Transformations in 3D
Type Column Vector Row Vector Properties
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Matrix Matrix
100 tx 1 000
Translation Rigid Body
010 ty 0 100
Orthogonal
001 tz 0 010
translate (tx ty tz) Submatrix
000 1 tx ty tz 1
sx 0 00 sx 0 0 0
Scale 0 sy 0 0 0 sy 0 0
Non-rigid Body
scale (sx sy sy) 0 0 sz 0 0 0 sz 0
0 0 01 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Rotation around X 0 cos(a) -sin(a) 0 0 cos(a) sin(a) 0 Rigid Body
rotate (1 0 0) (a) 0 sin(a) cos(a) 0 0 -sin(a) cos(a) 0 Orthogonal
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
cos(a) 0 sin(a) 0 cos(a) 0 -sin(a) 0
Rotation around Y 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Rigid Body
rotate (0 1 0) (a) -sin(a) 0 cos(a) 0 sin(a) 0 cos(a) 0 Orthogonal
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
cos(a) -sin(a) 0 0 cos(a) sin(a) 0 0
Rotation around Z sin(a) cos(a) 0 0 -sin(a) cos(a) 0 0 Rigid Body
rotate (0 0 1) (a) 0 0 10 0 0 1 0 Orthogonal
0 0 01 0 0 01
Shear XY 1 0 shx 0 1 0 00
0 1 shy 0 0 1 00
[x, y, z, 1] => Non-rigid Body
00 1 0 shx shy 1 0
[x + shx*z, y + shy*z,
z, 1] 00 0 1 0 0 01
Shear XZ 1 shx 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 1 00 shx 1 shz 0
0 shz 1 0 0 0 1 0
[x + shx*y, y, z +
shz*y, 1] 0 0 01 0 0 0 1
Shear YZ 1 000 1 shy shz 0
shy 100 0 1 0 0
shz 010 0 0 1 0
[x, y + shy*x, z +
shz*x, 1] 0 001 0 0 0 1
Module 4
4.1)3D VIEWING
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For 3D graphics applications, we can view an object from any special

position from the front, above, or from the back. The 3D descriptions of object must be
projected onto the flat viewing surface of the output device.
3D TRANFORMATION PIPELINE
MODELING VIEWING
TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORMATION
MC WC VC
PROJECTION WORKSTATION
TRANFORMATION TRANSFORMATION
PC DC
MC – Modeling coordinates PC – Projection coordinates

WC – World coordinates DC – Device coordinates
VC – View coordinates
The steps for modeling and converting a world coordinate positions of a

scene to device coordinates, first model the scene. Then convert the world coordinate
positions to viewing coordinate positions. Projection operations are performed to convert
the viewing coordinate description to coordinate positions on the projection plane.
PROJECTIONS
Once world-coordinate descriptions of the objects in a scene are converted
to. Viewing coordinates, we can project the three-dimensional objects onto the trio
dimensional view plane. There are two basic projection methods. In a parallel projection,
coordinate positions are transformed to the vied plane along parallel lines, For a
perspective projection object positions are transformed to the view plane along lines that
converge to a point called the projection reference point (or center of projection).
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A parallel projection preserves relative proportions of objects, and this is

the method used in drafting to produce scale drawings of three-dimensional objects.
Accurate views of the various sides of an object are obtained with a parallel projection,
but this does not give us a realistic representation of the appearance of a three-
dimensional object. A perspective projection, on the other hand, produces realistic views
but does not preserve relative proportions. Projections of distant objects are smaller than
the projections of objects of the same size that are closer to the projection plane.
Parallel Projections
We can specify a parallel projection with a projection vector that defines

the direction for the projection lines. When the projection is perpendicular to the view
plane, we have an orthographic parallel projection. Otherwise, we have an oblique
parallel projection. Figure illustrates the two types of parallel projections. Some graphics
packages, such as GL on Silicon Graphics workstations, do not provide for oblique
projections.
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We can form orthographic projections that display more than one face of
an object. Such views are called axonometric orthographic projections. The most
commonly used axonometric orthographic projection is the isometric projection.
Transformation equations for an orthographic parallel projection are
Straight forward. If the view plane is placed at position z, along the z , axis , then any
point (x, y, z) in viewing coordinates is transformed to projection coordinates as
where the original z-coordinate value is preserved for the depth information needed in
depth cueing and visible-surface determination procedures. An oblique projection is
obtained by projecting points along parallel lines that are not perpendicular to the
projection plane. In some applications packages, an oblique projection vector is specified
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with two angles, a and O, Point (x, y, z) is projected to position (x,, y,) on the view
plane. Orthographic projection coordinates on the plane are (x, y). The oblique projection
line from (x, y, z) to (x,, y,) makes an angle a with the line on the projection plane that
joins (x,, y,,) and (x, y). This line, of length L, is at an angle A with the horizontal
direction in the projection plane.
Length L depends on the angle a and the z coordinate of the point to be projected:
tan α = z / L
Thus
L = z / tan α
zL1
L, is the inverse of tan alpha, which is also the value of L when z = 1. We can then write
the oblique projection equations as
The transformation matrix for producing any parallel projection onto the xy plane can be
written as
An orthographic projection obtained when L, = 0 . Oblique projections are generated

with nonzero values for L. Projection matrix has a structure similar to that of a z-axis
shear matrix. In fact, the effect of this projection matrix is to shear planes of constant 2
and project them onto the view plane. The x- and y-coordinate value within each plane
of constant z are shifted by an amount proportional to the value of the plane so that
angles, distances, and parallel lines in the plane arc projected accurately.
Perspective Projections
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To obtain a perspective projection of a three-dimensional ob*, we transform

points along projection lines that meet at the projection reference point.
Cabinet projections of a cube onto a view plane for two values of angle O. Depth is
projected as one-half that of the width and height.
We can write equations describing coordinate positions along this perspective projection
line in parametric form as
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Parameter u takes values from 0 to 1, and coordinate position (x', y', z') represents any
point along the projection line. When u = 0, we are at position P = (x,
y, z). At the other end of the line, u = 1 and we have the projection reference
point coordinates (0, 0, z,,). On the view plane, z' = z , and we can solve the z' equation
for parameter u at this position along the projection line: Substituting this value of u into
the equations for x' and y', we obtain the perspective transformation equations
Where dp = zprp – zvp is the distance of the view plane from the projection reference
point. Using a three-dimensional homogeneous-coordinate representation, we can write
the perspective projection transformation in matrix form as
In this representation, the homogeneous factor is
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and the projection coordinates on the view plane are calculated from the homogeneous
coordinates as
where the original z-coordinate value would be retained in projection
When a three-dimensional object is projected onto a view plane using per-

Three-Dimensional Viewing spective transformation equations, any set of parallel lines
in the object that are not parallel to the plane are projected into converging lines. Parallel
Lines that are parallel to the view plane will be projected as parallel lines. The point at
which a set of projected parallel lines appears to converge is called a vanishing point.
Each such set of projected parallel lines will have a separate vanishing
point; and in general, a scene can have any number of vanishing points, depending on
how many sets of parallel lines there are in the scene. The vanishing point for any set of
lines that are parallel to one of the principal axes of an object is referred to as a principal
vanishing point. We control the number of principal vanishing points (one, two, or three)
with the orientation of the projection plane, and perspective projections are accordingly
classified as one-point, two-point, or three-point projections. The number of principal
vanishing points in a projection is determined by the number of principal axes
intersecting the view plane. Figure illustrates the appearance of one-point and two point
perspective projections for a cube.
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4.2)VISIBLE-SURFACE DETECTION METHODS
In the realistic graphics display, we have to identify those parts of a scene that
are visible from a chosen viewing position. The various algorithms that are used for that
are referred to as Visible-surface detection methods or hidden-surface elimination methods.
Visible-surface detection algorithms are broadly classified according to
whether they deal with object definitions directly or with their projected images. These
two approaches are called object-space methods and image-space methods, respectively.
An object-space method compares objects and parts of objects to each other
within the scene definition to determine which surfaces, as a whole, we should label as
visible. In an image-space algorithm, visibility is decided point by point at each pixel
position on the projection plane. Most visible-surface algorithms use image-space
methods, although object space methods can be used effectively to locate visible surfaces
in some cases. Line display algorithms, on the other hand, generally use object-space
methods to identify visible lines in wire frame displays, but many image-space visible-
surface algorithms can be adapted easily to visible-line detection.
BACK-FACE DETECTION
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A fast and simple object-space method for identifying the back faces of a
polyhedron is based on the "inside-outside" tests . A point (x, y,z) is "inside" a polygon
surface with plane parameters A, B, C, and D if
When an inside point is along the line of sight to the surface, the polygon must be a back
face (we are inside that face and cannot see the front of it from our
viewing position).We can simplify this test by considering the normal vector N to a
polygon surface, which has Cartesian components (A, B, C). In general, if V is a vector in
the viewing direction from the eye (or "camera") position, as shown in Fig. 13-1,
then this polygon is a back face if
Furthermore, if object descriptions have been converted to projection coordinates and our
viewing direction is parallel to the viewing z,. axis, then V = (0, 0, V;) and
so that we only need to consider the sign of C, the ; component of the normal vector N .In
a right-handed viewing system with viewing direction along the negative z, axis, the
polygon is a back face if C < 0. Also, we cannot see any
face whose normal has z component C ..- 0, since our viewing direction is grazing that
polygon. Thus, in general, we can label any polygon as a back face if its normal vector
has a z-component value:
DEPTH-BUFFER METHOD
A commonly used image-space approach to detecting visible surfaces is the

depth-buffer method, which compares surface depths at each pixel position on the
projection plane. This procedure is also referred to as the z-buffer method, since object
depth is usually measured from the view plane along the z axis of a viewing system. Each
surface of a scene is processed separately, one point at a time across the surface. The
method is usually applied to scenes containing only polygon surfaces, because depth
values can be computed very quickly and the method is easy to implement. But the
method can be applied to no planar surfaces. With object descriptions converted to
projection coordinates, each (x, y, z ) position on a polygon surface corresponds to the
orthographic projection point (x, y) on the view plane. Therefore, for each pixel position
(x, y) on the view plane, object depths can be compared by comparing z values. Figure
shows three surfaces at varying distances along the orthographic projection line from
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position (1,y ) in a view plane taken as the xy, plane. Surface 5, is closest at this position,
so its surface intensity value at (x, y) is saved. As implied by the name of this method,
two buffer areas are required.
A depth buffer is used to store depth values for each (x, y) position as
surfaces are processed, and the refresh buffer stores the intensity values for each position.
Initially, all positions in the depth buffer are set to 0 (minimum depth), and the refresh
buffer is initialized to the background intensity. Each surface listed in the polygon tables
is then processed, one scan line at a time, calculating the depth (z value) at each (x, y)
pixel position. The calculated depth is compared to the value previously stored in the
depth buffer at that position. If the calculated depth is patter than the value stored in the
depth buffer, the new depth value is stored, and the surface intensity at that position is
determined and in the same xy location in the refresh buffer.
Steps:
1. Initialize the depth buffer and refresh buffer so that for all buffer positions (x,y),
depth(x,y) = 0, refresh(x,y)= Ibackground
2. For each position on each polygon surface, compare depth values to previously
stored values in the depth buffer to determine visibility.
a) Calculate the depth z for each (x,y) position on the polygon.
b) If z>depth(x,y), then set
Depth(x,y)=z, refresh(x,y)= I surf(x,y)
After all surfaces have been processed, the depth buffer contains depth values
for the visible surfaces and the refresh buffer contains the corresponding intensity values
for those surfaces.
The ratio -A/C is constant for each surface, so succeeding depth values across a
scan line are obtained from preceding values with a single addition. On each scan line,
we start by calculating the depth on a left edge of the polygon that intersects that scan
line We first determine the y-coordinate extents of each polygon, and process the surface
from the topmost scan line to the bottom scan line, as shown in Fig. Starting at a top
vertex, we can recursively calculate x positions down a left edge of the polygon as x' = x -
l/m, where rn is the slope of the edge. Depth values down the edge are then obtained
recursively as
If we are processing down a vertical edge, the slope is infinite and the recursive
calculations reduce to
An alternate approach is to use a midpoint method or Bresenham-type algorithm for

determining x values on left edges for each scan line. Also the method can be applied to
curved surfaces by determining depth and intensity values at each surface projection
point. For polygon surfaces, the depth-buffer method is very easy to implement, and it
requires no sorting of the surfaces in a scene. But it does require the availability of a
second buffer in addition to the refresh buffer.
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A-BUFFER METHOD
An extension of the ideas in the depth-buffer method is the A-buffer

method. The A buffer method represents an anti aliased, area-averaged, accumulation-
buffer method developed by Lucas film for implementation in the surface-rendering
system called REYES (an acronym for "Renders Everything You Ever Saw").A
drawback of the depth-buffer method is that it can only find one visible surface at each
pixel position. In other words, it deals only with opaque surfaces and cannot accumulate
intensity values for more than one surface, as is necessary if transparent surfaces are to be
displayed The A-buffer method expands the depth buffer so that each position in the
buffer can reference a linked list of surfaces.Thus, more than one surface intensity can be
taken into consideration at each pixel position, and object edges can be ant aliased.
Each position in the A-buffer has two fields:
• depth field - stores a positive or negative real number
• intensity field - stores surface-intensity information or a pointer value.
If the depth field is positive, the number stored at that position is the depth of a single
surface overlapping the corresponding pixel area. If the depth field is negative, this
indicates multiple-surface contributions to the pixel intensity.
Single surface overlap
d>0
Depth Intensity
Field Field
d<0 Suf 1 Suf 2
Depth Intensity
Field Field Multiple surface overlap
The A-buffer can be constructed using methods similar to those in the depth-
buffer algorithm. Scan lines are processed to determine surface overlaps of pixels across
the individual scan lines. Surfaces are subdivided into a polygon mesh and clipped
against the pixel boundaries. Using the opacity factors and percent of surface overlaps,
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we can calculate the intensity of each pixel as an average of the contributions from the
overlapping surfaces.
SCAN-LINE METHOD
This image space method for removing hidden surface5 is an extension of the
scan-line algorithm for tilling polygon interiors. Instead of filling just one surface, we
now deal with multiple surfaces. As each scan line is processed, all polygon surfaces
intersecting that line are examined to determine which are visible. Across each scan line,
depth calculations are made for each overlapping surface to determine which is nearest to
the view plane. When the visible surface has been determined, the intensity value for that
position is entered into the refresh buffer.
Any number of overlapping polygon surfaces can be processed with this scan-
line method. Flags for the surfaces are set to indicate whether a position is inside or
outside, and depth calculations are performed when surfaces overlap. When these
coherence methods are used, we need to be careful to keep track of which surface section
is visible on each scan line. This works only if surfaces do not cut through or otherwise
cyclically overlap each other. If any kind of cyclic overlap is present in a scene, we can
divide the surfaces to eliminate the overlaps. The dashed lines in this figure indicate
where planes could be subdivided to form two distinct surfaces, so that the cyclic
overlaps are eliminated.
Light Sources
Every object in a scene is potentially a source of light. Light may be either or reflected
from objects. Generally, in computer graphics we make a distinction between light
emitters and light reflectors. The emitters are called light sources, and the reflectors are
usually the objects being rendered. Light sources are characterized by their intensities
while reflectors are characterized by their material properties.
Point Light Sources
The rays emitted from a point light radially diverge from the source. A point light source
is a fair approximation to a local light source such as a light bulb. The direction of the
light to each point on a surface changes when a point light source is used. Thus a
normalized vector to the light emitter must be computed for each point that is
illuminated.
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4.3)Basic illumination models
Illumination models model the interaction of light with the surface and range from
simple to very complex.
a) Local Illumination = direct illumination - considers light traveling directly

from source to surface
b) Global Illumination = indirect illumination - takes into account reflection of

light from other surfaces
Ambient Light
Even though an object in a scene is not directly lit it will still be visible. This is because
light is reflected from nearby objects. Ambient light refers to any outside light such as
sunlight coming through windows or overhead room light. i.e. Ambient light is the
general background light all around us .Ambient light has no spatial or directional
characteristics. The amount of ambient light incident on each object is a constant for all
surfaces in the scene.
Let
Ia = Ambient light intensity
ka = Ambient light reflected
Then intensity on the surface is described by

I = Iaka
Ideal Diffuse Reflection
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First, we will consider a particular type of surface called an ideal diffuse reflector. An
ideal diffuse surface is, at the microscopic level, a very rough surface.
Chalk is a good approximation to an ideal diffuse surface.
Because of the microscopic variations in the surface, an incoming ray of light is equally
likely to be reflected in any direction over the hemisphere. Ambient light
reflection is an approximation of global diffuse lighting effects. Diffuse
reflections are constant over each surface in a scene, independent of the viewing
direction. The intensity of the diffuse reflection at any point is given by
I ambdiff = Kd Ia
where, Kd->Coefficient of diffused reflection.
Ia-> intensity of ambient light
Kd is assigned a constant value in the interval 0 to 1.
Lambert's cosine law
Ideal diffuse reflectors are also called Lambertian reflectors. Ideal diffuse reflectors
reflect light according to Lambert's cosine law, (these are sometimes called Lambertian
reflectors).
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Lambert's law states that the reflected energy from a small surface area in a particular
direction is proportional to the cosine of the angle between that direction and the surface
normal. Lambert's law determines how much of the incoming light energy is reflected.
The amount of energy that is reflected in any one direction is constant in this model. In
other words, the reflected intensity is independent of the viewing direction. The intensity
does, however, depend on the light source's orientation relative to the surface, and it is
this property that is governed by Lambert's law.
If Il is the intensity of the point light source, then the diffuse reflection equation for a
point on the surface can be written as
Il,diff = Kd Il cos θ
A surface is illuminated by a point source only if the angle of incidence is in the range 0
to 90 (cos θ is in the interval from 0 to 1).When cos θ is negative, the light source is
behind the surface.
If N is the unit normal vector to a surface and L is the unit direction vector to the point
light source from a position on the surface, then
Cos θ =N.L
The diffuse reflection equation for a point source illumination is
Il,diff = Kd Il (N.L)
According to Lambert’s cosine law the intensity of the reflected light depends on the
angle of illumination. A surface that is perpendicular to the direction of the incident light
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appears brighter than a surface that is at an angle to the direction of the incoming light.
As an angle increases less of the incident light falls on the surface.
We can combine the ambient and point source intensity calculations to obtain an
expression for the total diffuse reflection.
Total diffuse reflection equation is given by
Idiff = Ka Ia + Kd Il (N.L)
Specular Reflection
I spec = W(q)
W(q) Il cos ns θ
Specular reflection, on the other hand, is viewpoint dependent. Light striking a specular
surface, by Snell's Law, will be reflected at an angle which mirrors the incident light
angle, so the viewing angle is very important. Specular reflection forms tight, bright
highlights, making the surface appear glossy).
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It is is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light (or sometimes other kinds of wave) from
a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single
outgoing direction. Such behaviour is described by the law of reflection, which states that
the direction of outgoing reflected light and the direction of incoming light make the
same angle with respect to the surface normal; this is commonly stated as θi = θr.
This is in contrast to diffuse reflection, where incoming light is reflected in a broad range
of directions. The most familiar example of the distinction between specular and diffuse
reflection would be matte and glossy paints. While both exhibit a combination of specular
and diffuse reflection, matte paints has a higher proportion of diffuse reflection and
glossy paints have a greater proportion of specular reflection. Very highly polished
surfaces, such as high quality mirrors, can exhibit almost perfect specular reflection.
Even when a surface exhibits only specular reflection with no diffuse reflection, not all of
the light is necessarily reflected. Some of the light may be absorbed by the materials.
Additionally, depending on the type of material behind the surface, some of the light may
be transmitted through the surface. For most interfaces between materials, the fraction of
the light that is reflected increases with increasing angle of incidence θi. If the light is
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propagating in a material with a higher index of refraction than the material whose
surface it strikes, then total internal reflection may occur.
Phong Model
This is an empirical model, which is not based on physics, but physical

observation. Phong observed that for very shiny surfaces the specular
highlight was small and the intensity fell off rapidly, while for duller
surfaces it was larger and fell off more slowly. He decided to let the
reflected intensity be a function of (cos α )n with n >= 200 for a shiny
surface and n small for a dull surface. For a perfect reflector n equals
infinity, and for a piece of cardboard n equals 0 or 1. In the diagram
below we can see how the function (cos α )n behaves for different
values of n.
Specular reflection is also a function of the light incidence angle θ . An

example is glass which has almost no specular reflectance for θ = 0
degrees but a very high specular reflectance for θ > 80 degrees.
Some substances, such as copper, actually change color with change
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in the incidence angle, as shown in the following plot of the reflectance

curve as a function of the incident angle for copper. .
Warn model
• Simulates studio lighting effects by controlling light intensity in different

directions
• control light direction using reflecting surface (only specular)
• control light direction using reflecting surface (only specular)
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• Flaps are used to control the amount of light emitted by a source in various
directions
• Spot lighting is simulated in warn model
RGB color model
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The RGB color model is an additive model in which red, green, and blue (often used in
additive light models) are combined in various ways to reproduce other colors. The name
of the model and the abbreviation ‘RGB’ comes from the three primary colors, red, green,
and blue. These three colors should not be confused with the primary pigments of red, blue,
and yellow, known in the art world as ‘primary colors’.
The RGB color model itself does not define what is meant by ‘red’, ‘green’ and ‘blue’, and
the results of mixing them are not exact unless the exact spectral make-up of the red, green
and blue primaries are defined. The color model then becomes an absolute color space,
such as RGB or Adobe RGB; see RGB color space for more details. This article discusses
concepts common to all the different RGB color spaces that use the RGB color model.
4.4)Rendering Methods
Constant Shading
The simplest shading model for a polygon is 'constant shading', also known as 'faceted
shading' or 'flat shading'. This approach applies an illumination model once to determine
a single intensity value that is then used to shade an entire polygon, and holding the value
across the polygon to reconstruct the polygon's shade. This approach is valid if several
assumptions are true:
1. The light source is at infinity, so N.L is constant across the polygon face.
2. The viewer is at infinity, so N.V is constant across the polygon face.
3. The polygon represents the actual surface being modeled, and is not an
approximation to a curved surface.
Gouraud Shading
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'Gouraud shading also called intensity interpolation shading' or 'color interpolation

shading', eliminates intensity discontinuities.
Gouraud shading extends the concept of interpolated shading applied to individual

polygons by interpolating polygon vertex illumination values that take into account the
surface being approximated. The Gouraud shading process requires that the normal
{perpendicular vector} be known for each vertex of the polygonal mesh. Gouraud was
able to compute these 'vertex normals' directly from an analytical description of the
surface. Alternatively, if the vertex normals are not stored with the mesh and cannot be
determined directly from the actual surface, then, Gouraud suggested, we can
approximate them by averaging the surface normals of all polygonal facets sharing each
vertex .If an edge is meant to be visible (as at the joint between a plane's wing and body),
then we find two vertex normals, one for each side of the edge, by averaging the normals
of polygons on each side of the edge separately.
The next step in Gouraud shading is to find 'vertex intensities' by using the vertex
normals with any desired illumination model. Finally, each polygon is shaded by linear
interpolation of vertex intensities along each edge and then between edges along each
scan line .The term 'Gouraud shading' is often generalized to refer to intensity
interpolation shading of even a single polygon in isolation, or to the interpolation of
arbitrary colors associated with polygon vertices {as is the case in computer games}.
The algorithm can be stated is as follows:
1. Compute a normal N for each vertex of the polygon.

2. From N compute intensity I for each vertex of the polygon.
3. From bi-linear interpolation compute intensity Ii for each pixel.
4. Paint pixel to shade corresponding to Ii.
Phong Shading
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The third shading model, Phong shading, is similar to Gouraud shading except that the
Normals are interpolated. Thus, the specular highlights are computed much more
precisely than in the Gouraud shading model.
The algorithm is as follows:
1. Compute a normal N for each vertex of the polygon.

2. From bi-linear interpolation compute a normal, Ni for each pixel. (This must be
renormalized each time)
3. From Ni compute intensity Ii for each pixel of the polygon.
4. Paint pixel to shade corresponding to Ii.
Note that this method is much more computationally intensive than Gouraud shading:
4.4)Ray Tracing Method
Our goal is find the color of each point on the view window. We subdivide the view
window into small squares, where each square corresponds to one pixel in the final
image. If you want to create an image at the resolution of 640x400, you would break up
the view window into a grid of 640 squares across and 400 square down. The real
problem, then, is assigning a color to each square. This is what ray tracing does.
The objective is to determine the color of each light ray that strikes the view window
before reaching the eye. Natural assumption would be that rays are traced starting at their
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point of origin, the light source, and towards their destination, the eye. Some will reach
the eye directly, others will bounce around some and then reach the eye, and many, many
more will probably never hit the eye at all. For all the rays that never reach the eye, the
effort tracing them was wasted.
Fig:Tracing rays from the light source to the eye. Lots of rays are wasted because they
never reach the eye.
In order to save ourselves this wasted effort, we trace only those rays that are guaranteed
to hit the view window and reach the eye. It seems at first that it is impossible to know
beforehand which rays reach the eye. After all, any given ray can bounce around the
room many times before reaching the eye. However, if we look at the problem
backwards, we see that it has a very simple solution. Instead of tracing the rays starting at
the light source, we trace them backwards, starting at the eye. Consider any point on the
view window whose color we're trying to determine. Its color is given by the color of the
light ray that passes through that point on the view window and reaches the eye. We can
just as well follow the ray backwards by starting at the eye and passing through the point
on its way out into the scene. The two rays will be identical, except for their direction: if
the original ray came directly from the light source, then the backwards ray will go
directly to the light source. So the backwards method does the same thing as the original
method, except it doesn't waste any effort on rays that never reach the eye.
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This, then, is how ray tracing works in computer graphics. For each pixel on the view
window, we define a ray that extends from the eye to that point. We follow this ray out
into the scene and as it bounces off of different objects. The final color of the ray (and
therefore of the corresponding pixel) is given by the colors of the objects hit by the ray as
bit travels through the scene.
Just as in the light-source-to-eye method it might take a very large number of bounces
before the ray ever hits the eye, in backwards method it might take many bounces before
the ray every hits the light. Since we need to establish some limit on the number of
bounces to follow the ray on, we make the following approximation: every time a ray hits
an object, we follow a single new ray from the point of intersection directly towards the
light source.
We trace a new ray from each ray-object intersection directly towards the light source
In the figure we see two rays, a and b, which intersect the purple sphere. To determine
the color of a, we follow the new ray a' directly towards the light source. The color of a
will then depend on several factors, discussed in Color and Shading below. As you can
see, b will be shadowed because the ray b' towards the light source is blocked by the
sphere itself. Ray a would have also been shadowed if another object blocked the ray a'.
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Module 5
5.1)FRACTALS
The natural objects like mountains, clouds, trees etc have irregular features.
These objects can be described with fractal-geometry methods. A fractal is generally "a
rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at
least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity.
The term was coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975 and was derived from the Latin
fractus meaning "broken" or "fractured".
A fractal often has the following features:
• It has a fine structure at arbitrarily small scales.

• It is too irregular to be easily described in traditional Euclidean geometric
language.
• It is self-similar (at least approximately or stochastically).
• It has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension
(although this requirement is not met by space-filling curves such as the Hilbert
curve).
• It has a simple and recursive definition.
Because they appear similar at all levels of magnification, fractals are often considered to
be infinitely complex (in informal terms). Natural objects that approximate fractals to a
degree include clouds, mountain ranges, lightning bolts, coastlines, and snow flakes.
However, not all self-similar objects are fractals—for example; the real line (a straight
Euclidean line) is formally self-similar but fails to have other fractal characteristics.
FRACTAL GENERATION PROCEDURES
A fractal object is generated by repeatedly applying a specified transformation

function to points within a region of space. If Po= (Xo,Yo,Zo) is a selected initial point,
P1=F(Po), P2=F(P1)…….
Three common techniques for generating fractals are:
129
1.Escape-time fractals — These are defined by a recurrence relation at each point in a

space (such as the complex plane). Examples of this type are the Mandelbrot set, Julia
set, the Burning Ship fractal and the Lyapunov fractal.
2.Iterated function systems — These have a fixed geometric replacement rule. Cantor
set, Sierpinski carpet, Sierpinski gasket, Peano curve, Koch snowflake, Harter-Heighway
dragon curve, T-Square, Menger sponge, are some examples of such fractals.
3.Random fractals — Generated by stochastic rather than deterministic processes, for

example, trajectories of the Brownian motion, Lévy flight, fractal landscapes and the
Brownian tree. The latter yields so-called mass- or dendritic fractals, for example,
diffusion-limited aggregation or reaction-limited aggregation clusters.
Classification of fractals
1. Self-similar fractals: Fractals can also be classified according to their self-similarity.

There are two types of self-similarity found in fractals:
Statistical self-similarity — This is the weakest type of self-similarity; the fractal has
numerical or statistical measures which are preserved across scales. Most reasonable
definitions of "fractal" trivially imply some form of statistical self-similarity. (Fractal
dimension itself is a numerical measure which is preserved across scales.) Random
fractals are examples of fractals which are statistically self-similar, but neither exactly
nor quasi-self-similar.
Deterministic self-similar – Here non random variations are used.
2. Self-affine fractals: These fractals have parts that are formed with different scaling
parameters Sx, Sy, Sz in different coordinate directions.
3. Invariant fractals: These are formed with non-linear transformations. This includes
self-squaring fractals.
Applications
Random fractals can be used to describe many highly irregular real-world

objects. Other applications of fractals include:
• Classification of histopathology slides in medicine

• Enzyme/enzymology (Michaelis-Menten kinetics)
• Generation of new music
• Generation of various art forms
• Signal and image compression
• Seismology
130
• Computer and video game design, especially computer graphics for organic
environments and as part of procedural generation
• Fractography and fracture mechanics
5.2)ANIMATION
Computer animation generally refers to any time sequence of visual changes in a

scene. In addition to changing object position with translation or rotations, computer-
generated animations could display time variations in object size, color, transparency
or surface texture.
Design of an animation sequence
In general an animation sequence is designed with the following steps

a) Storyboard layout
b) Object definitions
c) Key-frame specifications
d) Generation of in between frames
131
The storyboard is an outline of the action. It defines motion sequences as a set of

basic events that are to take place. Depending on the type of animation to be
produced, the storyboard could consist of a set of rough sketches or it could be a list
of basic ideas for the motion.
An object definition is given for each participant in the action. Objects can be defined
in terms of basic shapes, such as polygon or splines. In addition, associated sets of
movements are also specified along with the shape.
A key frame is a detailed drawing of the scene at a certain time in the animation
sequence. Within each key frame each object is positioned according to the time for
that frame.
In-betweens are intermediate frames between the key frames. The number of In-
betweens needed is determined by the media to be used to display animation. Film
requires 24 frames per second, and graphics terminal are refreshed at the rate of 30 to
60 frames per second. Typically time intervals for the motion are set up so that there
are from three to five In-betweens for each pair of key frames.
When someone creates a 3D animation on a computer, they usually don't specify the
exact position of any given object on every single frame. They create key frames. Key
frames are important frames during which an object changes its size, direction, shape
or other properties. The computer then figures out all the in between frames and saves
an extreme amount of time for the animator.
Two key frames drawn by the user
132
In between frames generated by the computer
On raster scan systems we can generate real time animation in limited applications
using raster operations. A simple method for translation in the xy plane is to transfer a
rectangular blocks of pixels through arbitrary angles using anti-aliasing procedures.
To rotate a block of pixels we need to determine the percent of area coverage for
those pixels that overlap the rotated block. Sequences of raster operations can be
executed to produce real time animation of either two-dimensional or three-
dimensional objects, as long as we restrict the animation to motions in the projection
plane. Then no viewing or visible surface algorithms need be invoked.
5.3)Morphing
Transformation of object shapes from one form to another is called morphing. We
generate set of in-betweens from the specification of two or more key frames. Given
the animation paths we can interpolate the positions of individual objects between any
two times or key frames. With complex object transformations the shapes of the
object may change over time. If all surfaces are described with polygon meshes then
the number of edges per polygon can change from one frame to the next. Thus the
total number of line segments can be different in different frames.
Transformation of object shapes from one form to another is called morphing.

Morphing methods can be applied to any motion or transition involving a change of
shape.
Given two key frames for an object transformation we first adjust the object
specification in one if the frames so that the number of polygon edges (or the number
of vertices) is the same for the two frames. This is illustrated below
133
Frame K Frame K+1
Frame K Halfway Frame Frame K+1
A straight-line segment in key frame k is transformed into two line segments in key
frame k+1. Since key frame k+1 has an extra vertex, we add a vertex between 1 and 2 in
key frame K to balance the number of vertices and edges in the two key frames. Using
linear interpolation to generate the in betweens we transition the added vertex in key
frame k into vertex 3’ along the straight-line path as shown.We can state general
preprocessing rules for equalizing key frames in terms of either the number of edges or
the number of vertices to be added to a key frame.
Case 1: Equalizing edge count.
134
Let the parameters Lk and Lk+1 denote the number of line segments in two consecutive
frames. We then define
Lmax = max(Lk, Lk+1)
Lmin = min(Lk, Lk+1)
Ne = Lmax mod Lmin
Ns = int(Lmax/ Lmin)
Then the preprocessing is accomplished by
1. Dividing the Ne edges of keyframemin into Ns sections.
2. Dividing the remaining lines of keyframemin into Ns sections
Case 2: Equalizing vertex count
Let the parameters be Vk and Vk+1 denote the number of vertices in the two consecutive
frames. We define
Vmax = max(Vk, Vk+1)

Vmin = min(Vk, Vk+1)
Nls = (Vmax-1) mod (Vmin-1)
Np = int ((Vmax-1) / (Vmin-1))
Preprocessing using vertex count is performed by

1. Adding Np points to Nls line sections of keyframemin
Adding Np-1 points to the remaining edges of keyframemin
135
Text Books and websites reffered.
1. Computer Graphics (C version) - Donald Hearn & Pauline Baker (Pearson

Education Asia)
2. Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics – William .N. Newman, Robert .F.

Sproull (second edition), McGraw Hill edition
3. http://www.cs.unc.edu/~mantler/research/bezier/
4. http://www.rocw.raifoundation.org/computing/MCA/computergraphics/lecture-
notes/lecture-06.pdf
Reference:
1. Computer Graphics Principles & Practice -Foley, VanDam, Feiner, Hughes

(second edition in C), Addison Wesley
136

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Computer Graphics Dept of Computer Science & Engg, VJCET

Computer graphics can be used in many disciplines. Charting, Presentations, Drawing,

In particular, we will emphasize the following

a) Basic concepts of Computer Graphics

g) Applications of Computer Graphics

1.2) Basic concepts of Computer Graphics

1.3) Different types of Computer Graphics

Computer Graphics can be broadly divided into two

a) Non Interactive Computer Graphics

Non Interactive Computer Graphics: In non interactive computer graphics otherwise

Interactive Computer Graphics: Interactive Computer Graphics involves a two way

1.4) Origin of Computer Graphics

1.5) Working of an interactive graphics display

Interactive graphics display consists of three components

Now what should be done to change or modify this image?

1.6) Importance of speed in displaying pictures

Why is speed so important in displaying pictures?

1.7) The change in size an orientation of pictures

These transformations or changes are based on standard mathematical techniques:

1.8) Applications of Computer Graphics

The following are also considered graphics applications:

Illustration/design programs: Supports more advanced features than paint programs,

workstation high-quality printed documents can be produced. A desktop publishing

Resolution in various media

1.11) Image resolution

Image resolution on raster displays

1.12) Graphics Primitives and Attributes

Even the most complex computer-generated graphic images are produced by a

Associated with each graphics primitive is a set of Attributes. The attributes of a

1.13) Frame Buffer

N-bit colour Frame buffer

An N- bit plane gray level frame buffer

Simple Color buffer

Operation of an electron gun with an accelerating anode

Basic design of a magnetic deflection CRT

To allow continuous refreshing of an image there must be some stored representation of

1.14)Shadow Mask CRT

Importance of Refresh Rates

What is a refresh rate and why is a monitor's refresh rate important?

How are refresh rates calculated?

How to calculate maximum refresh rates?

Example: A monitor with a horizontal scanning frequency of 96 kHz at a resolution of

fV = 96,000 / 1024 x 0.95

fV = 96,000 / 1200 x 0.95

1.15) Raster Graphics Display Architecture

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

• The screen is subdivided into a matrix of pixels (smallest

Raster scanline -- A line of pixels along the screen

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

1. The DISPLAY PROCESSOR produces the raster image in the

Raster Scan Display

Unlike random-scan which is a line drawing device, refresh CRT is a point-plotting

1.16) Random Scan Display

In random scan display an electron beam is deflected from endpoint to end-point.

Ideal line drawing Random Scan Display

Colour in Raster Graphics

1.17) Raster Scan Systems

Architecture of a simple raster graphics system

Refresh operation of the video buffer

Raster Scan Display processor

Raster Scan Display processor is sometimes referred to as graphics controller or a

defined as a grid of pixel position defined as a curve outline