Untitled Essay Research Paper IntroductionPeople are living

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

People are living in a three-dimensional space. They know what is up, down, left, right,

close and far. They know when something is getting closer or moving away. However, the

traditional personal computers can only make use of two dimensional space due to

relatively low technology level of the video card in the past. As the new technology has

been introduced to the video card industry in recent years, the video card can now render

3D graphics. Most of the PC computer games nowadays are in three dimensions. In addition,

some web sites also apply the use of three dimensional space. This means that they are no

longer a flat homepage, but instead a virtual world. With that added dimension, they all

look more realistic and attractive. Nevertheless, 3D do not exist in most of the business

programs today, but it can be forecasted that it is not far away.

Many new kinds of video cards have been introduced to the market recently. In the past,

the video card could only deliver two dimensional graphics which were only in low

resolution. However, there has now emerged as a result of high resolution three

dimensional graphics technology. This paper will discuss why the video card nowadays can

process high resolution three dimensional graphics, but why the video card in the past

could only process low resolution two dimensional graphics. The explanation will be based

on some recently developed video cards such like Matrox Millenium. This paper will also

discuss how the 3D graphic displays on a 2D monitor. Lastly, the video card, Matrox

Millennium, will also be discussed.

Basic principles In order to understand the recent development of the video card,

let’s take a look on how a video card works.

The video card is a circuit, which is responsible for processing the

special video data from the central processing unit (CPU) into a format that the visual

display unit (VDU) or monitor can understand, to form a picture on the screen. The Video

Chipset, the Video Memory ( Video RAM ) and the Digital Analog Converter ( RAM DAC ) are

the major parts of a video card.

After the special video data leaves the CPU, it has to pass through

four major steps inside the video card before it reaches the VDU finally. First, the

special video data will transfer from the CPU to the Video Chipset, which is the part

responsible for processing the special video data, through the bus. Secondly, the data

will transfer from the Video Chipset to the Video Memory which stores the image displayed

on a bitmap display. Then, the data will transfer to the RAM DAC which is responsible for

reading the image and converting the image from digital data to analog data. It should be

noted that every data transfer inside the computer system is digital. Lastly, the analog

data will transfer from the RAM DAC to the VDU through a cable connected between them

outside the computer system.

The performance of a video card is mainly dependent upon its speed, the amount and quality

of the Video Memory, the Video Chipset and the RAM DAC.

The faster the speed, the higher the picture quality and resolution the video card can

deliver. This is due to the fact that the picture on the VDU has to change continuously,

and this change must be made as fast as possible in order to display a high quality and

realistic image. In the process of transferring data from the CPU to the Video Chipset,

the speed is mainly dependent upon the type and speed of the bus, the mainboard and its

chipset.

The amount of the Video Memory is also responsible for the color and screen resolution.

The higher the amount of the Video Memory, the higher the color depth the video card can

render. On the other hand, the type of the Video RAM is an another factor that affects the

speed of the video card.

The Video Chipset is the brain of a video card. It similar to the CPU in the motherboard.

However, unlike the CPU which can be fitted with different motherboards, certain Video

Chipsets can only be fitted with certain video cards. The Video Chipset is responsible for

processing the special video data received from the CPU. Thus, it determines all the

performance aspects of the video card.

The RAM DAC is the part responsible for the refresh rates of the monitor. The quality of

the RAM DAC and its maximum pixel frequency, which is measured in MHz, are the factors

affecting the refresh rates. In fact, a 220 MHz RAM DAC is not necessarily but most likely

better than a 135 MHz one.Recent developments

Traditionally, the personal computer can only deliver two dimensional pictures. However,

as people want to increase their living standards, they want the picture on their personal

computer be more realistic and attractive. Thus, the display of three dimensional pictures

in the personal computer is being developed. The rendering of the 3D image requires the

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать