These notes are prepared according to Pune university syllabus
Prepared by : Bhushan Vardhekar(
[email protected])
9. Write a notes on graphics mode and video and graphics adapters.
Ans:
Graphics mode: Many video adapters support several different modes of resolution, all of which are
divided into two general categories: character mode and graphics mode. Of the two modes, graphics mode is the
more sophisticated. Programs that run in graphics mode can display an unlimited variety of shapes and fonts,
whereas programs running in character mode are severely limited. Programs that run entirely in graphics mode
are called graphics-based programs. In character mode, the display screen is treated as an array of blocks, each
of which can hold one ASCII character. In graphics mode, the display screen is treated as an array of pixels.
Characters and other shapes are formed by turning on combinations of pixels.
Video adapter: A board that plugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities. The display
capabilities of a computer, however, depend on both the logical circuitry (provided in the video adapter) and the
display monitor. A monochrome monitor, for example, cannot display colors no matter how powerful the video
adapter. Many different types of video adapters are available for PCs. Most conform to one of the video
standards defined by IBM or VESA. Each adapter offers several different video modes. The two basic
categories of video modes are text and graphics. In text mode, a monitor can display only ASCII characters. In
graphics mode, a monitor can display any bit-mapped image. Within the text and graphics modes, some
monitors also offer a choice of resolutions. At lower resolutions a monitor can display more colors.
Modern video adapters contain memory, so that the computer's RAM is not used for storing displays. In
addition, most adapters have their own graphics coprocessor for performing graphics calculations. These
adapters are often called graphics accelerators. Video adapters are also called video cards, video boards, video
display boards, graphics cards and graphics adapters.
Video and Graphics Adapters
While the names to describe it are many (video adapter, video card, video board, video display board,
graphics card or graphics adapter) its job and function within a computer system remains the same, regardless of
what you call it. Your computer's video adapter is assigned the primary task of producing the visual output from
your system. It is the hardware that works between your system's processor and monitor. It relays the
information received from the programs and applications running on your system (computed by the processor)
to the monitor that allows you to view the information and images on your screen.
A video adapter is board that plugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities. Those
capabilities of a computer, however, depend on both the logical circuitry (provided in the video adapter) and the
display monitor. A monochrome monitor, for example, can't display colors no matter how powerful the video
adapter. The term video adapter applies to either integrated or separate video circuitry. Each adapter offers
several video modes. The two basic categories of video modes are text and graphics. In text mode, a monitor
can display only ASCII characters. In graphics mode, a monitor can display any bit-mapped image. Within the
text and graphics modes, some monitors also offer a choice of resolutions. At lower resolutions, a monitor can
display more colors. Modern video adapters contain memory, so that the computer's RAM is not used for
storing displays. In addition, most adapters have their own graphics coprocessor for performing graphics
calculations. These adapters are often called graphics accelerators.
Accelerated & Non-accelerated Graphics Adapters
Early graphics adapters received data from the processor and basically forwarded the signals to the
monitor, leaving your system's CPU to do all the work related to processing and calculating. In non-accelerated
(unaccelerated) graphics adapters, the computer needed to change each pixel individually to change the image
on the screen. Having the graphics handled by the processor didn't become much of an issue until graphical user
interfaces (like Windows for example) gained in popularity. Systems began to slow down as the CPU was left
trying to move large amounts of data from the system RAM to the video card.
As always with technology, it didn't take long for the bottle-neck to be sorted out. Today all new video
cards are accelerated and are connected to the system's CPU through high-speed buses such as PCI or AGP. The
biggest difference between accelerated and non-accelerated cards is that with accelerated video cards, the CPU