Video/ Graphics cards

VIDEO CARDS

TABLE OF CONTENTS Intro to Video/ Graphics cards Components Functions of a Graphics Card Various types Color Depth Bit Depth Uses Advantages

VIDEO CARD/ GRAPHICS CARD

Also known as Video display Adapters. Is a board that plugs into the computer

to give it display capabilities. The display capabilities of a computer,

depends on: the logical circuitry (provided in the video

adapter) and the display monitor.

GRAPHICS CARD

COMPONENTS

FUNCTIONS OF A GRAPHICS CARD

TYPES OF VIDEO CARDS

MANUFACTURERS Intel: develop IGPs (integrated graphics

processors) AMD (acquired ATI) develop GPUs Nvidia also develop GPUs Different manufacturers take GPUs and

other components to assemble video cards; thus creating slight variations of video cards with same GPUs

Video cards are marketed with GPU manufacturer’s brand name

Most popular video brands are the Radeon of ATI and GeForce of Nvidia

COLOR DEPTH

Determined by the intensity of three beams of light (Red, Green and Blue) and the amount of information stored about a pixel

Different Modes8 Bit – 256 Color Mode 16 Bit – High Color mode24 Bit – True Color Mode

BIT DEPTH Bit Depth : The number of bits used to

describe a pixel is known as its bit depth. Example:

24bit – Bit Depth means 8 bits for each Primary color, around 17 Million Color Combinations, around 10,000,000 discernible Colors Thus offers True Color System

USES Animation Gaming – both PC and console Design/Drafting Special effects creation/editing Medical Instruments And other purposes where fast

rendering and high resolutions are needed

ADVANTAGES Motion Blur

Texture Mapping Lens Flare Fresnel Effect Anisotropic Filtering

Motion Blur

Texture Mapping

Lens Flare

Fresnel Efect

ANISOTROPIC FILTERING