Dr. R.

LAVANYA
Assistant Professor
Department of Media Sciences,
College of Engineering,
Anna University
• Computer graphics generally means creation,
manipulation and rendering for visual
contents using computers.
• The representation of images are created with
help from specialized graphic hardware and
software.
• Image synthesis is the process of creating new
images from some form of image description
• Pixel: abbreviation for Picture Element. A pixel
is the smallest element of an image displayed on a
monitor or TV screen.
• A pixel is a single dot on the screen which may be
of any colour.
• By turning them on and off at different intensities,
any number of colours and brightness can be
created.
• Screen size means amount of physical space
available for displaying an interface. The screen size
is the length of the screen diagonally or from one
corner to the other.
• How many pixels fit in an inch for display or printing,
• It is a measure of the total area (in pixels) that is available for
display or capture (resolution is the number of pixels going
across the screen multiplied by the number of pixels
going down.).

• Resolution determines the image quality produced by

a printer or displayed on a monitor.

• Resolution is usually measured in pixels per inch (ppi) or dots

per inch (dpi) – W x H
• Resolution and screen sizes are independent.

• The resolution of a screen can be customized and

therefore a larger sized screen does not automatically
mean that it will have a higher resolution.
Illustrates how multiple pixels are combined on screen to
produce an image
• Image Resolution refers to the
number of pixels that are displayed
per inch on a digital image (ppi).

• An image with 600ppi has 600

pixels per inch

• Higher resolution: more pixels per

inch – creating a high quality, crisp
image.

• Images with low resolution: fewer

pixels per inch - if those few pixels
are stretched, they can become
pixelated, blurry images.
• Graphics intended for Print, display on computer monitors,
scanned image --- use different resolutions.
• For Display : Images designed for output to a computer
monitors are usually measured in ppi. The resolution of
images shown on monitors is typically much lower
than for print, as monitors have a fixed number of pixels
and screens are viewed from a much closer distance.
• For Print : Images designed for output to a printer are
usually measured in dpi. It is the number of ink dots the
printer can place in a square inch. e.g. different printer
resolutions: 200, 300, 600 dpi.

72 / 96 ppi has become the default resolution for web images

that are to be viewed on computer screens. Currently, Web
Images are described by their pixel dimensions (width x
height).
• Screen Resolution or Monitor Resolution is a measure
of the screen's pixel width and height, such as 800 x 600,
1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, and 1680 x 1050.

• Screen resolution means number of pixels available in

the display.

Higher Computer Monitor

resolution (pixels/inch) does
not mean a higher quality
image.
• A point is a actual unit of length commonly used
to measure the height of a font.
• A “point” is a unit for measuring the size of
letterforms and line spacing.
• 1 point = 1/72nd inch

• The point was created as

a unit of distance that
allows graphics to be
scaled independently of
the resolution.
• Each pixel represented in an image file describes a
'color value‘.

• Images for viewing on a computer screen or television, or

for digital projection, will need to be saved in an RGB
colourspace.

• Print – CMYK

• The more information stored for each pixel means the

larger the file will be.

• The number of bits used to indicate the color of a single

pixel is described by bit-depth or Color Depth.
 Color depth refers to the number of bits per pixel
on a computer monitor to represent a specific
color.

Monochrome Grayscale Color images

The more bits per pixel, the higher color variety and
quality of the monitor.
• 1-bit (21 or 2 colors) - Monochrome displays.
• 2-bit (22 or 4 colors) - CGA displays.
• 4-bit (24 or 16 colors) - EGA displays.
• 8-bit (28 or 256 colors) - VGA displays.
• 16-bit (216 or 65,536 colors) - XGA displays.
• 24-bit (224 or 16,777,216 colors) - SVGA displays.
• 32-bit (232 or 4,294,967,296 colors) - Modern LED, LCD, OLED
• 48-bit (248 or 281,474,976,710,656 colors) - High-end
professional-grade monitors (HDR)
• The ratio of the width to height for any frame.
• Used when discussing Screen Size Standards
• Most multimedia is presented in a four by three
aspect ratio (4:3)
• A 4:3 ratio would be a 400 x 300 pixel-sized
document
• Eg. 4:3 Aspect Ratio for Web or TV, 16:9 for
Widescreen
• Resizing an object will change the resolution of that
object. If this is done proportionally then the aspect
ratio will be maintained.
4 by 3 Std Size

Wide Screen
• Coordinates are an ordered set
(because their XY order matters) of
values which specify a location
relative to some origin.

• The order of coordinates is important.

• Cartesian coordinate systems also

called as rectangular coordinate system.

• A 2D coordinate system is used to specify

all locations in 2D space.

• A 3D coordinate system is used to specify

all locations in 3D space.
• Stage Coordinate System

• Object Coordinate System

• Hierarchical Coordinate Systems

• Viewpoint Coordinate System

• Screen Coordinate System

Interactive CG: When User controls contents,
structure, appearance of objects and their displayed
images via rapid visual feedback. It is two way
communication. The user has full control over the
content.
Non-Interactive CG: When user cannot engage
with graphics / control the contents. It is one way
communication, where user can only watch
graphical activity without any interaction.
• A raster image comprises a two dimensional
grid of pixels, each pixel having a specific
colour value.

• If a image is 100px by 100px that’s 10,000px,

each of which has a color value. As a result,
raster graphics are almost always relatively
large files.
• Raster graphics can’t be scaled very effectively.
• They tend to get grainy, when enlarged.
• JPG, GIF and BMP are the common raster image
formats.
• Better suited for photographs and photo-realistic
images.
• Vector graphics contains the mathematical
/geometrical formulae to represent images
(redraw the image on screen).

• Common vector file formats are .svg, pdf, ai and

.xml.
• The image can be scaled to any size without any
degradation of the image quality.

• The file size tends to remain small, therefore it

downloads fast.
Vector graphics are great, but the limitations
include:

• Vector graphics require the user’s computer

to work hard to display the image (it has to do
a lot of math)

• Vector graphics often look “computery”

(artificial) because they tend to involve
geometric shapes.
 Decision of whether to use vector graphics or
raster graphics should be based on the nature of
the work.

• If the image is geometric, with clear delineations

of color, a vector graphic is a good choice.

• If a image is a photograph of a person, a bitmap

will do.
• bmp (Windows Bitmap) - an uncompressed raster
format by Microsoft, can create very large files.

• wmf / emf (Windows Metafile / Enhanced

Metafile) - a portable format for raster and vector
image transfer.

• pict (PICT) - Apple Macintosh specific QuickDraw

format, not used much anymore.
• gif (Graphics Interchange Format) - one of the original Web
graphics workhorses, good for flat colour areas, supports
transparency and interlacing, simple animation, and lossless LZW
compression.
• png (Portable Network Graphics) - free open source format
developed to overcome GIF licensing issues; slow uptake but is
now widely supported by browsers; supports 'millions of colours',
variable transparency and lossless compression. Can support both
raster and vector information, but doesn't support animation.
• jpg / jpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - developed
especially for displaying photographic images, uses lossy
compression, relatively small in size, but they still look crisp and
beautiful, support up to 16.7 million colours.
• svg (Scalable Vector Graphics) - an open source format
developed by the World Wide Web Consortium to enable vector
graphics to be used on the Web.
• tif / tiff (Tagged Information File Format) - the
universally supported lossless format for raster image
files. Used extensively for photographic images that
will be printed or archived, but file size can be very
large.
• eps (Encapsulated Postscript) - a platform-
independent format for vector based images; it is the
accepted vector 'standard' for the graphics/printing
industry.
• pdf (Portable Document Format) - not really an
image format but a page description language that
supports both raster and vector information; it is
becoming a popular format for transferring images
though.
• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
• Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
• Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
• Bitmap (BMP)
• Encapsulated PostScript (ESP) – Print Industry
• Portable Document Format (PDF)
• Adobe Illustrator (AI)
• Drawing eXchange Format (DXF) - CAD
• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) – XML
• Computer graphics plays an significant role in
saving lives.
• The range of application spans from tools for
teaching, diagnosis and all the way to
treatment.
• No cheating or tricks allowed
• Satellite-based sensors

• Mathematicians use computer graphics to explore

abstract and high-dimensional functions and
spaces
• Physicists can use computer graphics to
transcend the limits of scale.
• Mechanical and Electronic designs

• Architectural and Product designs

• Automated tools are also available that verify

tolerances and design constraints directly from
CAD designs.
Graphical elements such as windows, cursors,
menus, and icons
• Games are an
important driving
force in computer
graphics.
• Graphics and SFX:
If you can imagine it,
it can be done with
computer graphics
• Education and Training

• Image Processing

• Simulations

• Virtual Reality

• Digital Art

• Infographics

• Graphics and Web Design

• Computer Graphics • Colour Spaces / Model
• Pixel • Color Depth
• Screen size • Aspect Ratio
• Resolution • Coordinate Systems
• Image Resolution • Types of Computer
• Screen Resolution Graphics
• Point • Graphic File Formats