IMAGE REPRESNTATION

2.4.1 Graphics
p
„ software programs available for the creation of computer
graphics (word art,
graphics. art Objects,
Objects shapes,
shapes colors,
colors 2D,
2D 3d)

„ A computer
computer’ss display screen can be considered as being made up
of a two-dimensional matrix of individual picture elements —
pixels — each of which can have a range of colors associated
with
i h it.
i

„ For example,
e ample VGA (video
( ideo graphics array)
arra ) is a common type
t pe of
display and, as we show in Figure 2.10(a), consists of a matrix of
640 horizontal ppixels X 480 vertical ppixel with, for example,
p 8
bits per pixel which allows each pixel to have one of 256
different colors.
Graphics Principles: Example Screen Format
(b) some simple object examples; (c) effect of changing position
attribute;
ib (d) solid
lid objects.
bj

•All objects — including freeform objects — are made up of a series of lines

that are connected to each other.
Attributes
Each object has a number of attributes associated with it:
„ Shape:
p line,, circle square,
q , etc.
„ Size
„ Color
„ Shadow
h d
„ Shape can be open or closed
„ 3D through rendering

„ Editingg an object
j involves simply
p y changing
g g selected attributes
associated with the object.

„ Example: in Figure 2.l0(c),

2 l0(c) we can move a square to a
different location on the screen by simply changing its border
coordinates and leaving the remaining attributes unchanged.
„ graphic is analogous to the structure of a program.
program
„ the objects associated with a graphic can
‰ created by the author or
‰ the clip-art gallery.

„ there are two forms of representation of a computer

graphic:
‰ A high-level version (similar to the source code of
a high-level program)

‰ the actual pixel-image of the graphic (similar to

the byte string or low-level
low level machine code of the
program and known more generally as the bit-map
format).
)
„ High-level language form is much more compact and
requires
i less
l memory to t store
t the
th image.
i
„ the destination must of course be able to interpret the various
high-
g level commands.

„ Bit-map form is often used.

„ there are a number of standardized forms such as
‰ GIF (graphical interchange format)

‰ TIFF (tagged image file format).

format)

„ There are also software ppackages

g such as SRGP ((simple
p
raster graphics package) which convert the high-level
language form into a pixel-image form.
2.4.2 Digitized
g documents
„ Document that is produced by the scanner
associated with a facsimile (fax) machine.

„ The scanner associated with a fax machine

operates
t
‰ by scanning each complete page from left to right
‰ to produce a sequence of scan lines that start at the
top
p of the ppage
g and end at the bottom.
„ The vertical
Th i l resolution
l i off theh scanning
i procedure
d
is either 3.85 or 7.7 lines per millimeter which is
equivalent to 100 or 200 lines per inch.

„ the output of the scanner is digitized to a resolution

of 8 picture elements/mm (8 pels/mm).
pels/mm)
„ Fax machines use just a single bit to represent each
pel,
‰ 0 for a white p
pel and a
‰ 1 for a black pel.

„ f a ttypical
for i l page, produce
d a stream
t off about
b t two
t
million bits.
„ The printer part of a fax machine then reproduces
the original image by printing out the received
stream of bits to a similar resolution.
„ In general, the use of a single bit/pel means that fax
machines are best suited to scanning (black and
white) images such as text information.
information
Facsimile Machine Principles:
p ((a)) Schematic;; (b)
( ) Digitization
g format
Digitized
g pictures
p
„ In the case of scanners which are used for digitizing
continuous-tone monochromatic images — such as
a printed picture or scene — normally, more than a
single bit is used to digitize each picture element.

„ For example, good quality black-and-white

pictures can he obtained by using 8 bits per picture
element. This yields 256 different levels of gray per
element
„ In the case of color images:

in order to understand the digitization format used,

used

How color
H l isi produced?
d d?
How picture tubes used in computer monitors operate?
Color principles
p p

„ It has been known for many years that the human

eye sees just a single color when a particular set
of three primary colors are mixed and displayed
simultaneously.y

„ A whole
h l spectrum
t off colors
l “ l gamut”
“color t” can
be produced by using different proportions of the
three
h primary
i colors:
l
Red ((R),), Green ((G),), Blue ((B))
Color principles
p p
„ Gamut: Range of colors produced by
combinations
bi i off the
h three
h primaries
i i
„ Additive Color Mixing
‰ Black is produced when all three primaries Red (R),
Green (G), Blue (B) are zero
‰ Display applications
„ Subtractive Color Mixingg
‰ White is produced when all three primaries (cyan (C),
magenta (M), and yellow (Y)) are missing (zero)
‰ Printing applications
Color Derivation Principles: Additive Color Mixing
Color Derivation Principles: Subtractive Color Mixing
Television/Computer
/ p Monitor Principles:
p Schematic
 Raster-scan principles
„ The picture tubes used in most television sets operate using
what is known as a raster-scan.

„ finely-focussed electron beam “The raster” being scanned

over the complete screen
screen.

„ “Progressive
Progressive Scanning
Scanning” comprises
‰ a number of discrete horizontal lines
‰ the first of which starts at the top left corner of the
screen
‰ the last of which ends at the bottom right corner
corner.
‰ At this point the beam is deflected back again to the top left
corner and the scanning operation repeats in the same way.
way
„ Frame : Each complete set of horizontal scan lines
E h frame
Each f is
i maded up off N iindividual
di id l scan lines
li
where N is either 525 (North and South America and most of
Asia)
625 (Europe and a number of other countries).

„ The inside of the display screen of the picture tube is coated

with a light-sensitive phosphor that emits light when
energized
i d byb the
h electron
l beam.
b The
h amount off light
li h emitted
i d
— its brightness — is determined by the power in the electron
beam at that instant.

„ to create an image
g on the screen: The electron beam is
turned off during each vertical (frame) retrace period.
Television/Computer Monitor Principles:
Raster-Scan Principles

Progressive Scan
„ In the case of black-and-white picture tubes just a single
electron beam is used with a white-sensitive
white sensitive phosphor.
phosphor

„ Color tubes use three separate,

separate closely
closely- located beams
and a two-dimensional matrix of pixels.

„ Each pixel comprises a set of three related color-sensitive

phosphors, one each for the red, green, and blue signals.

„ The set of three phosphors associated with each pixel is

called a phosphor triad on each scan line.
„ in theory each pixel represents an idealized
rectangular
t l area which
hi h is
i independent
i d d t off its
it
neighboring pixels,

„ in p
practice each p
pixel has the shape
p of a spot
p which
merges with its neighbors. A typical spot size is
0.0255 inches
0.0 c es (0.635 mm)) and d a co
continuous
uous co
color
o
image is seen.
Television/Computer Monitor Principles:
Pixel Format on Each Scan Line
„ Static/still image: the same set of light signals are used for
eachh frame.
f

„ Moving images: the light signals associated with each

frame change to reflect the motion that has taken place
during the time required to scan the preceding frame.

„ Moving images: is designed to decay very quickly and

hence it is necessary to continuously refresh the screen
screen.
„ The frame refresh rate must be high enough to ensure the
eye is not aware the display is continuously being refreshed.

„ A low refresh rate leads to what is called flicker which is

caused by the previous image fading from the eye retina before
the following image is displayed.

„ In practice, the frame refresh rate used is determined by the

f
frequency off the
th mains
i electricity
l t i it supply l which
hi h is
i either
ih
„ 60 Hz in North and South America and most of Asia
„ 50 Hz in Europe and a number of other countries.
countries
Some Parameters

„ Phosphor Triad: Primary colors used

‰ Different for NTSC and PAL
„ Typical spot size: 0.025
0 025 in
„ Flicker: if the frame rate is too low
‰ NTSC: 60 fields/sec =>
> 30 frames/sec
‰ PAL 50 frames/sec
„ Most current picture tubes operate in an analog mode, that
is the amplitude of each of the three color signals is
is,
continuously varying as each line is scanned.
„ digital TV /computer: the color signals are in a digital form
and comprise a string of pixels with a fixed number of
pixels per
p p scan line.
„ Hence in order to display a stored image, the pixels that
make tip each line are read from memory in time-
synchronism with the scanning process and converted into a
continuously varying analog form by means of a digital-to-
analog
l converter.
„ the pixel image — must be accessed continuously with
separate block
bl k off memory known
k as the
h video
id RAM usedd to
store the pixel image.
„ Typically,
yp y, the ggraphics
p p
program
g is used to create the high-
g
level version of the image interactively (using either the
keyboard or a mouse).

„ the display controller part of the program interprets

sequences of display commands and converts them into
displayed objects by writing the appropriate pixel values into
the video RAM: known, as the frame/display/refresh buffer.

„ Normally the video controller is a hardware subsystem that

reads
d the
th pixel
i l values
l stored
t d ini the
th video
id RAM in i time-
ti
synchronism with the scanning process and, for each set of
ppixel values,, converts these into the equivalent
q set of red,,
green, and blue analog signals for output to the display.
Raster-Scan Display Architecture
 Pixel depth
„ The number of bits per pixel determines the range of different
colors that can be produced.

„ Examples
‰ 12 bits
bit (4 bits
bit per primary
i color)
l ) yielding
i ldi 4096 different
diff t colors
l
‰ 24 bits ( 8 bits per primary) color yielding in excess of 16 million colors.

„ The selected colors are stored in a table and each pixel value is
used as an address to a location within the table which contains the
corresponding three color values.
values The table is known as the color
look-up table or CLUT.

„ the amount of memory required to store an image can be reduced

significantly.
Aspect ratio
„ the number of pixels per scanned line and the
number of lines per frame

„ This is the ratio of the screen width to the screen

height.
g

„ The aspectt ratio

Th ti off currentt television
t l i i tubes
t b is
i 4/3
with older tubes — on which PC monitors are
based — and 16/9 with the wide- screen
television tubes.
„ In the United States, the standard for color television has been
defined by the National Television Standards Committee
(NTSC)

„ while in Europe three color standards exist PAL (UK),

(UK) CCIR
(Germany), and SECAM (France).

„ In neither case, are all lines displayed on the screen since

some are used to carry control and other information.

„ the NTSC standard uses 525 scan lines per frame while the
three European
p standards all use 625 scan lines.

„ In practice, therefore, the number of visible lines per frame

— which
hi h is
i equall to
t the
th vertical
ti l resolution
l ti ini terms
t off pixels
i l
— is 480 with an NTSC monitor and 576 with the other three
standards.
• Thus in order to avoid distortion on a screen which has a
4/3 aspect
p ratio — for example p when displaying
p y g a square
q
of, say, (N x N) pixels — it is necessary to have 640
pixels ((480 x 4/3)) p
p per line with an NTSC monitor and
768 (576 x 4/3) pixels per line with a European monitor.

• This produces a lattice structure that is said to produce

square
q pixels and is shown in diagrammatic
p g form in
Figure 2.15.
Screen Resolutions: (a) Visible Lines Per Frame;
(b) Digitization Spatial Resolution
screen resolutions

‰ The memory requirements to store a single digital image can

be high and vary between 307.2 kbytes for an image displayed
on a VGA (video graphics array) screen with 8 bits per
pixel

‰ Through to approximately 2.36 Mbytes for a SVGA (Super

VGA) screen with 24 bits per pixel.

‰ It should be noted that the more expensive computer

monitors are not based on television ppicture tubes and
hence are not constrained by the 4/3 aspect ratio. An
example is 1280 x 1024 x 24 which may have a refresh rate
as high as 75 frames per second to produce a sharper
image.
Example Display Resolutions and Memory

Memory
Number of
Standard Resolution Required/Frame
Colors
(Bytes)

VGA 640x480x8 256 307.2kB

640x480x16 64K 614.4kB

XGA
1024x768x8 256 786.432kB

800x600x16
800 600 16 64K 960kB
SVGA 1024x768x8 256 786.432kb
1024x768x24 16M 2359 296kB
2359.296kB
Example 2.3