Unit 24 - Digital Graphics and Computers
What Is A Digital Graphics Computer? (P1 and P2)
**Mouse – the mouse plays an important role in editing graphics. It can be used to manipulate graphics by resizing and cropping an image. The mouse does more of the editing part of graphics using suitable software and the relevant tools***
***Monitor – there are different types of monitors. The old ones are called CRT which are not good to work with graphics because they have a low resolution. Monitors with a better resolution are called TFTs and LCDs***
***Graphics tablet - it is an input computer device and is used for the user to hand-draw images as if the stylus pen was a pencil. Drawers prefer to use the graphics tablet than using a mouse because it is easier to control and the images can be drawn to a more precise standardDigital cameras – these are popular nowadays because they can be plugged into the computer and stored. Then the images can be edited. Digital cameras allow you to see the photo instantly***
**Scanner – used to create an identical duplicate of an original image. The scanner then stores it onto the computer system and the new image becomes a digital image***
***USB storage devices – these store files that can be retrieved from the computer and stored onto the device, and they can be loaded onto another computer by plugging it into a USB port. Examples of USB storage devices are: flash memory devices, mobile phone, mp3, digital cameras***
***USB storage devices – these store files that can be retrieved from the computer and stored onto the device, and they can be loaded onto another computer by plugging it into a USB port. Examples of USB storage devices are: flash memory devices, mobile phone, mp3, digital cameras***
How Do Hardware Components Affect The Performance Of A Computer System Used To Manipulate Graphics?
***RAM – it is important to have a large amount of RAM because graphic files are big and the software used to manipulate graphics is the main priority when it is running on the system. A computer with rubbish RAM would keep freezing and take ages to load up which is very annoying especially when editing graphics or running more than one application at a time***
***Processor – the processor is important because it carries out lots of jobs, but users expect the computer to do more than one job at a time and want these jobs to be completed quickly. A high amount of cache is also useful so the computer runs faster. When the processor cannot do all the jobs at the same time, it is then sent to other components to store this information***
***Graphics card – the larger the memory on the graphics card the better they are. A computer system that works with graphics needs a good graphics card because it is good visually. Computers with a poor graphics card wouldn’t make the images look as good on the computer. A dedicated graphics card is better than an onboard graphics card because the dedicated one has it’s own memory and it is not shared through out the rest of the computer***
***RAM – it is important to have a large amount of RAM because graphic files are big and the software used to manipulate graphics is the main priority when it is running on the system. A computer with rubbish RAM would keep freezing and take ages to load up which is very annoying especially when editing graphics or running more than one application at a time***
***Processor – the processor is important because it carries out lots of jobs, but users expect the computer to do more than one job at a time and want these jobs to be completed quickly. A high amount of cache is also useful so the computer runs faster. When the processor cannot do all the jobs at the same time, it is then sent to other components to store this information***
***Graphics card – the larger the memory on the graphics card the better they are. A computer system that works with graphics needs a good graphics card because it is good visually. Computers with a poor graphics card wouldn’t make the images look as good on the computer. A dedicated graphics card is better than an onboard graphics card because the dedicated one has it’s own memory and it is not shared through out the rest of the computer***
***Hard drive – The graphics files are often large, so there needs to be efficient space on the computer to store all the files, programs and application. If you run out of HDD space then the computer will have nowhere to store these files and they will not be saved. A professional graphics designer would need a lot of HDD to save all the work***
Upgrading A Digital Graphics Computer
This is the system specification...
Intel Pentium D 'Dual Core X2' CPU (5.3 Ghz)
VIA Chipset 1066 Mhz Motherboard - slots available: AGP8x (1), PCI (3), RAM (2); ports available: LAN (1), USB (6)
512 MB RAM
80 GB HDD (SATA300)
18X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer & Dual Format
Onboard UniChrome PRO 3D Graphics with 64 MB shared memory
Mouse and Keyboard
15" flat screen
Cheap inkjet printer
VIA Chipset 1066 Mhz Motherboard - slots available: AGP8x (1), PCI (3), RAM (2); ports available: LAN (1), USB (6)
512 MB RAM
80 GB HDD (SATA300)
18X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer & Dual Format
Onboard UniChrome PRO 3D Graphics with 64 MB shared memory
Mouse and Keyboard
15" flat screen
Cheap inkjet printer
The processor - it allows you to perform multiple tasks on the computer such as running more than one application. It is good for working with multimedia on the computer and it is quite fast. An upgraded processor would be a quad core (intel - Q6600 for example) which would improve the speed.
The motherboard - it is a circuit board making up a complex electronic system. They hold different components such as processor, RAM, network interface card etc and allow these to interconnect and communicate. The motherboard provides sockets, slots, chipsets and has electronic buses and bridges which communicate with eachtoerh. An improved motherboard can improve the way the buses communication faster (a higher MHzs the better), and can offer more slots and USB for media devices, AGP and PCI for more peripherals.
RAM - the amount of random access memory on this computer is poor. It would cause the computer to be very slow when working with multiple applications and graphics. A suitable upgrade for a graphics computer would be 4GB of RAM, but two seperate 2GB in 2 slots so the computer can rotate between each RAM stick.
Hard disk - more memory is required for a digtal graphics computer because a lot of software would need to be installed. Not only that issue, many files with a large file size needs to be saved on the computer. I would recommend 1TB or 500GB HDD for a better specification.
DVD re-writer - it is useful on a digital graphics computer and for multimedia purposes enabling you to transfer graphics onto the disks and upload them onto other computers. To upgrade the computer might want to have another disk drive for BluRay for high definition quality and also lightscribe to edit the disks
Graphics card - a computer specified for working with graphics, the card must have dedicated graphics. The current card is shared memory which makes the computer slower because the memory is taken from the processor and RAM. An onboard graphics card does not have it's on CPU or memory. An upgrade would be a dedicated graphics card with a 512 MB + memory and PCI express.
Monitor - the 15" flat screen is good because it will have a better resolution than a CRT monitor. A widescreen or bigger monitor will be a benefit for a graphics PC.
Printer - the cheap inkjet printer creates low quality print outs. A laser printer is for more professional work and you will get a better output.
Digital Graphics and Sofware
***Vector Graphics and Applications***
***Bitmap Graphics and Software***
***Photo Manipulation Software***
***Embedded Graphics Facilities***
