Introduction to Computer Graphics

Introduction
Computer graphics is concerned with all aspects of producing pictures or
images using a computer. The field began humbly almost 50 years ago, with
the display of a few lines on a cathode-ray tube (CRT); now, we can create
images by computer that are indistinguishable from photographs of real
objects.
APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS
The development of computer graphics has been driven both by the needs of
the user community and by advances in hardware and software. The
applications of computer graphics are many and varied; we can, however,
divide them into four major areas:
1. Display of information
2. Design
3. Simulation and animation
4. User interfaces
Although many applications span two or more of these areas, the
development of the field was based on separate work in each.
A GRAPHICS SYSTEM
A computer graphics system is a computer system; as such, it must have all
the components of a general-purpose computer system. Let us start with the
high-level view of a graphics system, as shown in the block diagram in Figure
There are five major elements in our system:
1. Input devices
2. Processor
3. Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .