Video Cards
By Adam Halonen
The images you see on your monitor are made of tiny dots called
pixels. At most common resolution settings, a screen displays
over a million pixels, and the computer has to decide what to do
with every one in order to create an image. To do this it needs
something to take binary data from the CPU and turn it into a
picture you can see. Unless a computer has graphics capability
built into the motherboard, that translation takes place on the
graphics card.
The CPU, working in conjunction with software applications,
sends information about the image to the graphics card. The
graphics card decides how to use the pixels on the screen to
create the image. It then sends that information to the monitor
through a cable. -
Creating an image out of binary data is a demanding process. To
make a 3-D image, the graphics card first creates a wire frame
out of straight lines. Then, its fills in the remaining pixels. It also
adds lighting, texture and color. For fast-paced games, the
computer has to go through this process about sixty times per
second. Without a graphics card to perform the necessary
calculations, the workload would be too much for the computer
to handle.
First video cards
• IBM first created the video card in
1961 as a replacement to printed
cards, which were used by the large
computers of the day. IBM featured
the first video card included on a
mass-produced computer in the
Model 8088, which was the first
personal computer.
MDAs
Micro Chromic Display Adapters (MDAs) was
what the name for the video cards at the time.
It only worked when the computer was in text
mode. It had 4 megabytes of memory and fit
80 columns and 25 lines per screen. The only
color that was shown though was green. Later
in the 80s there was also the color red. But
those were the only two colors available.
• Video graphics card
VGA adapter(VGA) became the
next generation video card.
Had a better range of colors
and resolution than the
MDAs. Soon after these
were released came the
Super VGAs which had a
256-color range and had up
to 2 Mb of memory. These
lasted until the middle of the
90s.
3D
• First created in 1995 the video cards had the ability to show multi-
dimensional images that were not offered before. Two years later
the most powerful computer chip of the time, Voodoo, was created.
These two devices accelerated the ability of software designers to
create more in-depth graphics. Intel then designed an accelerated
graphics port to solve the problems between the new
microprocessors and the video card. In 1999 NVIDIA became the
most dominant video card developer. 3D video improved from
32Mb to 125Mb.
Video Memory
• When a video card is connected within the motherboard, it will use the
computers random access memory (RAM). If it is not connected to the
motherboard though, the video card often has its own memory known as Video
RAM (VRAM). The capacity of VRAM in modern video cards ranges from 125
to almost 800 MB. In 2006, DDR technology was the base of the VRAM. The
clock rate of the memory was between 300 MHz and 1.7 GHz. The Z-buffer is
an important part of the video memory. It takes care of the depth coordinates
in 3D graphics
Different video card slots
DVI, HDMI, and
Component Video
• DVI and HDMI transmit in digital and component
video transmits in analog.
• Transmission minimized differential signaling is how DVI
and HDMI transmit colors. Color-difference is what
component video uses.
• T.M.D.S. involves a blue channel which the horizontal and
vertical sync are added, and separate green and red
channels.
• Color difference consists of Luminance, the green channel,
Red Minus Luminance, the red channel, and Blue Minus
Luminance, the blue channel. The sync pulses for both
horizontal and vertical are delivered on the green channel.
The display calculates the values of red, green and blue
from the green.
•The memory holds information about each pixel and temporarily stores
your completed pictures.
•The processor decides what to do with each pixel on the screen.
•The processor fan and heat sink help keep the processor from over
heating.
•The motherboard connector is what connects the video card into the
motherboard and supplies data and sometimes power.
Difference in Laptop and Desktop Video
• A laptop video card that is an
Cards integrated chip performs worse
than a dedicated card.
• The integrated chip is a chip built
into the board and even though
this saves space it’s not very
powerful.
• Dedicated cards like what you
buy for a desktop are chips with
their own boards, and installed
memory. Where the integrated
chips have to share memory in the
system.
•There are dedicated cards for laptops
and while not upgradeable, can
provide a substantial amount of
power.
T.V. Out
• You can connect your PC to your
television set to watch DivX, FLV or
DVD video formats compatible on
your computer but on no other
available players. There are simple
ways to do so but both your PC and
your TV set must meet some
requirements.
Multi-Monitors
• Multiple monitor video card
technology has undergone
substantial progress over the last 5
years.
• Microsoft, Apple, Sun, and Linux
including multiple monitor support
in their operating system products.
• Combine this with the fact that RAM
has incredible reductions in price
and you have a product that was
several thousand dollars just a few
years ago selling for under $300.
• Some video cards can support 16
monitors, but the amount that you
can run is limited by how many
your operating system allows.
Dual Video Cards
Versus 1
• Dual cards produce smoother
performance at high resolutions. Both
cards are used to render the image to a
single screen. They are ideal if you play
games at ultra-high (1600x1200) or wide
screen resolutions (1680x1050,
1920x1200). They're overkill for 17" or
smaller screens (1280x1024 resolution or
lower).
Video card Prices
• Open Box: ASUS EN8400GS
Silent/P/512M Geforce 8400 GS 512 MB
64-bit DR2 PCI express 2.0 x 16 HDCP
Ready Video Card was the cheapest video
card I could find at newegg.com. It costs
24.99 dollars.
• ASUS ARES/2DIS/4GD5 Radeon HD 5870
X2 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1
x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support
Video Card is the most expensive from the
same place for 1299.99.
Manufactures
• ASUS Video Cards
• AVerMedia
• LTS
• AMD/ATI
• BFG/ 3DFusion
• Creative Labs
• Datacolor
• Diamond
• Digital Spectrum
• D-Link
• Elgato
• eVGA
• Chaintech
• NVIDIA
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102- http://laptopv
0.html? threadID=186843
Citations ideocard.net/
http://www.ehow.com/ab
out_5256109_history-
video-card.html
http://www.
diamondm
m.com/how
http://for tobuyvideo
um.ecous
card.php
tics.com/
bbs/mess
• http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p
ages/345 yR4SuN2h74J:computer.howstuffworks.com/graphics-
79/12286 card.htm+video+card+memory&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&g
8.html l=us
http://www.directron
.com/ilbyman.html http://www.newegg.com