A Brief History of Computer Graphics

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Computers
Mi Tsung Chang asked:


The use of computer graphics can be traced as far back as 1940, when Jay Forrester at M.I.T. designed equipment for training new pilots. The digital computer was chosen as the ideal instrument, because of its adaptability and the flexibility with which the machine could be programmed. It was not until a few years later that a radar defense system project named Whirlwind showed the first practical use of computer graphics (see fig. 1.2). Whirlwind is a computer linked to radar sites, and it displays an electronic map of the location on its monitor with plot blips that represent incoming airplanes. Whirlwind is the first vacuum-tube computer capable of drawing lines and points on a computer screen.

In 1958, an experimental filmmaker, John Whitney, Sr.,created a short animation by using the analog computer to control the movement of the character. Whitney used the same system to create the opening title sequence of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Later Whitney and his brother produced more films based on similar techniques.

In 1957, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) opened its company with only three employees. Three years later, DEC introduced the PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor), the world’s first small interactive computer (see Fig. 1.3). DEC has played a huge role in the development of computer graphics. “The Programmed Data Processor (PDP-1) is a high-speed, solid state digital computer designed to operate with many types of input-output devices with no internal machine changes. It is a single address, single instruction, and stored program computer with powerful program features. Five-megacycle circuits, a magnetic core memory and fully parallel processing make possible a computation rate of 100,000 additions per second. The PDP-1 is unusually versatile.

IBM helped General Motors to develop DAC-1 to showcase General Motors’ automobiles at the Joint Computer Conference in Detroit in 1964. The breakthrough came when Ivan Sutherland at M.I.T. created a computer drawing program called Sketchpad in 1961. Sketchpad is the father of all CAD programs. Sutherland created this sketching program for his doctoral thesis at M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory. Sketchpad allowed users to draw simple shapes on the computer with a light pen. The light pen used a small photoelectric cell in its tip to emit an electronic pulse when the pen was placed in front of a computer screen. Many software companies still use Sutherland’s Sketchpad program’s interface today. This was the first instance in the history of computer graphics that demonstrated the possibility of Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD). Sutherland’s Sketchpad was a perfect example of vector-based graphics comprising lines rather than being based on pixels.

The first video game was created by a student, Steve Russel, at M.I.T. in 1961. Spacewar was the world’s first video arcade game that was written for the DEC’s PDP-1. Later DEC packaged Spacewar with every new unit, so the world’s first video game was run on DEC. By the end of the 1960s, CADD began to appear in the mechanical, civil, chemical, and automobile industries. However, such advancement in digital technology had not captivated the field of architecture. The main reason for the delay was perhaps the high cost associated with CAD systems at the time.

Major corporations such as TRW, General Electric, Lockheed-Georgia and Sperry Rand began to use computer graphics. IBM introduced the first commercially available graphics computer, the IBM 2250 graphics terminal, as a result of the new found interest in computer graphics.

In 1963, the mouse was being invented by Doug Englebart of the Stanford Research Institute. At the same time, the digitizing tablet was being developed. Both the mouse and the digitizing tablet are 2D point devices; therefore you need to switch X and Y coordinates to access a Z coordinate. True 3D pointing devices come at a high cost, which is a major reason why the mouse is still a popular pointing device today. Products such as Spaceball by 3Dconnexion or 3D Controller by Logitech prove effective in 3D space. These products enable the user to pan, zoom and rotate 3D models with accurate control of the design process.

To follow is a list of important events in the 1960s that profoundly affected the future of computer graphics.

1961- Whitney produced the title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo by using an analog computer.

1963- Doug Englebart invented the world’s first mouse. At about the same time, the digitizing tablet was developed.

1966- Ralph Baer at Sanders Associates created a first video game for consumers. The same year, Sutherland at MIT invented the computer-controlled head-mounted display system. Many years later, this device is being used for virtual reality study.

1968- Evan and Sutherland created the LDS-1 (Line Drawing System) for hardware-accelerated graphics. LDS-1 is more than 100 times faster than the IBM 2250.

If the 1960s were an era of experimentation in computer graphics, the 1970s saw the birth of the personal computer. Many theories brought computer graphics to a new level of realism. In 1974, Ed Catmull discovered texture mapping, z-buffers and rendering curved surfaces in his Ph. D. thesis in computer science.

In 1971, Phong Bui-Toung at Utah developed a new shading method that was an improvement on the old Gouraud-shading. Phong’s shading method accurately renders the colors on a mesh surface and produces accurate reflective surface shading, but both Gouraud and Phong’s shadings have difficulties in smoothing over the outline edge of a 3D object.

In 1976, James Blinn of Utah developed a new technique called Bump mapping. Bump mapping can simulate the roughness of a surface by interpreting a grey scale map.

Today you don’t need to develop your own 3D software in order to render realistic images. You don’t have to be a millionaire to purchase a computer that runs 3D software. Creating computer rendering is not an impossible dream, but a reality.

 

 



ALAN
Computers
Kel. Purden asked:


Having a slow computer can really cause someone terrible stress in this age of technological dependence. There are so many things that can only be accomplished through the services of a computer that works at high speed, including the fast completion of important office documents or school assignments, Internet-based research, and other use of computer programs and applications. If you have a computer that runs painfully slow, it’s understandable why you should feel frustrated. Thus, having your computer repaired as soon as possible is essential.

However, having your computer professionally fixed can be costly - and you can end up feeling even more frustrated with the huge amount you need to shell out just to have your computer running fast again. The good news is that you can fix your slow computer totally free of charge today, all on your own and without expensive assistance. All you have to do is read on.

One of the prime suspects in the presence of speed problems in a computer is chaos in the registry. The registry acts as the thinking tool of the computer, which means that it houses all the files that a computer has and organizes these files in order to make the computer meet the requests or commands of the user. If your registry is full to the brim, your computer would most definitely have difficulty managing the files efficiently and quickly. In order to solve slow computer problems, it is important that you keep your registry properly fixed using a tried and tested registry cleaner program or software.

Aside from the use of a proven program or software to clean out your registry, you also need to check other parts of your computer that also house files, particularly your recycling bin and your temporary files folder. It is a common misconception among users that once they delete a file, said file immediately gets removed from their computer system. On the contrary, the file is only transferred to another area, which is nowhere else than the recycling bin. The presence of too many files slows down a computer’s performance, so it is a must that the recycling bin be emptied not just once but on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the temporary files folder houses the Internet browser’s history and cache. Just like the recycling bin, the temporary files folder can get full if left ignored. Emptying it every now and then can reduce incidents of slow computer problems.

Computer files can really wreak havoc on a computer system. Sometimes, files wander around the hard drive and hide themselves in random folders where they do not belong. In order to solve this particular problem and deal away with a slow computer, performing def ragging on the hard drive is vital. A simple but thorough def ragging arranges your files and puts them in their proper locations. Defragmentation is actually one of the most basic things that a user should do to ensure top-speed performance of his or her computer.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on computer repairs if you have a slow computer. With a few tricks up your sleeve, like the ones you just read, you can solve your computer’s speed problems in no time and with no repair expenses.



SCOTTY
Computers
Nick asked:


I have 2 relatively new computers and i have no use for them and i was wondering if it was possible to connect them at the motherboard to make a really fast computer.

GREGORIO

Check Out The Best Computers For Sale

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Computers
Lina Smith asked:


Buying a new computer can sometimes be quite time consuming, especially if you are trekking round computer stores looking for the best computers for sale. To make sure that you are getting the best deal when you are looking at computer for sale you need to compare prices. One of the best ways of doing this is to check out the different computers for sale online, as many of the biggest computer brands can be found at great prices.

Before you begin your search on the best computers for sale you will need to decide what you want your computer for. If you plan on using it for work or for school, you will want to get a computer that has the latest word processing applications and spreadsheet programs. The people who are into downloading music and films, you will be looking at the computers for sale that have a large hard drive storage, that way you will be able to store more music and films. Fans of online gaming will be looking for a computer that has a high end graphics card, a powerful CPU and plenty of memory, to ensure that they will get the best computer gaming experience. Today, the majority of computers are Internet ready, which means that as long as you have an Internet connection at home you will be able to plug straight in and surf the net.

To begin your search for the best computers for sale online you will want to check out online computer stores. That way you will get a good idea as to the sort of price that you will expect to pay for your new computer. As many of the computers for sale online are usually subject to quite large discounts, you will probably be able to buy an excellent quality computer for a lot less money than you would expect to pay in store. Due to this, people who look for computers the sale online generally get a really good deal on a new computer. You might even want to buy some extra software for your computer, and this too can be found at an online computer store, and usually at much cheaper price than you would expect to find in the majority of computer stores.

As looking for computers for sale online is so popular right now the delivery times your new computer should be reasonably fast, many of the stores will even offer delivery to your home address in just a few days - faster even than some of the computer stores in your hometown can offer you. So if you are looking for the best computers to sale, which are cheaper and can even come with some extras you should look online. You will probably be surprised at the sheer number of computers for sale that are advertised in the different online computer stores. Before you make any choice, do check out the massive variety and make sure that you buy a computer that meets your needs and also meets your price plan.



IGNACIO
Computers
Laprentiss Sampson asked:


Essentially, computers run smoothly over a series of commands. This process allows the user to be able to download and run certain applications. Whatever application you are running in your computer, it is supported by certain commands and would also take up memory in your computer. These lists of commands are located in the computers’ registry. Any task that you want your computer to do, it would automatically refer to the registry and find the information that is needed for your computer to do the wanted task. Over a period of time, it is inevitable that your computer would eventually experience some errors, as instructions and information in your registry gets messed up. As a result, your computer would slow down and worst case, your computer would crash. In order to fix computer errors, there are easy tasks that you can do by yourself at the comfort of your home, without any expensive professional help.

One way is to clean your hard disk, so that the performance of your computer will be improved. Your computer gets fragmented when your hard disk is filled up with unwanted files and junk data. If you already experience that your computer is taking up time in operating programs or opening files, this just simply means that the system had the hard time locating the information or the files that they need as a result of fragmentation. Disk Clean Up tool and Disk Defragmenter are provided by Windows. Simply, the Disk Clean Up tool in Windows will clean up space in the hard disk. In this process, the tool will find and suggest the files that are no longer needed and you can safely remove. Thus, giving you the option whether to delete some or all of the files. Examples of unwanted hard disk files are: Recycle bin, program set up files, temporary file folders, outdated system restore points, browser history and unwanted programs. The disk defragmenter tool would fuse all files stored and speed up your computer.

By performing a virus scan in your computer, the system will have the chance to be fixed and to be prevented from errors. The virus scan must be updated to really ensure the prevention of virus getting into the system and to make sure that your computer is free from malicious information. A virus is one of the major causes that your computer will behave irregularly.

Fixing problems using Windows XP Boot CD is another way. A lot of times, a virus infection will damage the boot sector of your computer. So by using your Windows XP Boot CD, you can now repair the installation of your Windows XP from the damage that the virus has done. This CD would just require you to perform certain tasks to smoothly start up your computer.

Last but not least, we can prevent future problems and also fix computer clutters and errors by performing a registry scan. By doing so, computer files such as DLL (dynamic link library), EXE (executable), and driver files can already perform entries in the computer and you can already operate properly on your computer. If your registry is damaged or unstable due to unwarranted expansion, the system would significantly slow down and eventually cause some errors. Registry scans that are performed regularly to the system of your computer would detect and also remove unwanted data and files from it. Anyone can do this quite easily and economically with the help and guide from a reliable registry cleaner tool.

Thanks to advance technology, there are many free registry scans that you can get without the hassle of contacting an expensive professional to fix your computer. Registry scans will give you registry maintenance, removing malevolent virus and spyware, scan and repair some registry and computer errors, defragging the registry and also registry back up.

 



KRISTOPHER
Computers
Stylish_Stylist asked:


I have five computers in the house and one Cannon printer, it is one that can print, scan, copy,etc. How can i set it up so I can print from all the computers instead of sending documents down to the primary desktop? If you know how to do this can you please explain in detailed steps, so I can understand clearly. Thank you for your help!

BERT
Computers
JERRY P asked:


My computer is wirelessly connected to a 2wire dsl modem to Century tel internet acess, the computer that is connected physically has a hp photosmart c5280 printer attached to it, how do I configure the two computers so I can print from the wirelessly connected computer, or is that possible? How does printer sharing work?

RODERICK