Graphics

__By: Danyaal Amjad, Emile Boutany and Conor Payne__ __Graphics card__ A graphics card is an expansion card which generates output images to a display, most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect to multiple monitors.

__Advantages__ - With the more advanced graphics cards you can get better quality graphics, therefore a better experience. - You can view the graphics of things like computers and TVs etc. - They are moderately cheap to buy.

__Disadvantages__ - These do need to be upgraded quite often ergo they're quite expensive in the long run. - If you want the top model graphics cards these can get quite expensive.

__Graphics Outputs__ When referring to graphics as an output the main form of hardware referred to is a monitor. The monitor was first created in the 1980s and used cathode ray tubes, with the keyboard physically attached to it. __CRT Monitor__ As monitors go this was of course the worst picture quality monitor. By 1981 IBM produced the colour graphic adapter which produced an image quality of 320 by 200 pixels. They then produced a 16 colour enhanced graphics cad producing a resolution of 640 by 350 pixels. ore recently produced monitors are LCD and LED. __LCD Monitor__ LCD stands for Liquid crystal display, capible of producing higher quality images with higher colour depth as well as being lighter and more energy efficent.

__LED Monitor__ LED monitors stand for Light Emitting Diode, they are also an improvement over LDC and CRT monitors offering brighter more vibrant colour and well as being more energy efficient and lighter because they are one of the newest type of technology they are incredibly expensive. here are a few ways to measure a monitors performance, these are in: __Luminance__ (The brightness of the screen) __Aspect Ratios__ (The ratio of horizontal to verticle pixels, the most sold apect ratio is 16:9) __Viewable image size__ (The diagonal length of the monitor) __Refresh Rate__ (The nimber of times a secon the display is illuminated, usually in Hz) __Display Resoution__ (The number of pixels in a screen, the most common is 1920x1080, ofter referred to as 1080p) __Responce Time__ (Time taken for an image to reach the monitor) __Contrast Ratio__ (Luminosity of the brightest colour, white) __Power Consumption__ (Measure in watts) __Delta E__ (Colour accuracy) __Viewing Angle__ (The maximum angle in degrees, the maximum angle from the monitor which an image can be viewed at clearly)