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  • Graphic Basics (intro)
  • Color Depths
  • Monitors
  • Refresh Rates
  • Video Performance Issues

    Graphics Basics
    Graphics accelerators are available with different features and functions:
    • 2D, 3D and video acceleration
    • 1MB, 2MB, 4MB, 8MB 16MB, and now 32MB of memory
    • Modular design with add-on features like DVD daughterboard, TV tuner.

    An 8MB card is about as fast as a 16MB in 2D performance (it is also true when comparing older cards that a 2MB card was the same speed as a 4MB card; however, the old DRAM based 1MB cards would in fact increase in speed when upgraded to 2MB since the bandwidth to memory in that graphic chip architecture would increase.

    The basic rule is that the speed of a card is determined by the controller, the memory speed, the software drivers, and to a much lesser degree the board design.

    Color depth is determined by the amount of memory. The amount of memory is not intended to affect speed.

    • The more memory you have the more colors and higher resolutions you can display
    Available refresh rates are determined by the RAMDAC speed.

    Color Depths
    256 colors
      8-bit color (28=256) Still the most common color depth, and still used by many 2D cartoon based children's edutainment games. This is not a valid color depth for 3D games.
    32/65K colors
      15/16-bit color (216=65,536) Hi-Color

      There are 20 base colors. The higher the color depth means more shades of the base 20 colors. This is the most common color depth for 3D games.

    16.7 million colors
      24-bit (224 = 16.7m), 32-bit color True color

      True Color is photo realistic color or the colors that match your perception. This is the best color depth for 3D games since it offers a more realistic image.

      3Dfx Voodoo accelerators do not offer true color images.

    Monitors
    It is important to match the correct monitor for the graphics card and vice-versa in order to take advantage of their capabilities.

  • Common monitor sizes include 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 21 inches. The size is determined by measuring the distance diagonally across the face of the screen. (Actual viewing area will be smaller than the monitor size.) Monitors also vary with the refresh rates they support.

    A basic rule of thumb is as follows:

    • The preferred maximum resolution for 14- and 15-inch monitors is 800 X 600, with the usual maximum supported resolution being 1024 X 768.
    • The preferred maximum resolution for 17-inch monitors is 1024 X 768, with the usual maximum supported resolution being 1280 X 1024.
    • Anything larger than 17 inches should support 1280 X 1024 and above nicely.
    Maximum resolutions may not support a flicker-free refresh rate of 72Hz or higher.

    Refresh Rates
    The refresh rate is the vertical and horizontal frequency. We are mostly concerned with the vertical scan rate. This is how the image on the screen is redrawn from top to bottom, much like a television.
    There are two types of refresh, Interlaced and Non-Interlaced. Non-interlaced refresh draws the whole screen in one pass from top to bottom. Interlaced refresh draws the screen in two passes. The first pass draws every odd line, and the second pass fills in the even lines. By the time it starts to draw the second set of lines, the first ones have begun to fade causing flicker on the screen.

    Refresh rates range from 43 Hz to 200 Hz, although monitors seldom support resolutions above 120Hz.
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