Talk:2D computer graphics

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I agree with Wapcaplet (et al) about the need for a serious rewrite of this article. I am by no means an expert on this and so can't do it for myself (not without a ton of research and I'm just not interested enough).

Also: this article has zero in-text references (minus the wikipedia links). This is a serious handicap for someone looking for further information. PainMan 01:16, 16 July 2007 (UTC)


Might be good to go into some detail about the distinction between Vector and Raster video hardware. Early Vector displays were expensive and did not catch on - see the Vectrex for example (though I do not know if this is truly Vector hardware, since it used a regular TV). Also good would be some more clarification on the fact that modern displays are predominantly raster (with pixels), even though some software uses vector techniques (Illustrator, any SVG editor, etc.) I am no expert on the subject though, so it may be best left to someone with more knowledge. -- Wapcaplet

The paragraph beginning "Still, one can't diminish the value of the earlier geneneration of graphic programs..." seems pretty darned biased. Should it be re-worded or omitted? -Frecklefoot

Definitely needs re-wording. Ideally, there'd be a short history of 2D graphics software, in the context of the hardware available at the time (unless this has already been covered in another article), but I wouldn't be qualified to do this without quite a bit of research. -- Wapcaplet
It seems like this would be very involved. Tracing the history of 2D graphics software from its inception across all available (or at least most) systems available over the years could be very daunting. At the very least, I think it should go in a seperate article, not in this one. A short discussion would be appropriate here, but an exhaustive one should have its own page. Anyone else? -Frecklefoot
Agreed. Perhaps we need a new article, History of computer graphics. -- Wapcaplet
I thought the discussion would be the History of computer graphic software. If you want to approach it from the other angle, that's fine with me. -Frecklefoot
Sounds like a daunting article (or articles), no matter how you look at it. A quick googling turns up A Short History of Computer Graphics, which looks to be a good starting point, and even has significant advances on both the software and hardware fronts. I'll see if I can work up a stub for both History of computer graphic software and History of computer graphic hardware. -- Wapcaplet

I think this could start off a bit slower. Consider:

The art of producing images on computer display, printer, or other output device. Usually involves treating the drawing area, or drawable, as a large grid of squares, which can be set to different colours. The dimensions of the grid is referred to as the 'resolution', which is also a characteristic of the output device itself. The image on screen is maintained in a special area of the computer's memory, sometimes called video RAM. (Link to article on computer displays.) Whereas displays originally simply held text (and so was character-oriented), computer graphics involves treating the video RAM, or buffer, as a more general array of individual pixels which can be turned on or off (in basic systems), set to a varying intensity (in monochrome displays), or to one of a palette of colours.
As the resolution and colour fidelity increase, images appear more detailed. In modern displays, images displayed on computers are starting to rival photographic prints, at least to the casual observer.
Once one has the ability to show an image -- that is, the ability to manipulate the state of the memory buffers which affect which pixels are lit on the screen, and with what intensities and/or colours -- the question is then a matter of what to show and how to show it. Moreover, simply displaying static images is comparatively easy compared to the job of letting users create images of their own. Even ignoring the introduction of externally produced images into the computer's memory using a scanning device or a digital camera, there are numerous ways in which to produce images in video RAM to be displayed on screen.

At that point, it would make sense to introduce the concept of simple drawing programs, as an introduction into the basics of some of the algorithms for producing images from primitives, like lines and shapes, and using fills, gradients, and such. Then introduce the idea of vectorized images, wherein the instructions for creating a drawing are preserved and can be modified in part in order to change the image, contrasted to "painting over" a pure raster image. The distinction should be clear between the idea that an image can exist in two forms: transient computer memory, and in files which record the image as pixel arrays or drawing instructions (or both), but the primary method of displaying a computer image is always through the raster display or printer.

It might also make sense to mention the use of 3D computer graphics in the production of 2D still images, especially ray tracing, but that can alternately be left to an improved 3D graphics article. Brent Gulanowski 02:19, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)