Using microcomputers for graphics notes

ABSTRACT

People have been doing graphics since the early caveman started drawing pictures on the walls of the cave. Up until recently, if you wanted to do pictures using a computer, you needed to have a good deal of money and a high frustration threshold. That is beginning to change with the advent of inexpensive microcomputers.

The word “graphics” may mean different things to different people. To a printer it might mean a dingbat, an artist might think of graphics as a part of a picture, or a business person could picture graphics as a pie chart. When I refer to the word “graphics”, I mean “visible media with the use of a microcomputer”. That is a rather broad definition and would include some pop artist blowtorching a micro and displaying it on a hubcap.

I will use “graphics” in a more traditional term in that I will concentrate on the more usual functions like line, bar, and pie charts, animation, 3-dimensional graphics, and computer art. Within these major groupings are quite a number of application areas.

Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Computers in other domains

    • Personal computers and PC applications

      • Microcomputers

  • Education

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

    • Graphics systems and interfaces

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing education