graphic components of a computer

Description of the main graphic components of a computer: The graphics card and the monitor.

The main components of a computer responsible for the interpretation and presentation of colors are the graphics card and the monitor.

The Graphic card o Video is the hardware component in charge of processing the graphic data sent by the processor, interpreting it and encoding it in suitable voltages that are then sent to the monitor for presentation on the screen.

Graphic card

There are different models of graphics card, ranging from the simplest, included in the motherboard, to the most advanced, true mini-computers, with their own processor, memory, bus, etc.

The monitors are the devices in charge of presenting to the user the interfaces of the applications that run on the computer. We all know what a monitor looks like on the outside, since we are used to television monitors, something so common in our homes. Internally, the monitors vary from one another depending on their quality, the way they handle voltages and the graphic technology used.

crt-monitor

The monitors The most common are the CRT or cathode ray, formed by a tube inside which a vacuum has been made, at one end of which there are three electron guns, one for each primary color, and at the other a glass screen, whose external part is what the user sees.

Cathode ray tube of a CRT monitor

The electrons generated in the guns by heating are driven to the inner part of the screen, which is covered by small groups of pigmented phosphor in each of the three primary colors (red, green and blue). These groups are called triads, and they correspond to a point on the screen, called a pixel, which will appear in one color or another depending on the intensity of the electrons that reach it from each cannon.

An important characteristic is the point pitch (dot pitch), the diagonal distance between two neighboring points of the same color, which determines the minimum size of a detail that a screen is capable of resolving. The smaller this distance, the greater the sharpness. It is measured in dots per inch (dpi).

The maximum distinguishable resolution on a 800×600 screen is 72 dpi and on a 1024×768 screen it is 93 dpi. These are theoretical values ​​and in practice they are somewhat higher.

dot and pixel pitch

Depending on the resolution used, the pixels (minimum unit of information) are represented on the screen by one or more triads, with which the adaptation to the different resolutions is very good.

In order for the electrons to arrive in an orderly manner and impact exactly at the right point, a mask or grid is placed between the screen and the guns, which filters the electrons and directs them to their destination points in an appropriate manner.

The representation of an image on the screen is done by sweeping the electron beams, which cover the entire screen from left to right and from top to bottom. The speed with which this operation is performed is called the vertical refresh rate or screen refresh rate, it is measured in Hz (hertz) and must be above 60 Hz, preferably 70 or 80. From this number, the image in the screen is extremely stable, without appreciable flickering, so the view suffers much less.

We can find out the vertical refresh rate of our monitor by accessing the monitor configuration screen, which is accessed in Windows systems through the selections:

Start > Control Panel > Display > Settings > Advanced Options > Monitor

We can also change the refresh rate on this screen, but before doing so it is advisable to consult the monitor’s manual, since an incorrect frequency can be quite harmful.

LCD monitor

Another type of monitor is LCD or liquid crystal, which differs from the previous ones in that in them the triads are formed by liquid crystal instead of pigmented phosphor, and in that the electron beams are guided by magnetic polarization. In addition, LCD monitors work with a specific pixel frame, the size of each one being fixed, so when changing to a lower resolution, pixel stripes may remain disabled.

Regardless of the type of graphics card and monitor used, it is essential to have the drivers for these components installed and updated.

A drivers It is a set of specific software libraries in charge of configuring and controlling hardware devices. Each component needs the appropriate drivers to work properly, which usually come with it on a floppy disk or CD.

With the advancement of the functionalities of the operating systems and of the other software and hardware components of the computer equipment, a constant update of the drivers of the monitors and video cards is necessary.

These updated versions are usually offered by the different manufacturers on their websites, so it is very important to visit them from time to time to download the updated versions of the drivers and install them on our equipment, in order not to lose capabilities and to avoid incompatibilities with the drivers. new operating systems.

If we have a graphics card installed in our computer, generally its drivers (controller) are responsible for properly managing the monitor. To access the controller properties, just follow the route:

Start > Control Panel > Display > Settings > Advanced Options > Monitor > Properties > Driver

From this window we can see the type of driver installed and if it is working fine or has a problem. Also update it, for which it is necessary to previously have the new drivers, since we will have to indicate their location on our hard drives.

An important consideration: we must be sure that the driver that we are going to install corresponds to that of our graphics card or monitor, since an inappropriate driver can cause a malfunction of the graphic components.