don't quote me on this... cause its probably crap


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by mattv on 13, 2000 at 6:40 AM:

In Reply to: So how did the original games work? posted by Bugfinder on 10, 2000 at 2:32 PM:

The reason those vector games look so nice in the acrades is because they use VECTOR monitors. the danm things cost an arm and a leg now and the last one was manufactured in 1985 or so. Good luck finding one that works. As far as I know there is no way to control a vector graphics monitor from a PC. At least no one has tried yet.

You could also use a nice SVGA screen and run it at 1024 * 768 with anti-aliasing ON. Beats the hell out of mucking around with old, unreliable and downright dangerous vector monitors

The reason that vector monitors look so nice is that they can draw a perfectly straight line between any two points - this is something that normal(raster) monitors simply cannot do.

THats not entirely true - a normal monitor can draw straight lines; but only straight up/down or straight left/right. Every diagonal line on a normal monitor is made up of a whole bunch of tiny straight lines all joined together.

This is because a standard monitor describes graphics in terms of pixels, each pixel is turned on or off by the electron gun(s) to create the picture. This is all well and good but remember that the pixels are laid out in a grid paturn so the only time you ever get perfectly straight lines is if they go vertical (and join a column of pixels) or horizontal (and join a row of pixels) Any other time and your "straight line" is formed by a whole lot of pixels mashed togehter to look straightish if you squint up your eyes and have a few beers first.

The lower your resolution and refresh rate the worse this effect will be.

This is where vector graphics come in, these have no pixels at all, just a giant mess of phosphor splattered all over the back of the screen. The electron gun doesn't turn indivdual pixels on or off, it just zaps a straight line across the screen, any phosphor on that line gets excited and glows and you end up with a PERFECTLY statight line. Not one with a whole lot of little steps in it.

It is also interesting to note that vector graphics don't really have a "refresh rate" in the traditional sense. Since they never draw the whole screen at once comparision between the two types of monitor is difficult

This is why vector graphics look so awful on low res raster screens. there are relitively few pixles and the line looks all jaggie and nasty - the more pixels you have the smoother it looks. When you have an infinite number of pixels the line looks perfectly smooth;

Once again - that could be a load of horse manure. Feel free to correct me

Interesting but useless note. Most


Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board ] [ FAQ ]