1. P1- Describe the hardware and
software used to create and edit
graphic images

2. • What is a DVI (Digital Visual Interface), what is
it used for and what does it ultimately do?
• Digital Visual Interface.
• Connection between graphics card and
monitor.
• Gives better picture.

3. What does ‘Colour Depth’ refer to?
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Number of colours available.
1 bit colour (2 to power of 1) monochrome.
8 bit (2 to power of 8) =(256 Colours)
16 bit =(65536 Colours)
24 bit =(16 777 216 Colours).

4. 24 bit truecolour
• 8 bits are used to represent red in 24 bit true
colour.
• 8 bits represent blue and a further 8 bits for
green.

5. Explain in terms of 32 bit colour depth
the term ‘truecolor’?
• 32 bit colour depth gives ‘Truecolor’.
• 32 bits used for each pixel.
• 24 bits for the colour and 8 for transparency

6. What is the difference between an
integrated and dedicated graphics
card?
•Integrated Graphics Cards are built into
the main circuit board of a computer.
•A Dedicated Graphics Card is an add-on
card that is installed as a separate
component.
http://www.helium.com/items/955937comparing-integrated-and-dedicatedgraphics-cards

7. How do the different types of memory
work together to edit digital graphics?
• RAM can be a temporary storage that is used
to hold graphic files that have been opened.
• Between Ram and other device is the cache.
• Cache memory helps the drive work more
efficiently.
• The File Allocation Table is copied from the
disk to the Cache.

8. Explain in clear terms what is RAM and
what it does?
• Internal memory
• Temporary storage
• More RAM can increase efficiency of
computer.
• Digital graphics and computers,. Page 217 Book 2

9. What role does cache memory
perform in terms of graphics
• Very fast electronic device.
• On motherboard between RAM And other
device.
• Enhances performance of computer
•
BTEC National ‘Options’ Page 50

11. Research 2 different processors used
for graphics and explain their
capabilities?
• Onboard GPU and GPU on specialised video
card.
• GPUs on specialised video card more powerful
than on board GPU.
• Majority of new computers have onboard
GPUs.
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Processing_Unit

12. What is SCSI?
• Small computer system interface
• Simple interface which consist of a standard
port between a computer and its peripherals.
• Transfers data between computers and
peripheral devices
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/scsi1.htm

13. What does ‘DMA’ in a computer
system stand for and what does it do?
• Direct memory access
• Transfers data between devices
• Typically used for copying a block of memory
from the RAM to a buffer on the device.
•
Digital Graphics and computers. Page230

14. What is a digital camera device
driver, what does it do?
• Enables the operating system to recognise the
digital camera.

15. Describe the following functions of a
digital camera; zoom and zoom rates,
red eye, cropping, colour contrast and
video capture.
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Standard functions of a digital camera.
Photos and movies.
Different cameras have different movie formats.
Eg. Panasonic high end cameras use the AVCHD
format.
•
www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/Camcorders/AVCHD/288827/index.html

16. There are lots of cards’ available on
the market for digital cameras. Choose
3 and explain their capacity to store
images. (E.g. SD, SDHC, CF, MMC)
• SD <4Gb, SDHC 4<>32, SDXC >32Gb
• http://techlogg.com/2010/05/explained-sdsdhx-sdxc/478

17. •
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What are the file storage capabilities of the following items of
hardware?
CD Rom
Hard Drive
Flash cards
USB.
Estimate how many graphic images you could get on each
storage device in relation to its capacity?
Storage capacity to cost ratio doubles approximately every 2 years.
Date: Sept 2010.
CD Rom-650-740Mb
DVD-4.37-15.9Gb
USB-2-64Gb
Hard disk drive 300Gb - 1Tb
http://www.planetoftunes.com/computer/capacities.html#
Digital graphics and computers, page 234

18. Describe the following input devices,
graphics tablet, mouse, digital camera,
scanner.

19. What input devices are suitable for a
computer editing graphics?
• Graphics tablet
• Specialised pen
• Mouse

20. Describe who would use the above,
when they are best used and their
advantages.
• Computer animators
• For 3D modelling
• For computer graphics and digital fine art

21. What input devices for an anime
graphic artist are suitable for a
computer editing graphics?
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Graphics tablet
Specialised pen
Mouse
Software includes:
Paint Shop Pro
Corel Painter
Flash MX

22. In what way can a PDA be related to
editing or manipulating digital
graphics?
• Editing
• Manipulating

23. Explain the output functions a mobile
phone:
• Email photos
• View graphics on a screen
• Stream videos
• View the Internet

24. A monitor is made up of pixels, give
examples of different numbers of
pixels on different types of monitors.
Dots per inch (dpi)
Pixels per inch (ppi)
More pixels means more clarity as picture is enlarged.
640 by 480 display means 640 pixels from side to side
and 480 from top to bottom (Eg VGA display),
640 × 480 = 307,200 pixels or 0.3 megapixels.

25. What output devices are suitable for a
computer editing graphics?
• Plotter
• Printer
• Scanner

26. Plotters have specific uses. Describe
the type of printouts they provide and
why plotters would be required rather
than traditional printers
• Architects, engineers and scientists use
plotters for their designs.
• At least 17 inches wide.
• Wide format printing.

27. Explain what is resolution?
• Both colour depth and resolution are needed in
order to quantify the amount of VRAM.
• Resolution is dependent on the number of pixels.
• Resolution is the amount of dots (pixels) used to
make up a picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolutio
n

28. 1 Name and discuss 3 different file
formats used for digital graphics

29. briefly describe the features of Google
Sketch up or Adobe Illustrator.
• SketchUp is designed to be
easy to use
• Design in 3D
• And be able to easily share
model (s) with Friends

30. PAINT
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Free image and photo editing
• Free software for computers that run
Windows.
• Wide variety of useful and powerful tools
that include support for layers and special
effects.

31. Explain the features and capabilities of
Photo manipulation software or Paint.
• paint is a basic editing programme it comes
with simple functions such as the ability to
paint your own image using your mouse and
the brush tool, and the ability to enter text
onto images, whereas paint shop pro is a
more updated version of paint therefore
comes with a wider range of features and
tools.

32. What is compression?
Where the number of bits required to represent
text, data, or images are compressed so the file
(s) can be transmitted faster over slower Internet
connections, or to take up less space on a disk.

33. Why is colour depth important when
converting files?
• Colour depth controls file size
• Reduction of colour depth results in smaller
files.
• 8 bit (256 colours)
• 24 bit (16.7 million colours)

34. What does “One way process” refer to
when converting files?
• Once a file has been through the conversion
process it is unable to be converted back to its
original format.
• Related to colour depth.
• Eg. Converting a 24 bit colour bitmap (JPG) to
a GIF will result in an 8 bit colour palette.

35. What are image viewers and photo
galleries and what are they used for?
Image viewer
• Computer program used to display graphical
images.
• Photo gallery
• Used to edit, share and organise photos.

36. Identify some software applications
suitable for creating and editing
images.
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Graphics software or image editing software
Examples:
Paint
Photoshop
Fireworks
Picasa 3 (Google)
GIMP