The Greek Series:
04-100

 

 

           

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    Hardware T&L:                                                                               Memory Speed:
        Hardware Transform & lighting, the hardware                                  The speed at which the dedicated graphics memory
        acceleration of T&L functions provided by a                                     on the videocard operates.
        videocard. This process during which a scene is
        constructed in wire frame mode and lit, used to                           Memory Bandwidth:
        be performed by a system's CPU, but is now                                    The rate at which the memory on the videocard
        accomplished by a videocard's GPU. In turn                                    can be accessed by the GPU. Memory bandwidth
        this frees up CPU to preform other tasks, which                               is usually expressed in gigabytes per second (GB/sec)
        improves performance                                                                      with the best videocards boasting figures over 20GB/sec.

    Open Gl:                                                                                           Programmable Shaders:
        A graphics API first developed by Silicon Graphics                          Programmable shader units are the areas of the GPU
        INC. for processing and displaying 3D graphis.                                that can run generalized programs rather than fixed 3D
                                                                                                                 functions, there are two basic types of programmable
     RAMDAC: (Ramdom Access Memory Digital-to-Analog                    shader units: pixel and vertex.
        Converter) Circuitry that converts data from the video
        memory into analog signals that can be displayed by the              Pixel Shader:
        monitor. A fast RAMDAC is neccessary to produce                        A programmable shader unit that manipulates individual
        flicker free images at high resolutions.                                             pixels. Pixel shaders can create bump maps (a layer of
                                                                                                                skin that goes on top of a textures, allowing for dimples
      Vertical Sync: (Vertical Synchronization or V Sync.)                         or bumps to appear on a model, reflective surfaces,
          is the signal that tells the monitor when to draw that                     dynamic shadows, and all sorts of effects.
          next vertical line. the rate at which V-Sync occurs is
          also known as the "Refresh rate". Enabling V-Sync                     Vertex Shader:
          in a game prevents the game from running faster than                   a programmable shader unit that specializes in the
          the monitor's refresh rate, which can cause textures to                   geometry calculations. Vertex shaders handle terrain
          tear or look distorted.                                                                     morphing, some lighting calculations, and some
                                                                                                                 shadow calculations.

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