New and Emerging Technologies

New and Emerging Technologies

In the market we can see new and emerging technologies that have changes on how output media products such as large flat screens and tablets have an effect on creating graphics. There are many new and emerging technologies that are being introduced into the market every day and we can also see how technologies that we have already seen in the market such as printers and phones are constantly being updated and changes are being made.

Graphics tablets

 

A graphics tablet is used to be able to hand draw an image onto your computer screen. With the new device Pad Pivot you can set you graphics tablet on your knee whilst using it to draw your image effortlessly in the comfort of your chair. The Pad Pivot is compatible with the iPad, Samsung galaxy Tablet, Blackberry Playbook, kindle and even the Nook. This device will have an impact on graphics as you can now draw free hand onto a computer screen and the result will be of high quality, if you are skilled at drawing. There is also a new device called the Crayola trace and draw. The design of this is a case for an iPad to allow children to slide a piece of paper in between to draw, a child can also use a free app to draw on. A graphics tablet can have an effect on the way images are being produced because artists can draw free hand with a stylus onto the tablet and then you can upload this to your computer to manipulate even more in a program such as Adobe Photoshop.

Prototype Tablets

For researchers, the main problem is trying to find a new way of interacting with a computer as newer devices are making a huge impact on the market such as the iPad 2. Therefore a new way of interacting with devices would grow popular. A new type of tablet which is still in research  from researchers at Intel, Microsoft and the University of Washington can be controlled by touching any surface on which it is placed as well as normal swiping movement with other touch screen devices like an iPod Touch. In a demonstration, the device tracks a small ball as it moves around the surface of the prototype table. Whenever the ball hits the side of the screen it virtually appears on the screen as if it had just went through the device with the same trajectory! A prototype tablet can have an effect on graphics as we can see how this new device is able to allow a ball virtually enter the device within the same trajectory. Within digital graphics this device will allow artists to design complex pieces of art and they will be able to draw 3d designs with ease because this new technology is helping to make this happen as devices such as this will increase the limitations that where never thought to have been able to suceed. 3

iPhone 4S

The new iPhone 4s has a dual core A5 chip which has more power than any other device yet in the iPhone range. The camera is 8 megapixels and can shoot 1080p HD videos. With Siri you can tell your phone what to do, at your command. This device has an impact on graphics as you can now shoot 1080p HD videos which is really clear, most devices shoot much lower and end up being rendered out in 1080p which make them clearer but if the raw file like this camera can perform this, graphics are going to be a lot more precise. An iPhone 4S is going to be an important device on the market as it has got a camera which will be worth a lot of money if you were to buy the camera by itself. The phone can be bought of Apple's website and states that the phone can be bought from £499.00.

Doxie Go standalone portable scanner syncs with iOS devices

This new device is a portable scanner that can standalone and store up to 600 pages or 2400 photographs with the ability to scan whilst on the move. The Doxie Go scanner can be synced with an iPod or iPad to help save time and even sync to an external drive.

The company’s device software automatically scans to your computer whenever it is connected via USB. The device itself only is 10.5 inches by 1.7 inches and weighs only 403 grams, this shows how lightweight the device really is as it is extremely light. JPEG and PNG files can also be created while an SD memory slow can be added to store information with the Doxie Go.

Xbox Kinnect



The Xbox Kinnect is a device which captures your movements as you are the controller. Many people have keen interests to play games such as 'Kinnect Sports' and 'Zumba' which are popular games and can be fun to play with a group of friends as you can get a good laugh watching yourself after you have finished playing as the Kinnect records you and replays the video when you are finished.

The Kinnect is based on a webcam based input device and is very popular as within the first 2 months 8 million devices where sold. The Kinnect is very popular with the younger generation as kids love to play some it the games available on the market and it also helps keep you fit as you have to move yourself as if you where the controller!

Large Flat Screen Monitors

Over the last few years we can see a dramatic impact on the way monitors for computers can be seen. We can see how Sky are now introducing 3D which allows you to watch TV in amazing quality with your 3D glasses and your mind will be blown away at how realistic everything looks.

This can have an impact on Digital graphics as camera quality is increasing slowly in mega pixels and now that monitors can be used for 3D television they can also be used for HD 1080p movies which are unbelievable clear and you would believe you where there at the time e.g. a golf match or football game on television.

Software and Hardware Functions and Limitations

Scanner

What is a scanner?

A scanner is a device that can capture an image from posters, magazine pages, and images that are hand drawn on a piece of paper. A scanner can take the raw material of an image and capture the image on your computer screen. We can see how a scanner is useful in digital graphics as it helps to get images to the computer to let you manipulate your image

Limitations

A limitation of a scanner can be that it isn’t portable and cannot capture an image. Scanners tend to be slow at scanning in, due to high resolution images such as 600 dots per inch (DPI). Scanners can cost a lot of money and the lamps needs to be maintained on a regular basis. Another limitation is the file size outcome which may be very large if you have chosen a large file to start of with, the minimum for graphic output is 300dpi.

Key tools and functions

A scanner is used to scan in an image from a sheet of paper which is then converted and displayed on a computer screen. A key tool of a scanner may be the fact that it can scan in your image with very little input from the user. Scanners can be useful as designs drawn by hand are difficult to upload to a computer. A graphics tablet can allow users to do so.

Digital Camera

What is a digital camera?

A digital camera is a camera that is used to stores images digitally instead of putting them on film and sending off the film to receive your photographs. Once a picture has been taken, it can be saved onto a flash memory card and transferred to a computer, then you can manipulate the image with an editing program and printed off.


Limitations

Digital camera’s can be limiting due to the megapixel that the camera has. Shutter Delay is too long on low end models making the focus of some photos very bad. The battery life can be very low and this can be a problem as you need to charge it on a more regular basis and not be able to use it. Another limitation may be that not every camera has a tripod stand available to use with it making some photos blurry. Images may also be lost via transporting the image with a flash card.

Key tools and functions

Key tools of a camera for example could be the fact that the camera is portable and can run off batteries or a charge. You can insert a flash card into the camera, when taking photographs the image is saved to the camera, this then allows you to upload the photos to editing programs such as Photoshop, to edit your photo. A digital camera also allows you to view the photographs that you have taken, this allows you to delete which photos you do not want to keep. Some digital camera's also allow you to edit photos on the camera which means that you can crop out parts of the photographs you do not need or even increase the brightness and contrast.

Summary of Hardware

These two different types of hardware have their own limitations, for example the limitation of a digital camera may be the mega pixel and the portability whilst a scanners limitation may be the size of paper it can scan in. Overall these limitations aren't major and will not affect your work drastically, if they do you should simply upgrade your hardware

Photoshop

What is Photoshop?

Photoshop is one of the most popular digital image editing software. It is used by millions of graphic artists, print designers, visual communicators, and regular people for there own use. Many posters on streets that you may see today have a high chance of being edited with some use of effects and plug-ins to make them more appealing.

 

Limitations

For some users Photoshop's cost may be a limitation to some users as Photoshop is rather expensive. Limitations may also be from the user’s computer as it may not have a high enough specification to allow Photoshop to run smoothly. Photoshop is also  a software which is difficult to understand and needs experience to be able to use it to its full potential. Another limitation of Photoshop is that you need to save your image if you do not want to destroy the original image which you have started with.

Key tools and functions

Some key tools of Photoshop for example could be the tool bar with all the different move tools and the eraser tool which allows you to remove some work you may have added. Another example may be the gradient tool which allows you to blend a foreground and background color. The sharpen tool allows you to sharpen up an image to make it more clear. As adobe is a professional software package it has  more advanced tools than most ordinary software package, such as soften and invert.

The link below helps explain some more of the basic tools.

http://www.photoshoplab.com/photoshop-tool-basics.html

Sumo Paint

What is Sumo Paint?

Sumo paint is a free online graphic editing package and features many of the same tools of Photoshop. Sumo Paint is geared towards illustration, where other software such as Photoshop are more suited for heavy image editing

Limitations

Sumo paint is not as advanced as Adobe Photoshop and therefore you cannot get a professional touch to your work as easily as Sumo paint. File export is not as advanced as Adobe Photoshop and that affects the finished image. With Photoshop you can add brush packages and fonts and this is limited on Sumo paint. Another disadvantage to Sumo paint is the fact that you need an internet connection to use this software package.

Key tools and functions

Sumo paint is a well known software package that is free online which you can  experiment with photos to manipulate images. To access sumo paint you can sign up or simply open the package. Sumo paint is simple to use and not as complicated as Adobe Photoshop and novice users will pick up the basics in no time. Sumo paint has got the basic tools such as cropping and resizing for example.

Summary of Software

These two types of software have their own limitations as the users needs to understand what they are doing to their image and what layers they should be adding at specific time. Sumo paint and Adobe Photoshop have limitations as the image output can affect the final image because the higher resolution  varies from software package

Performance of a Computer System

Hard Drive

The hard drive is used to store data on your computer.A hard disk is a non-volatile, random access digital (RAM) magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure

Faster drives mean faster processing. A drive running at 5,200 RPM is standard. If you pay a little more, you can get 7,200 RPM. If you have a server and need real speed, you can pay more and get 10,000 to 15,000 RPM.

Graphics Card

The better the graphics card the faster your computer will run overall ensuring it does not run slow and lag whilst watching movies or playing games.

To make your computer run faster you can upgrade your graphics card. The more powerful the graphics card better your computer will run, such as accelerated rendering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qdRm3KkGV8 - How to choose a graphics card

http://www.pchardwareuk.com/pny-nvidia-quadro-fx-4800g-graphics-card-15gb-pcie-dvidisplayport-p-16018.html - Expensive Graphics Card

Processor

 A processor is made up from millions of transistors. A transistor is the basic component. Each transistor is 45nm (45 millionths) of a millimeter. Transistors are using less energy to run and take up less space, enabling more transistors to make it powerful and smaller. Intel, AMD and IBM are 3 main manufactures. The better processor you have the faster your computer will run making it overall faster.

RAM

Used for Primary storage of data and instructions for use by the processor. Advantages High speed, More ram will improve the performance of you computer. Disadvantages - Requires a constant supply of power or its contents will be lost. Ram is Volatile and expensive. The more ram the faster your computer will run, making it faster.

   

Hardware Components For Digital Graphics

There a various hardware components that can be used to create and manipulate digital graphics. I will now describe these components.

Mouse -  A mouse is a pointing device that controls the co-ordination of a cursor on your computer screen as you move it around on a pad.In digital graphics you can use a mouse to interact with the image you are working with to specify the area you may want to crop, resize or even rotate.

Digital Camera -

In digital graphics a digital camera is used to capture an image, then edit on software. A digital camera can take a video or still photographs. They are mainly used to get the images onto the computer to then be edited or manipulated using editing software such as photoshop.

 Scanner -

A scanner is similar to a digital camera in the fact that it is only used to get the image onto the computer.In digital graphics a scanner is used to manipulate a digital graphic as you can get the photo from a piece of paper onto the computer.

Graphics Tablet

A graphics tablet allows you to hand draw images onto a computer. You can also use a graphics tablet to capture handwritten signatures.In digital graphics you can use a graphics tablet to draw in images, but will not be as clear as a mouse.

Monitor

A monitor is an output device which allows us to see the images on the screen. The higher the resolution the clearer the image is. In digital graphics a higher resolution means a clearer image and this would mean that the outcome would be of a higher standard.

USB Storage

A USB Storage device is simply used to store information. The bigger the memory the bigger the price.In digital graphics you can use a USB pen drive to store images and data from different machines.

Flash Memory

Flash memory is a non volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.These Secure Digits (SD) Cards are common in digital cameras.In digital graphics flash storage can be used to upload images to your computer.

Printers

A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. In digital graphics a laser printer is useful to print out photographs. They come in cyan, magenta, yellow and black toners. They have a high initial starting price, but run cheaper than an ink jet printer. They are also a lot faster than an inkjet printer.

FireWire

FireWire which is also known as Sony iLink or as (IEEE 1394) which is the official name. FireWire is used to connect different pieces of equipment so they can be easily uploaded quickly to share information. FireWire is similar to a USB pen drive as it can transfer data quickly, easy to use, plug and play performance, low cost and the ability to use it with many other devices.