

A Brief History of Graphics [video] - adamnemecek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzN2pgL0zeg&list=PLOQZmjD6P2HlOoEVKOPaCFvLnjP865X1f&index=1

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masswerk
On pixels versus vector:

Notably, it all began with yet a different technology. Early computer displays
were typically point plotting devices, meaning, these were random access
displays like vector displays, but had no memory and would plot individual
blips on the display. (Moreover, these displays used high-resolution tubes
originally manufactured for use in radar displays, employing a dual P7
phosphor that wouldn't only add stability to the image by its
sustain/afterglow, but also added iconic trails to any moving objects.) Thus,
early games, like Spacewar!, would employ two different modes of graphics:
Once, vector like graphics, drawing lines by advancing plotting locations by
not more than a screen co-ordinate a step, and on the other hand, painting
effects by individual pixels, like the pixel-dust of exploding particles.

These displays were also the most limiting factor in game development. As the
beam had to be moved at high speeds, displays were serious pieces of hardware,
applying high voltages to address the requested plotting locations. In order
to prohibit any resulting ringing and blurred images, there was a wait time
required in between individual plotting commands. In case of the DEC PDP-1's
Type 30 CRT used for the original Spacewar!, these were 50 microseconds, the
equivalent of 10 internal CPU instructions. Provided the program had to
repaint the screen in reasonable time in order to maintain a stable image and
steady frame rates, the time spent in display routines contributed a
significant amount to the runtime of the main loop and limited what could be
done during a frame.

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masswerk
So you may ask, why random access displays at all?

In the case of the DEC Type 30 CRT, there are 1024 x 1024 plotting locations
at 8 intensities. A frame buffer for this would require 8 Mib of RAM. Core
memory access times aside, consider that a block of 4k 18-bit words core
memory (72 Kib) was listed in 1963 at USD 30,000 (roughly times 10 in todays
money) – and you would need about 114 of them! So this clearly wasn't an
option. Vector graphics are nice for smooth, seamless lines, but require
additional memory and control circuitry to store and manage the path points to
be visited round-robin (adding about another 50% to the hefty price of the
display of USD 14,300 – a reasonable home). If you were up to displaying
individual data points (as in time series experiments and simulations), the
additional luxury of vector hardware was of questionable use and probably
quite dispensable. Thus, you would go with point plotting devices.

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Ianvdl
The full playlist consolidated into one video is available here
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyjyWUrHsFc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyjyWUrHsFc)

Ahoy's videos also cover some other topics such as firearms (specifically
their depictions in games) and beverages. He also has a good video about
easter eggs in games.

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Narishma
Great series of videos. Unfortunate that he uses mostly enhanced footage from
emulators and modded PC games instead of showing them as they appeared when
originally released. Also unfortunate that the aspect ratio is wrong on so
many of them.

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jader201
Yeah, that would have been nice. But I can imagine it would be pretty
expensive and time consuming to obtain authentic footage of each of these
games, particularly some of the more obscure (and therefore, rare) titles.

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Narishma
You don't necessarily need authentic footage from the machines themselves. You
can use emulators, just render at the original resolution and don't use any
image quality enhancements or filters.

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jewbacca
Highly recommended related video by the same person (XboxAhoy / Stuart Brown):

"Doomed: The Embers of Amiga FPS"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv6aJRGpz_A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv6aJRGpz_A)

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Aoyagi
Lovely, I'll use this to educate my boss who keeps saying "those animations in
Assassin's Creed look so unrealistic, is this the best they could come up
with?"

