Video Cards

TimeLine

The Past The Present The Future

The Monitor is the most used output device on a computer. It is the advancement in video cards that have contributed to society and popular culture’s interest and engagement with computers. Computers only displayed text on green and black screens using tv monitors for display until 1976 when the AppleII built color graphics into it's computer. A few years later, 1981, IBM introduced the CGA (Color Graphics Adapter). The first mainstream video card and the combination of a computer that came with a monitor caught the attention of a popular culture that had grown up on television. In my opinion, it was video card development that enabled the general public to see the potential of computers for business and home entertainment.

Cathode Ray Tube(CRT) Monitor	nVidia Video Card	LCD Flat Screen Monitor

Some common terms used with video cards (Tyson and Carmack) and monitors are:

• Resolution - refers to the amount of dots (pixels) on the monitor along a horizontal (row) and vertical (column) axis.
• Screen size - measured diagonally and doesn't include the case. As screen size goes up, so should the resolution or you will get fuzzy pictures.
• Aspect ratio - Screen size width to heighth. This term distinguishes the wide screen display variable.
• Color bit depth - number of bits used to describe a single pixel. True color uses 24 bits to make over 16 million colors (16,777,216).

In order to fully appreciate the Video Card technology of today, it is interesting to note the highpoints of past video history. There is an intermingling of Game Technology, Television, Telephone and Computer Technology because they compete with each other for the short attention spans of popular culture (PC Guide). Companies build off of each others innovations and the purchasing public rewards the hottest trends. Even though the high-stakes competition is swift and treacherous, I feel that the future of technology has the promise of assisting the advancement of the Global Greater Good. Multimedia has opened the door to a plethora of pop culture demands and it is not surprising that today we are "bundling services", developing "cross-platform" software, and surfing the World Wide Web.

In preparing for future technology, it is essential to also maintain vigilance of our past technology and how it is to be discarded. Check the Environmental Protection Agency for a list of eWaste recycling participants.

Rollover the TimeLine to see Highlights in the History of Video Cards. The images are clickable and will take you to more information about that event.