Conor Latham

Evaluate the
Impact of Evolving
Output Mediums
on the Design and
Creation of
Graphic Images
D1

Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................... 2
Output Mediums.................................................................................................... 2
Monitors................................................................................................................. 2
Tablets................................................................................................................... 3
Printers.................................................................................................................. 3
Bibliography........................................................................................................... 5

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Introduction
In this assignment I will be researching developments in hardware and software
and evaluating the impact on the design and creation of digital graphics. Some
of the mediums that I will be researching will be monitors, tablets and printers
and how they evolved over the years and impact on how graphics are designed
nowadays.

Output Mediums
An output medium is a device that outputs information such as a computer
monitor which outputs graphics from the computer and onto the screen. Output
mediums have changed over time and have developed to become cheaper,
much easier to use and better quality. Other examples of output mediums are
printers, mobile phones and tablets. An output medium can easily be broken into
two parts; the medium is the device or piece of hardware or software, output is
the information whether it is words, sounds or graphics.

Monitors
A computer monitor is a visual display output for computers. They are fairly
simple in design with the casing, the screen, the circuitry and the power outlet.
Older computer monitors where known as CRTs this stood for Cathode Ray Tubes,
these monitors where very bulky in design because of the technology available
at the time, the resolution was very low and the screen was square shaped.
However today monitor screen are typically made of a thin film transistor liquid
crystal display (commonly known as LCD) and some monitors are a flat panel
LED display. Either way the monitors are only around 6cm thick at a maximum.

These are two examples of how monitors have changed. The image on the left is
of a Samsung 16 CRT monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768, however the
quality of those pixels was very poor, on screens like this a circle would not be
smooth as it would be made up of visible square pixels. The image on the right is
of a LG 24 LCD monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, it is clear that the
newer monitors are much wider than the older CRT monitors but not that much
taller. This is because the standard aspect ratio has changed from 4:3 to 16:9
meaning that monitors as a standard are much wider.

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Because of the use of a liquid crystal display, it means that touchscreens can be
used. This was not available on CRTs because it was essentially a projection of
light. This touchscreen technology has made editing graphics even easier and
more accessible, because they can be edited at the touch of a screen rather than
a mouse.
It is not that long until the current HD screens will be looked back on like the CRTs
are. In the very near future the standard monitors will all have 4K technology
which will deliver a resolution of 3840 x 2160, which is double the current
standard resolution, it is also rumoured that the standard aspect ratio will be
changing from 16:9 to 21:9, which I further increasing the width of monitors.

Tablets
Tablets have been around longer than most people think, the first tablet was
actually released in 2000 by Microsoft, even so Apple are credited with inventing
the tablet with the iPad in 2010, which is when the Golden era of portable
browsing and computing began.

These are two examples of how tablets have changed. The image on the left is of
a HP Compaq TC1100 this was an early attempt at a fully touch screen portable
computer, it had a full version of Windows XP installed and had the processing
power of laptops from the same time. The image on the right is of an Apple iPad
Air the iPad was recognised as the starting point of all modern tablets, and
changed the way people looked at portable computing forever, as it was
recognised as the first mass market tablet capable of finger friendly multi touch
and had its own dedicated operating system. It can be seen from just looking at
the pictures that the iPad is not only much slimmer but it is bigger and more
visually appealing. The TC1100 was very much an attempt to bring computers
into a smaller package; however Apple aimed to make a larger version of their
iPhone which could be substituted for a computer. This is why today the iPad is
still by far the most successful, most powerful and most purchased tablet on the
market.

Printers
Printers have become a staple part of everyday life whether it is for office use,
school use, home use or in a graphical design environment. Printers are used to
send images, documents or even web pages to be printed. However they were
not always what they are today, printers used to work very differently.

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These are two examples of how printers have changed. The image on the left is a
6600 Pedestal and is an example of a line printer; a line printer used metal rods
with the characters engraved so that they would stick into the paper. As the
printing started the rods would be covered in ink and would then be pressed
against the paper to make the words needed. These types of printers worked in a
very similar way to typewriters and printed slowly compared to todays printers.
Whereas todays printers are used for anything from a small image to a multiple
page essay, line printers where exclusively used for bulk jobs. The image on the
right is of an Epson Artisan 1430 Inkjet Printer, this is what printers are like today
and can be found everywhere. These printers work using ink cartridges of black
and colour and work by firing the ink at the paper. Other modern printers like
laser printers work by essentially burning the text into paper. These printers are
much faster than line printers, printing over 10,000 words per minute and are
unrivalled by older models in print quality and print speed, especially when it
comes to images and graphics.
In around 2010 3D printers suddenly became of intense interest to graphical
designers, with the ability to print physical objects in the same amount of time
and effort as some early laser printers. These devices are currently going
through development and although they have been used effectively they are not
common in workplaces or homes yet. 3D printing works by printing successive
layers of a material on top of another whilst under
computer control. The potential of this device is
almost limitless, it may eventually be possible to
send sketches of a building, for example, across
the world and have this device print a 3D scale
model. This will revolutionise the graphics
industry, giving designers the opportunity to draw
a 2D sketch and then have the sketch printed out
in 3D, this will save time making models and
having to estimate the final outcomes.

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Bibliography
Computer Monitor - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_monitor
Inkjets vs. Lasers in the Office. (n.d.). Retrieved from IT Pro:
http://www.itpro.co.uk/printers/innovation-at-work/24442/inkjets-vs-lasersin-the-office
Line printers - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_printer
Phillips, J. (n.d.). Surface pro 3 vs Windows XP Tablet. Retrieved from PCWorld:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2363252/ten-years-after-hps-primordialwindows-xp-tablet-versus-surface-pro-3.html
Printer - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_(computing)#Modern_print_technolog
y
Tablet Computer - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_computer

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