Video Card Definition (Graphics)

Computers are made up of various elements: microprocessor, RAM, HDD, DVD drive,... and the card graph, which is an element that allows us to generate the images that are then presented in the monitor (a peripheral).

The graphics card is the part of the video system that is inside the computer

The graphics card or video card is a piece that is found in all computers and that is responsible for processing the information in Format of digital data that must give rise to the images, and later convert them to a format that can be understood by the monitors.

The output of these generated images is done through the video ports through special cables to one or more monitors. Although the video ports are usually part of the graphics card, the other elements are not, the monitor being considered as a peripheral, that is, an element external to the components of the computer proper.

The graphics card has evolved

As a result of the technology that existed at the time, the first compatible PC computers had capabilities very limited graphics, which were practically only used for video games and a very limited set of utilities. limited.

It was a time when graphical user environments were not "well regarded" as a tool productive, they were not considered "serious", only for the domestic market in the computers of eight bits. And then Apple came along and changed everything.

Graphics environments with their number of effects, transitions and functionalities was not the main reason why graphics cards evolved, but it was one of their engines at the beginning. Later, video games and multimedia took the role of tractor in the evolution graphics cards.

Authentic computers within computers

The increasingly high demands of applications that made intensive use of the graphic section of computers and, especially, video games, led to these increasingly offer greater power and, as a consequence, more complex chips that currently have little to envy conventional computer microprocessors.

The term GPU, an abbreviation for the name, began to become popular among users. Graphics Process Unit (Graphics Processing Unit), and that names the microchip that performs the main work of the graphics card.

In fact, what I was saying before about the power of GPUs is materialized in the fact that there are techniques of programming that allows these chips to be used for a general purpose, as if they were CPUs and even equipping supercomputers.

The power of GPUs has led them to be used even in supercomputing

NVIDIA is one of the two leading companies in the field of GPUs, which has launched its own line of these chips and their corresponding hardware to undertake tasks related to the supercomputing.

The other reference manufacturer is AMD, after the acquisition of ATI several years ago. If NVIDIA is known for its GeForce GPU series, AMD / ATI is known for its Radeon series.

The creations of both manufacturers are then integrated by the producers of graphics cards, which surround the GPU of the hardware suitable for optimal operation, leaving it ready for your integration on a new PC or for sale for anyone who wants to upgrade their old machine.

Photos: iStock - pagadesign / alengo

Video Card Topics (Graphics)