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The guide has been within to explain how video cards work in a PC.
Typical screen resolutions are capable of displaying resolutions at 1024 pixels by 720 pixels. The width of the screen equals the value of 1024 (one thousand and twenty four pixels), and the height of the screen equals the value of 720 (seven hundred and twenty pixels). The type of video card and monitor used in a computer setup determines the highest number of pixels that can be displayed on a screen.
In all Windows operating systems the screen resolution is controlled through the display properties section in the control panel. Windows can vary the screen resolution from a minimum of 640 pixels by 480 pixels to a maximum value of whatever the video display system can supporting, often up to 1280 x 1024 pixels.
A video card is equipped with a number of connectors which are summarized in the list below:
Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) Female connectors are always blue coloured and round in shape, and found on the majority of old school video cards. Manufacturers still incorporate these types of connectors in video cards. This connector connects the video card's output system to any CRT based computer monitor.
Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connectors are always white coloured and square in shape. This type of connector connects the video card's output system to any LCD (flat panel) based monitor.
A chipset is a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together to control functioning of devices within a computer. Video cards have integrated chipsets comprised of a controller chip and stored logic that govern how the card should interact with the operating system and associated components. Additionally, video card chipset regulate the speed and voltage frequency in which the card should perform its duties.
A video card heatsink helps preserve the longevity of a video card by reducing the temperature of the video card and graphics processor. Video card heatsinks are normally much smaller than heatsinks but work well in cooling a video card's processing units.
Video card fans are more commonly soldered or screwed into the heatsink and are found on more expensive video cards. Video card fans also help control temperature of the video card. Highly sophisticated video card fans are more prevalent on very high video cards. These cards normally employ a PCI express interface, or the latest AGP8X bus.
Video cards need a way of talking to other parts of the computer much like all expansion cards. The video card plugs into a slot on the motherboard and there speed is based on the bus connector being used. The fastest type of bus type incorporated into motherboard designs is the PCI Express (PCIe). This bus type is based around serial links called lanes. The PCIe 1.1 specification supports x1 (pronounced "by one"), x2, x4, x8, x16, and x32 lanes. In each lane, the most common version, PCIe 1.1 carries 250 MB/s in each direction. Every lane of the PCIe is a full duplex link; capable of simultaneous transmission and reception. The PCIe 1.1 bus runs at 2.5 GHz. An explicit clock is not used; instead the data stream is encoded using the 8b/10b scheme, which ensures that there are sufficient transitions within a single 10 bit character to properly and reliably recover the clock.
Video memory is a dedicated housing unit for the graphics adapter to store data while it performs a variety of functions. The more video memory on a card, the higher the cost of any given card. Modern video cards house at least 128 MB of video memory, but it is not uncommon for high end video cards to be equipped with 512 or more video memory.
Overview Of Desktop Screen Resolution
A screen image is composed of thousands of small dots called pixels. The smallest piece of the screen that can be controlled individually is called a pixel and each pixel can have its own color and intensity. A screen’s resolution, therefore, is the maximum number of displayable pixels. The higher the resolution on a monitor, the more pixels it can display. The higher number of pixels that can be displayed on screen the clearer the image.Typical screen resolutions are capable of displaying resolutions at 1024 pixels by 720 pixels. The width of the screen equals the value of 1024 (one thousand and twenty four pixels), and the height of the screen equals the value of 720 (seven hundred and twenty pixels). The type of video card and monitor used in a computer setup determines the highest number of pixels that can be displayed on a screen.
In all Windows operating systems the screen resolution is controlled through the display properties section in the control panel. Windows can vary the screen resolution from a minimum of 640 pixels by 480 pixels to a maximum value of whatever the video display system can supporting, often up to 1280 x 1024 pixels.
How To Change Desktop Resolution In Windows XP
- Left click Start.
- Left click Control Panel.
- Double left click the Display icon. This will load the Display Properties window.
- Left mouse click the Settings tab.
- The current screen resolution setting is listed under the Screen Resolution box. If the value listed is 640 x 480, and no other values are selectable, there's a problem with your graphics card, or the driver software required to communicate between the operating system and the hardware.
- Additionally, in the Color quality box, if the only selectable option is a low value such as 8 colors or 16 colors, a driver issue exists, most likely a corrupted driver or malfunctioning hardware.
What's On Board A Video Card?
A video card is equipped with a number of connectors which are summarized in the list below:
1. SVGA 15 Pin monitor connector.
Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) Female connectors are always blue coloured and round in shape, and found on the majority of old school video cards. Manufacturers still incorporate these types of connectors in video cards. This connector connects the video card's output system to any CRT based computer monitor.
DVI Connectors
Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connectors are always white coloured and square in shape. This type of connector connects the video card's output system to any LCD (flat panel) based monitor.
2. Video card chipset.
A chipset is a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together to control functioning of devices within a computer. Video cards have integrated chipsets comprised of a controller chip and stored logic that govern how the card should interact with the operating system and associated components. Additionally, video card chipset regulate the speed and voltage frequency in which the card should perform its duties.
3. Video card heatsink.
A video card heatsink helps preserve the longevity of a video card by reducing the temperature of the video card and graphics processor. Video card heatsinks are normally much smaller than heatsinks but work well in cooling a video card's processing units.
4. Video card fan.
Video card fans are more commonly soldered or screwed into the heatsink and are found on more expensive video cards. Video card fans also help control temperature of the video card. Highly sophisticated video card fans are more prevalent on very high video cards. These cards normally employ a PCI express interface, or the latest AGP8X bus.
5. Bus connector.
Video cards need a way of talking to other parts of the computer much like all expansion cards. The video card plugs into a slot on the motherboard and there speed is based on the bus connector being used. The fastest type of bus type incorporated into motherboard designs is the PCI Express (PCIe). This bus type is based around serial links called lanes. The PCIe 1.1 specification supports x1 (pronounced "by one"), x2, x4, x8, x16, and x32 lanes. In each lane, the most common version, PCIe 1.1 carries 250 MB/s in each direction. Every lane of the PCIe is a full duplex link; capable of simultaneous transmission and reception. The PCIe 1.1 bus runs at 2.5 GHz. An explicit clock is not used; instead the data stream is encoded using the 8b/10b scheme, which ensures that there are sufficient transitions within a single 10 bit character to properly and reliably recover the clock.
6. Chip circuitry.
Much like anything inside the PC, circuitry is integral to the proper functioning of a video card. The video card communicates through pathways or electrical circuits, and information is presented as output on a monitor.7. Video memory.
Video memory is a dedicated housing unit for the graphics adapter to store data while it performs a variety of functions. The more video memory on a card, the higher the cost of any given card. Modern video cards house at least 128 MB of video memory, but it is not uncommon for high end video cards to be equipped with 512 or more video memory.
Guide created: 01/12/07 (updated 06/01/10)
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