Computer Graphics Card History

Graphical concepts are based off geometry, first discovered by Euclid circa 300 BC.

The earliest concepts of computer graphics began far before the invention of the first computer. Partially based off geometry, academics as early as Euclid, who discovered the basics of geometry, unintentionally played a role in the 3-D modeling computers use today. Accelerated graphics port technology allow complex geometries and digital environments from home computers.

Early History

Unintentional academics that helped provide the basics for early computer graphics began with Euclid who provided people like Rene Descartes (1596-1650) a framework to create analytic geometry and the coordinate system. The graphics cards of today came into form through American military advancement. In the 1940s, United States military developed the SAGE computer system, used for air defense against nuclear attack and the Whirlwind Project, which was an early flight simulator.

1980s

By 1981, IBM began selling personal computers. It was not until video game arcades exploded in popularity that more people tried their hand in advancing computer graphics with programing languages like C++. John Warnock of Adobe developed postscript. Steve Cook showcased stochastic sampling to ray tracing, and animation became more popular. IBM invented the video graphics array (VGA) in the late 1980s as well.

1990s

In 1994, Silicon Graphics introduced the Reality Engine, which used real-time texture mapping and drove the Nintendo 64 game console. In 1997, Intel introduced accelerated graphics port (AGP) technology to the public. AGP technology allowed a direct connection between graphics card and memory with a single motherboard slot, speeding up transfer of graphical data. Graphics cards from companies like NVIDIA began selling with personal computers. Three-dimensional video games took gaming to the next level by the late 1990s.

21st Century

Three-dimensional rendering, massive digital environments and complex visualizations delivered by evolved computer graphics cards are available from a range of companies. As of 2010, accelerated graphics port 3.0 is the latest specification available.

References

• Florida Tech Computer Science Department: History of Computer Graphics
• PC Mag: Definition of: AGP
• NVIDIA: AGP 8X