Describe the hardware and software used to create and edit graphic images and compare the limitations of different hardware and software packages used.

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I am working for a design company that needs to advice new staff on what is required to work in the industry. I will produce a report that explains the role of the following in producing and editing digital

Working with graphic images requires suitable hardware and software to produce the best results. The hardware used can have a large impact on how well graphical images show. Suitable hardware for a graphics system should include several components at appropriate performance levels.

Graphics Card

A graphics card is type of display adapter or video card installed within most computing devices to display graphical data with high clarity, colour, definition and overall appearance. Graphics card provides high-quality visual display by processing and executing graphical data using advanced graphical techniques, features and functions. It is needed to produce a display that meets the needs of the user within what the monitor can be capable of. It works by taking information from the operating system which specify what needs to be shown onto the screen and makes this isn’t a signal that the display understands. Graphic designers value digital visual interface connections between the graphics card and the monitor as it gives a better picture. They usually work with 32-bit colour depth which gives true colour.

Despite being incredibly important in the display, there are limitations. With higher resolutions and colours, there may be a reduce in speed, which could be big or small depending on the hardware and the resolution that is set up. This is due to there being more information to deal with as well as more pixels to update on-screen. The higher you set your resolution, the smaller your icons and text, and your refresh rate drops. This may be a big limitation to graphic designers who want to make high quality graphics.

Also graphics cards can also cost thousands of pounds, require a lot of space and draw a lot of power from the power supply.

 RAM

RAM stands for random access memory, a type of  that can be  randomly. This means that any  of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in  and other , such as . RAM is used to hold the running software and graphic images. There is a constant flow of data between the hard disk, the Ram and the processor. When a software application is run, the program is first copied from the hard disk to RAM. Once in RAM, the program can travel at high speed to the processor where the program code can be run. Graphic files can be very large and therefore everything that the hardware can do to make rapid transfers help.

Some motherboards have limited space for RAM cards which means small RAM cards may have a small capacity and may be slower than other RAM cards. Having little RAM will cause programs such as Photoshop to run very slowly.

Another main limitation of RAM is that it is volatile memory meaning that when the power goes off, the information is gone. This means there is always risk of losing data.

There is also a lot of time wasted loading an operating system. You load the same things each time you push the power on. It would be better if the RAM was non-volatile and kept the data in memory all the time without having to load it. An alternative option to resolve this issue is non-volatile RAM but it is very slow.

Hard drive

A hard disk drive is a   device that permanently stores and retrieves information. A hard drive consists of one or more  to which data is written using a magnetic head, all inside of an air-sealed casing.  hard disks reside in a  connect to the  a  cable or other alternative means, and are powered by a connection to the  (power supply unit). Sometimes the driver for the graphics card is stored on the hard drive. Therefore the hard drive can have a direct impact on the graphics of the device.

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There are some drawbacks in some hard drives; cheaper ones have lower RPMs meaning that getting data off them takes longer. Hard disks eventually fails which stops the computer from working and regular crashes can damage the surface of the disk which will lead to loss of data in that sector. The disk is also fixed within a device which means it cannot easily be transferred to another computer. Lastly, they are very expensive and disk hard drives are prone to breaking when moved in operation.

Flash Drive

A flash drive can be in many way but the ...

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