Video cards are specially designed to manage the total amount of video information that needs to be displayed on a monitor. Nevertheless, monitors have their own and unique characteristics as well, so you should easily understand the necessity of a solid and efficient communication channel between the graphics chipset and the screen. This communication can be established by a collection of special protocols forming the Display Data Channel. Through the DDC, the monitor informs the video card what display modes it supports so that the video card will automatically adjust the main parameters of the display, like the contrast or brightness. VESA was the company to design this really ingenious feature.

Short description
For someone with a modest knowledge regarding computers in general or graphics in particular, it might all look like Chinese. There are a few key terms when describing a DDC that you need to understand. As I said, the monitor has to “talk” with the video card and tell it what settings can support. The communication represents an exchange of information – binary information because that is how computers store everything – through a physical link. This physical link can be either DDC1 or DDC2 type. Those settings are written in a binary file named EDID, which is stored, inside the monitor, on a read - only chip called EEPROM. The manufacturer programmed that chip in the factory. It only has 128 bytes, but it is more than enough.

DDC1 and DDC2
As I said, they are both physical links. DDC1 is a serial link protocol, unidirectional, working at low speed. Since its data clock was synchronized to the vertical sync, the clock rates provided are typically between 60 and 100 Hz. Because of the reduced transmission speed, only a few display devices use this protocol. The DDC2 instead, based on a serial bus, is far more popular. And why wouldn’t it be, since is bidirectional, offers access on the EDID even when the display is not running, being set on power off, and it has some upgraded versions too – DDC2B, DDC2Ab, DDC2B+ or DDC2Bi?

The command interface
The command interface, commonly known as DDC/CI, was designed and implemented in 1998 for the very first time. It basically describes all the required protocols for insuring the bidirectional binary information exchange. All the instructions are in there, except for those regarding the monitor’s control. Those are written in the MCCS – a set of control commands of the monitor, for the video card. So far, producers came with four different versions of the DDC/CI, last one, V2, being released in 2009.

About using a DDC
If everything works well, this protocol might really make a difference. Only that some certain KVM switches or some video extenders have difficulties into handling this traffic. Therefore, you might have to disable this feature from the operating system in a first phase or even from the VGA slot after that. If your computer has no DDC physical link and you are looking to buy one, make some research to know for sure that your video card will support it. Depends on the special features of any graphics chipset whether they can work with a DDC or not.

If you do not have this feature on your computer, there are some other options available. For example, you can purchase a control application, that many manufacturers or even third parties sell, which will allow you to adjust the custom display mode or any other detailed settings of the monitor. In fact, this might be a better option, since it will put you on charge.

All of us are looking for the best devices, so that we can use them for any activities. That is the reason why, when talking about computers there are some thing you should look for before buying a machine. One of these things is the video card. Especially if you are keen on gaming look for a good video card.

This means you need a video card that works in a fast manner. There are some cases in which your video card is too slow to perform a certain activity. Consequently, you should perform an operation called the overclocking of your video card. First of all, to overclock your video card you should know some information about its configuration and ways of working. Every video card has a Graphics Processing Unit that can be considered the video card’s heart.

Its heart works on a clock basis called the “clock core”. This is what we can increase, the clock rate. From the very begging you should know that not all the video cards can be overclocked. For instance, if your personal computer has the video card incorporated in the motherboard, there is no physic video card in your computer, the video signal is provided only by motherboard chipset. You can increase your video card performance, operating on GPU core speed and memory speed. When you overclock the video card you help your video signals can easier get to GPU. This action increases even the 3D performance. The first step to take is to check for ATI or NVIDIA updates. For ATI users, you should download an ATI tool. Install the program and open it. There should be an option called: Find Maximum Core Speed. Go ahead and click this option. It may take up to 60 minutes to finish the process. Look attentively for the rate. In case it is over 110%, reduce is to 110%. Repeat the process with the memory rate. In order to work in a proper manner wait for the error checker to run almost one hour. The message which has to be shown is: “no error”. The last step is hitting “Set the clock” button.

With the NVIDIA video card the process is a little bit more complicated. Go to the “Run” from the Start Menu. You should reach the NVIDIA folder by typing in Run menu: regedit. The nest step to take is finding the third sub-folder from NVIDIA folder. The last destination is NVTweak. Here you should right click and select the New > DWORD Value option. Rename it Coolbits and pay attention to the value, it should be a decimal value of 3. Go to your desktop and right click on it. Check the NVIDIA display option, after this process manually Overclock your video card. Finally, pay attention to overclocking process, it may damage your video card if you are setting a too high value speed. Take care and overclock your video card only if there is a fan on it, otherwise you may destroy your GPU.

We got used for the whole PC market to be extremely competitive nowadays and yet the graphics chipsets seem to represent the most disputed aspect. What IT manufacturers have managed to realize so far is way beyond our imagination. High resolutions and great performance levels are features we could get in no time, only if we would have the money. While NVIDIA and ATI are the two Giants fighting for supremacy, the regular customers are less interested in this aspect and more curious about what 3D video cards can do…

System requirements
No one denies that 3D graphics are an expensive thing to get. This is because they are created with sophisticated technology and considerable ease the processor’s tasks by taking the charge on processing information. Therefore, your computer will respond considerably faster once you equip it with such piece. In addition, it also requires some special devices, including a 3D vision kit and a 3D display.

Nevertheless, if you have made this investment, you should know which are the minimum requirements regarding the system. A Windows 7 or a Windows Vista operating system, on either 32 or 64 bit is necessary. With a Windows XP, you can as well say good - bye to this possibility. As for the processor, at least a core duo, if not a dual core model, Intel or AMD Athlon, are the best features to suit with this video card. Despite producers recommend you to have a minimum of 2 GB RAM, it can still function with only 1 GB available. Last but not least, 100 MB will always have to be free on your disk drive.

Functionality
The 3D computing, for no matter what scene, contains four major steps: the script, the geometry, the setup and the rendering. First, all the elements are laid out. Then the graphics will create the simple objects. These simple objects will be cut in 2D triangles and in the final stage the video card will apply specific textures on every triangle. Obviously, the speed on which all these operations will be executed influences the general video performance. The sooner, the better – that is what we are talking in here, speed and visualization. To make yourself an idea on how things have evolved, keep in mind that the earliest graphics were only responsible with the rendering scene, while the processor had to do all the others.

A 3D video card is different from its 2D predecessor also by the type of Bus speed. The PCI bus was previously associated with 2D technologies while another feature, the AGP bus, comes to sustain the new invention. A dedicated graphics of this type will only perform 3D functions. But it still cannot do all the work by skipping the 2D steps, so it has an integrated 2D card on which it is connected. The video stream will be provided, in this way, without making use of its bus control or RAMDAC. With this technology a 3D video card will work at the very best performance level, only that the costs will be that high too. So, in their attempt of satisfying customers about the prices, manufacturers have tried another version – a combination between these two, with the specification that the 3D accelerator will only interfere when needed while the 2D chipset will be the main force. By the general expectations, this option will be less powerful and less expensive. Pay attention to inform yourself properly on what you are about to buy, because many 2D cards will only support a reduced set of 3D features.

Everything is constantly changing around us, on high speed. One of the areas that seem to have the greatest acceleration rate would be the IT. Mainly when it’s about computers, what was today invented will be nothing else but history tomorrow. So hardware and software configurations and specifications, just like design features, are permanently developing. This is something to generate lots of debates on issues like – should anyone try to keep up with the main discoveries? And a famous dispute would be the one between 256 and 512 MB video cards. When should one upgrade his graphics chipset?

Before making any investment you need to establish your necessities and priorities. Why would you need a more powerful video card? The main reason would be for playing various games that come with high software requirements. Or if you have to work at your job with some complicated programs and you must receive a quick feedback in everything you do. But when your main activities are playing Solitaire or Pac Man, surfing the web, chatting with your friends on a video call or watching movies, you might not feel the need for a 512 MB video capacity. And if you don’t get to see the difference between how these two options work, you will never dream for such an investment.

However, this is only what you perceive from the outside… From the inside
Still, inside a video card things are a little different. The available video memory is the one to determine the response time of any application. It’s not only about games, but about everything you use on the computer. Any required change will automatically adjust the position of every single pixel from your display and this is not an easy thing to do. The more memory your graphics has, the better your system will work. That’s for sure. And with a higher capacity, the video card will get to make more data processing instead of the CPU. So the system’s resources will be free and available for other tasks. Probably the most obvious conclusion would be: if you can afford, go get more MB for your computer.

Most users should be more than satisfied with 256 MB of video memory. It would be enough, as I said, for all the daily computing tasks to be perfectly accomplished. These chipsets have another important advantage – affordable prices. You can also buy them from eBay for even lower costs, from those who upgraded their computers and don’t need them anymore. What others belittle could work just fine for you. Only someone really addicted on games could desperately want to make this investment, mainly because those graphics also have 3D capabilities regarding the processing. A brand new video card at 256 Mb can cost between 200 and 350 dollars while a model at 512 MB starts from 300 and goes up to 600 dollars.

If you analyze your needs, finances and the offer from the market you might still have second thoughts with this decision. Still, if you go straight to an IT shop and ask them to show you how these two models work, you’ll decide for the upgraded one in no second. After all, most customers have no other reason to turn down this offer except for the price. And if you have the money it wouldn’t hurt to invest them in this direction since you can never know in how long you’ll want more graphics power. Why not starting right now?

When December comes, all we think about is Christmas and presents we will find beneath the Christmas tree. No matter if we are miles away from family or friends, we know that Christmas is a family holiday and consequently we are in a rush to find the right gift. Sometimes we cannot reach our friends or family and sending a gift by post might seem odd, so the Internet offers us the possibility of sending special greeting cards online. You can find a card for every occasion: Christmas, New Year, Wedding, Easter and Halloween.

It is true that nowadays the greeting cards do not resemble the older ones, they were nothing else than a piece of paper with a printed character on it. The companies that offer such online services created the animated cards, so the video card was created. First of all, you may claim that sending virtual cards is easier, it takes no time to reach any destination and it is free. However there are many who say that sending a virtual card the holiday spirit fades away. Those who are not so sentimental can choose from hundreds of online Christmas virtual cards.

One of these sites is www.care2.com that offers Christmas cards and at the same time it helps non-profit organizations to obtain some donations. The new modern Christmas uses the images of Santa Claus to make short movies in which the old Christian character sings together with his reindeer. Animals also celebrate the Christmas and sing carols while decorating the Christmas trees. The snowman is astonished when he sees Santa Claus coming to town. He waits for presents and is delighted when seeing that he receives the wanted gift.

Personalize your card!
If you are just not into these types of singing animals and Santa, you can create your own video card for Christmas. The site www.elfyourself.com offers the possibility of turning yourself into an elf. All you have to do is to choose a photo of yourself and crop your face. After that see what hyphostasis fits you the best. Maybe you are more into rock, or maybe you are definitely an R&B fan. Match the dance style to your personality and share this funny video card with your friends from social networks or send them your greeting card by e-mail.

Maybe you are a creative person and you do not want to send an already created video card, being well aware that everyone uses them. So, if you are not born to follow create a personalized card by yourself. Go ahead and video record you or if you have kids, record them while singing carols. Add some text and effects in editing software, Windows movie maker, for instance and send this unique item by email. Finally, if you have friend who is keen on simulation games, such as Second Life, create an animated video card using those characters. All you have to do is enter the game adapt your characters to the Christmas spirit and make them dance or sing. Record them and turn it into a Youtube video.