Opportunities And Limitations Of On Screen Graphics

On Screen Graphics Can Be Used In Various Different Ways Such As: 

• Title Sequences At The Start Of T.V. Shows  
• For Sport Scores/ Statistics During Live Events 
• For Title Menus On DVDs 
• For Info-graphics On The News Like During Elections To Show Which Party Has The Majority Seats

Benefits Of On Screen Graphics

On Screen Graphics Are A Great Way To Illustrate And get A Point Across To The Audience On Subjects That May Have Otherwise Been Hard To Explain And Understand. These Pictures Are Examples Of A Few On Screen Graphics Currently Used On T.V. 


The First Of These Is The Weather, Originally The Weather Was Presented To Us With A Map And Stick On Weather Symbols Due To The Development Of On Screen Graphics And How Quick It Is To Make Them Now They Are Used Multiple Times A Day For Our Weather Forecast. 





The Second Of These Is A Swing Statistic Used On American T.V. During Baseball Games It Comes Up On The Screen With A Short Player Profile Giving The Viewer All Of The Necessary Information They Need On The Payers Or Rules, This Is Especially Helpful For People That Have Never Seen A Certain Player, Team Or Even Sport Before.

The Third Of These Are Info Graphics Used On BBC News During Election To Represent Which Political Party Has Won In Each Constituency Around The UK, This Allows Us To Take In The Information Better Than If They Just Read It Off Of A List. 

       The First On Screen Graphics Were Used In The 1950's And Were Invented At M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute Of Technology). However Graphics As We Know Them Were First Used In The 1980's When They Became More Necessary Due To The Fact That More T.V. Channels Were Being Added And So The Graphics Were Needed To Identify Which Channel The Viewer Was Watching. Historically On Screen Graphics Were Not As Crucial To The T.V. Viewing Experience As They Are These Days This Is Because Of The Limited Amount Of Channels Available To The Audience Meaning That There Was Less Competition Between The Channels. The More High Tech The Graphics Were The More Persuaded The Audience Would Be To stick With The Channel As It's Would Be More Interesting And Intriguing, This Would Then Gain The Channel More Money Through It's Viewing Figures Which They Could Then Re-Invest Into Better Quality Shows Or More Graphics.

       In The 1980's-90's A 10 Second Animated Sequence Would've Needed 250 Images at 25 Frames Per Second All Cells Would've Been Drawn By An Artist Which Would've Taken At Least 40 Hours For 10 Seconds. In 1992 For The General Election It Took 2 Years To Make The Info-Graphics Needed For The Night Of The Election, They Were Created On Quantal Paintbox.

 

Limitations Of On Screen Graphics:

Through Out The Use Of On Screen Graphics There Have Been Limitations
In The 80’s They Were:
-Time Consuming

-Bad Quality

-Space Consuming

-Expensive

Although On Screen Graphics May Look More Impressive These Days There Are Still Very Expensive In Terms Of Machinery And Software

Opportunities Of On Screen Graphics:
On Screen Graphics Have Created Opportunities For T.V. Channels To Boost Their Ratings By Using The Best Graphics For The Channels Idents It Attracts More Attention From The Audience While They're Flicking Through The Channels. As More People Are Watching The Channel They Earn More Money That They Can Re-Invest In To More Graphics And More Shows. 

RGB And Problems With Red

RGB Stands For Red Green Blue These Are The Colours In An Additive Colour Model. Mixing These Colours Together Creates A Broad Palette Of Colours That Can Be Used For On Screen Graphics. However Due To Modern Day Technology Evolving So Quickly In Regards To Television Sets Colours May Not Be Translated Properly Between Different Screens e.g. Pink May End Up Looking Red or faded.    





Problems With Typography
Typography Is The Appearance And Layout Of Text. This Can Be A Problem When It Comes To T.V. And On Screen Graphics As Everybody Has A Different Sized T.V. Screen And So If A Font Is Perfectly Placed And A Decent Size Of The Designers Screen When Blown Up Or Shrunk To Fit On Someone Else's It Could Become Distorted Or Pixelated Or Even Just Too Small To See.

Problems With Screen Resolution
As With The Varying Technology That Causes Issues With Colour And Type The Resolution Of Screens Also Changes Depending On Your T.V. Screen The Higher The Resolution The Better Quality The Image Will Be And So If People Have A Worse Quality T.V. Screen The Graphics Will Look Less Impressive. This Also Works The Other Way Round If You Have A Higher Quality T.V. Screen The Graphics May Show More Imperfections. 


Problems With Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio Is The Size Of An Image On The Screen Is Because Of The Difference In T.V. Sets The Size Of The Screen Also Differs. If A Movie Has Been Made In a Wide Screen Ratio Such As 16:9 Older T.V. Screens May Cut Off The Edges Of An Image And Vice Versa Older T.V. Programs Made To Fit A Smaller Screen May Appear With A Black Boarder Round The Outside Of The Image. Some T.V.s Have Settings To Fix This However This Can Then Distort The Image And Effect Its Quality.

In Conclusion
In Conclusion On Screen Graphics Have Developed Greatly Over The Years Becoming Part Of Everyday Life Today. Although There Are Limitations To Them Involving Technology Of The Consumer Moving To Fast For Producers And Artists To Keep Up With. However The Opportunities Out Way The Limitations And The Advantages Of On Screen Graphics To Enhance The Viewers Experience While Watching T.V. The Few Limitations Which Will Effect Only A Small Amount Of The Audience Are A Small Price To Pay.