Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!alberta!ubc-cs!uw-beaver!mit-eddie!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcdc!hpfclm!hpfcdj!myers
From: myers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: the word "bitmap"
Message-ID: <17670002@hpfcdj.HP.COM>
Date: 6 Jan 89 19:01:06 GMT
References: <8568@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: Hewlett Packard -- Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 19

>Yes, but how about "raster"? It overloads the term a little, but not too
>much.So one could say "n-bit monochrome raster", and be immediately understood.

NO! A "bitmap", "pixmap", "swatch", or whatever the hell you want to call it
is a representation of an image, in digital form, in the frame buffer memory.
A "raster" is only one thing, and it's something completely different - it's
the visible effect of raster-scanning the phosphor of a CRT with an electron
beam.

I'm picky about this because (a), for the last few years I've been deeply
involved in the CRT displays here, but also (and more importantly) (b), there
are several ways to "display" a "bitmap" (insert your favorite word there)
that do not involve a raster-scanned CRT monitor.  For example, would you
call the image produced by a color ink-jet printer a "raster"?


Bob Myers  KC0EW   HP Graphics Tech. Div.|  Opinions expressed here are not
                   Ft. Collins, Colorado |  those of my employer or any other
{the known universe}!hplabs!hpfcla!myers |  sentient life-form on this planet.