Graphics have ceased to be an option but have now become a fact of microcomputing…. The fact is that graphics technology is no longer the realm of a few specialists, but a subject of interest to every programmer and designer in the field.… Conventional graphics systems require dedicated hardware and, for this reason, are quite costly and inflexible. The advent of standard graphics in the IBM PS/2 line could provide a feasible solution to this problem for many colleges and universities (from the preface).

Neither the author nor the publishers indicate the intended audience for this book, which is largely concerned with writing software for the various graphics adapters available for IBM PC and PS/2 systems. The main people to benefit would be those engaged in writing low-level device drivers for graphics applications, since the author eschews the use of high-level languages for writing graphics applications. His reason is that the text is aimed at implementation on microprocessors, although the arguments against high-level languages on the grounds of inefficiency seem dated or incorrect in view of the successful use of high-level interfaces on IBM and other manufacturers’ microprocessors.

The book might be used as a supplementary text in a course teaching assembly language programming (nearly one-third of the book is assembly code listings), but it is unsuitable as a text for a graphics course. Material normally found in a conventional graphics course is given little space, although the bibliography contains pointers to some of the standard textbooks where a student could seek more information. Indeed, those seeking information on graphics would be well advised to look elsewhere, since some of the material cannot be recommended. For example, the method of drawing lines described in the text is baroque, to say the least, with a multiply operation in the inner loop. Bresenham’s algorithm is mentioned but not described, being embedded in an assembly code package to draw conics, which is relegated to an appendix. Animation is discussed mainly in terms of causing an object to move either under keyboard control or by using the pulse generated by the system timer, and the reader expecting more from the title will be sadly disappointed. PHIGS is described as a graphics language developed in Europe. Only two of the illustrations appear to have been computer-generated, and they are reproduced in the form of plotter dumps of screen images. Given the many amazing images being generated on PCs, it seems a pity that the author has included nothing more sophisticated than simple curve drawings to indicate what can be done.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of graphics hardware in general (the development of raster graphics is attributed to Conrac) and the human visual system. Chapter 2 then reviews the various IBM graphics adapters for the PC and PS/2 ranges as well as mentioning the Hercules graphics card. Chapter 3 discusses device-independent graphics, including a five-page treatment of GKS, before introducing the concepts of device drivers and low-level programming interfaces. Chapter 4, “Graphics Programming Tools,” is largely devoted to a detailed discussion of the 8087 math coprocessor and its use in computing trigonometric functions and points on a circular arc. Chapter 5 is more conventional in discussing the geometrical elements, images, segments, data structures, and transformations that form the bulk of many graphics courses.

Chapter 6 is devoted to low-level software interfacing at register level to the various graphics adapters in the DOS environment, while chapter 7 covers similar ground for OS/2, emphasizing multitasking. Chapter 8 discusses the various read and write modes for the EGA and VGA adapters and printers. Chapter 9 discusses graphics primitives such as rectangular area filling, line and curve drawing, moving objects, and printer control. Appendices give assembly code for plotting an American flag, drawing conic curves, dumping screen images to OKIDATA printers, and animation of an arrow and a cross-hair cursor under keyboard or timer control.

I cannot recommend this book as a graphics text: it gives a false impression of graphics and would either discourage or mislead students. A better IBM-oriented text is Sproull, Sutherland, and Ullner [1], although it does not include recent developments. For those who wish to understand the vagaries of IBM adapter cards and to program them at the lowest level, however, this book is rather more digestible than the manuals. Perhaps that is the author’s intention.