Vector & Raster Graphics in Processing February 28 and March 1, 2017

There are 2 forms of graphical display devices and data structures Raster graphics paint picture elements (pixels). A raster display literally paints pixels. Most modern displays are raster. Data structure is a 2D matrix of pixels, e.g., JPEG or PNG files. In Processing a raster data structure type is PImage. Vector graphics draw strokes (not pixels). An oscilloscope or laser projector is a vector display. There are vector terminals. Data structure is a mathematical description of strokes & optionally fill. SVG (Silicon Vector Graphics) is a vector file format. In Processing two vector data structure types are PShape and PFont. When you render a vector description on a raster device, it becomes pixels.