Seeing is Believing with Graphics Hardware

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Graphics on the Web have turned many novice users into artists and art critics. With the newer versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can barely hit a Web link without downloading an image or Java applet. So, how much graphics hardware does it take to get connected? Luckily, not a lot. When choosing a graphics card, you should look for the following:

• Graphics processor
• Onboard memory
• Interface

A graphics processor, like ATI�s Mach128, picks up images and does the work to display them. This takes the burden away from the main processor, which can use its energy to process the text on the Web page.

You don�t need to snatch up a graphics card with lots of memory. A graphics card with 1 MB of video memory will work like a charm because most color images on the Web have only 256 colors and 640X480 pixel resolution.

If you have your eyes set on the future, however, you might consider buying a graphics card with 2 MB of memory and support for 24-bit color. As network capacities increase, that memory will come in handy to send and receive true-color images, three-dimensional graphics and virtual reality files.