Unit 20-Human Computer Interface
Human computer interface is everything that is used to interact with a video game. Human computer interface uses ergonomics to make sure that the controller is comfortable as possible another thing that they have to take into account when make the controller is making sure that it isn't to heavy for the gamer to use as this can cause problems for the gamer.There is a huge range of different ways for a user to interact with video games one of them being controllers for consoles like the Xbox One/360 and the PS4/3 when design these controllers the companies will have to make sure about many different thing like the size of the controller and the placement of the buttons on the controller an example of this is the advance of the Xbox 360 controller to the Xbox One the controllers look very similar but the Xbox One controller has many improvements including impulse triggers and making it easier to grip. Joystick are not really used in mainstreaming gaming anymore but s things like flight simulator uses the joysticks, joysticks were mostly used in older games consoles like the Atari this was probably due to game being less complex back then.When designing the joystick companies would have to look at things like how long and wide the joystick should be to fit the the players hand and making sure that the placement of the buttons we're easy to reach for the player.
The keyboard and mouse when designed had to follow ergonomics with the size and shape of the keys and the mouse even the placement of the keys on some gaming keyboards. Some people who play PC games might prefer a keyboard to a controller due to the player being able to map their own keys. Wheel and pedals are mostly used in racing games players would use the steering wheel and pedals to feel more immersed in the game and to have better control over the game when designing the wheels and pedals the designers would have to find the perfect size for the player the designer would also have to make sure that the buttons on the wheel are in reach of the player.
Motion sensing devices like the Kinect would use ergonomics for different sizes of people meaning it needed to have something on it which would allow it to adjust if the person was to big or to small. Some people would use the Kinect over a controller as they might want to get more involved in the game or because they want to try and lose weight while playing the game. Motion controllers are normally used in games where you have to be more active or now the PlayStation Move controller is being used with the new PS-VR meaning people fell more involved in the game then they would when they use a controller. Both the Wii Mote and the PlayStation Move controller are both narrow with not many buttons this is because the controllers were designed for more active game like Wii Sports where buttons weren't used to often and the player would mostly just be moving the controller.
Voice controllers are used in games and on consoles like the Xbox One which uses voice commands quite a lot, on the Xbox One you can use voice command to get to apps you can also use it with apps like Skype. In games voice commands might be used for a range of different reasons for example on Fifa 16 voice commands were used to changes tactics and on the game Endwar which was a game which used real-time tactics and voice commands.
Their is a lot of differences between both controllers one of the big ones is the size of the controllers, the NES controller doesn't really have an ergonomic features its a rectangle shape and unlike the Xbox One the controller wouldn't just fit in the gamer's hands. Another thing is the button the Xbox controller has 6 buttons all easily accessible
due to the shape of the Xbox one controller the NES only has 4 buttons and the are placed next to each other, this is probably due to the the fact that games are more complexed and advanced on the Xbox one then they are on the NES. The Xbox controller is also wireless unlike the NES controller this benefits the game as it means less wires and makes it easier to sit wherever with the Xbox one controller. If I was able to add another feature to the Xbox One controller then I would add an easier way to connect to the Xbox maybe something like a QR code which the Kinect could scan.RAM
GHZ
|
Core
|
Threads
|
Cache
|
|
Xbox one
|
1.75 GHz AMD 8-core APU (2
quad-core Jaguar modules
|
8 Cores
|
8 Thread’s
|
8mb
|
PS4
|
1.6 GHz AMD x86-64 Jaguar
|
8 Cores
|
8 Threads
|
8mb cache
|
Intel Boxed Core i7-6900K Processor
|
3.70 GHz
|
8 cores
|
16 threads
|
20mb cache
|
AMD CPU FX-9370
|
4.70 GHz
|
8 cores
|
8 threads
|
8mb Cache
|
AMD FX-9590
|
4.7 GHz
|
8 cores
|
8 threads
|
8 mb cache
|
Intel core 17-6850K
|
3.40 GHz
|
6 cores
|
12 threads
|
15 mb
|
Out of all these processor the best one out of them is the Intel
i7 6900k processor this processor has the largest Cache out of all the PC
processor. This processor also has the most threads out of all the PC processor
with 16 threads while the AMD processors only have 8 threads much like
consoles. Out of the console they mostly have the same stats they both have an
8GB cache and 8 threads and cores the only difference is that the Xbox One has
a slightly faster GHz with 1.75 GHz while the PS4 only gets 1.6 GHz
CPU is a Central processing unit this is basically the brains
of a PC or Console, a CPU main function is to execute a sequence of instructions
on a program. A CPU speed is measured in GHz the higher the GHz the faster the
CPU will be but higher GHz doesn’t always mean that the CPU is the best as many
other factors come into play including the cache of the CPU and the clock cycle
of the CPU, the clock cycle is the rate that a CPU is measured in. Cores are
very important in CPU as the more cores a CPU has the more tasks it can do for
example the PS4 has 8 cores and one of those cores is just for the PS home page
to make sure it runs smoothly and doesn’t lag. Threads are also important as
these essentially make the core faster as they trick the PC or console to think
that there are more cores then there are meaning that the PC or Console can run
more tasks. The cache in a CPU is a small and fast memory device it is like the
RAM but it is much faster and the cache stores copies of data. The data bus
works in two ways there is the Address bus which will send an address on where
the data needs to go for example if some data needed to be moved to the RAM the
address bus will pick out a specific part of the RAM to send the data to and to
make sure that no data is overwritten. The data bus is what the data will
travel on the data bus can travel both ways while the address bus can only
travel one way.
Memory
A GPU stand for Graphics processing unit and is the part of
a computer that is mainly used for the rendering of 3D images. A GPU is a chip
that will transform objects and use different lighting effects. A GPU measures
it speed in clock speed, the higher the speed in a GPU doesn’t always mean that
it always better as some GPU with 3MHz won’t be as good as one with 2MHz this
could be because the GPU with 2MHz clock speed might have more cores and ram
then a GPU with 2MHz. The difference between a GPU cores and CPU cores are that
GPU use much more threads then a CPU a GPU will have thousands of cores while
CPU can only have a couples of cores. With GPU RAM is very important, with a
computer that is not being used for gaming 4gb is what is recommended for the
computer to run smoothly while for a gaming Pc 8gb is what recommended but 16GB
is the best that a computer can ran at. GDDR is a part of the GPU and it is a
high broadband interface that is used in things like consoles and graphics
cards this is a much more expensive version of the DDR, the DDR stands for
double data race and is found in most pc’s. Another thing that the GPU uses us
address busses these are used to transport data to different areas the address
bus will take data to different locations and can only travel one way while the
data bus can take data to and from different areas and can travel both ways.
Memory
Type
|
Amount
|
Clock speed
|
Bandwidth
|
ESD RAM
|
|
Xbox One
|
DDR3
|
8GB
|
2133MHz
|
204 GBs
|
32mb
|
PS4
|
DDR5
|
8GB
|
1.6 MHz
|
176 GBs
|
|
Xbox 360
|
DDR3
|
512MB
|
500 MHz
|
2.56 GBs
|
|
PS3
|
DDR3
|
256MB
|
550 MHz
|
22.4 GBs
|
|
Acer Predator
|
DDR4
|
64GB
|
2,133MHz
|
1.5 GBs
|
The purpose of memory is for storage and fast information
storage. Random access memory is a type of data storage. Random access memory
allows for data to be written or read and R.A.M is used for storage of data
that has been recently used or data that is being used getting to data in the
RAM is much easier than getting to data that has been stored in the hard drive.
Ram has different capacity to run a PC without it being slow 4gb is the minimum
gb required while 8GB is recommended, If a person wants to game on a PC then
16gb is recommended but 8gb is the lowest GB that the PC can run games on. A kilobyte is equal to 1024 bytes while 1024
KB is equal to one megabyte and 1024 megabytes are equal to one gigabyte. There
are many different types of RAM SRAM means static random access memory is a
type of storage that takes the data in bits and it doesn’t have to be
refreshed. DRAM means dramatic random access memory this type of memory stores
the data in a separate capacitor circuit. The different between these two RAM
types is the speed and cost static RAM is quicker and cost more than dramatic
RAM. DDR VS GDDR DDR stands for double data rate this is a type of memory that
is found in computers while graphics double data rate is found in things like
graphics cards the difference between these two is that GDDR is more expensive
then DDR but less expensive then SRAM and GDDR can use more bandwidth then DDR.
GPU
Model
|
Brand
|
Clock speed
|
Cores
|
Ram
|
Dedicated or Integrated
|
Nvidia
|
Titan X
|
1000 MHz
|
3072 cores
|
12 Gb
|
Dedicated
|
AMD
|
AMD RADEON RX 480
|
1,120MHz
|
2304 cores
|
8 GB
|
Dedicated
|
Intel
|
6100
|
1100 MHz
|
48 cores
|
Integrated
|
|
360
|
ATI (AMD) Xenos
|
500 MHz
|
240 cores
|
512 MB RAM
|
Integrated
|
Xbox one
|
AMD durango
|
853 MHz
|
768 cores
|
8 GB
|
Integrated
|
PS3
|
Nvidia
Rsx Reality
|
550 Mhz
|
N/A
|
256 MB RAM
|
Integrated
|
Ps4
|
AMD Liverpool
|
800 MHz
|
1152
|
8GB
|
integrated
|
A GPU stand for Graphics processing unit and is the part of
a computer that is mainly used for the rendering of 3D images. A GPU is a chip
that will transform objects and use different lighting effects. A GPU measures
it speed in clock speed, the higher the speed in a GPU doesn’t always mean that
it always better as some GPU with 3MHz won’t be as good as one with 2MHz this
could be because the GPU with 2MHz clock speed might have more cores and ram
then a GPU with 2MHz. The difference between a GPU cores and CPU cores are that
GPU use much more threads then a CPU a GPU will have thousands of cores while
CPU can only have a couples of cores. With GPU RAM is very important, with a
computer that is not being used for gaming 4gb is what is recommended for the
computer to run smoothly while for a gaming Pc 8gb is what recommended but 16GB
is the best that a computer can ran at. GDDR is a part of the GPU and it is a
high broadband interface that is used in things like consoles and graphics
cards this is a much more expensive version of the DDR, the DDR stands for
double data race and is found in most pc’s. Another thing that the GPU uses us
address busses these are used to transport data to different areas the address
bus will take data to different locations and can only travel one way while the
data bus can take data to and from different areas and can travel both ways.
GHZ
GHZ
|
Core
|
Threads
|
Cache
|
|
Xbox one
|
1.75 GHz AMD 8-core APU (2
quad-core Jaguar modules
|
8 Cores
|
8 Thread’s
|
8mb
|
PS4
|
1.6 GHz AMD x86-64 Jaguar
|
8 Cores
|
8 Threads
|
8mb cache
|
Intel Boxed Core i7-6900K Processor
|
3.70 GHz
|
8 cores
|
16 threads
|
20mb cache
|
AMD CPU FX-9370
|
4.70 GHz
|
8 cores
|
8 threads
|
8mb Cache
|
AMD FX-9590
|
4.7 GHz
|
8 cores
|
8 threads
|
8 mb cache
|
Intel core 17-6850K
|
3.40 GHz
|
6 cores
|
12 threads
|
15 mb
|
Out of all these processor the best one out of them is the Intel
i7 6900k processor this processor has the largest Cache out of all the PC
processor. This processor also has the most threads out of all the PC processor
with 16 threads while the AMD processors only have 8 threads much like
consoles. Out of the console they mostly have the same stats they both have an
8GB cache and 8 threads and cores the only difference is that the Xbox One has
a slightly faster GHz with 1.75 GHz while the PS4 only gets 1.6 GHz
CPU
CPU is a Central processing unit this is basically the
brains of a PC or Console, a CPU main function is to execute a sequence of
instructions on a program. A CPU speed is measured in GHz the higher the GHz
the faster the CPU will be but higher GHz doesn’t always mean that the cpu is
the best as many other factors come into play including the cache of the CPU
and the clock cycle of the CPU, the clock cycle is the rate that a CPU is
measured in. Cores are very important in CPU as the more cores a CPU has the
more tasks it can do for example the PS4 has 8 cores and one of those cores is
just for the PS home page to make sure it runs smoothly and doesn’t lag.
Threads are also important as these essentially make the core faster as they
trick the PC or console to think that there are more cores then there are
meaning that the PC or Console can run more tasks. The cache in a CPU is a
small and fast memory device it is like the RAM but it is much faster and the
cache stores copies of data. The data bus works in two ways there is the
Address bus which will send an address on where the data needs to go for
example if some data needed to be moved to the RAM the address bus will pick
out a specific part of the RAM to send the data to and to make sure that no
data is overwritten. The data bus is what the data will travel on the data bus
can travel both ways while the address bus can only travel one way.
Sound
Sound chips are used to produce sound, they are used in
TV’s, Mobiles and PC’s. The difference between discrete and integrated sound
cards are that integrated sound cards are built into a device while discrete
sound cards are external. Sound chips have a range of different channel set ups
including Mono which means a single speakers while stereo could have a range of
different speakers and sub woofers which are measured like this 2,1 this means
that there are two speakers and one sub-woofer
The Xbox one has 7.1 stereo surround sound and can run at
1080p with 4K graphics. The Xbox one will also need an external speaker as the
console itself doesn’t have an internal speaker. The Xbox 360 uses analog
stereo sound and a LPCM stereo with built in Dolby Digital 5, 1 speakers
system. The Xbox 360 also needs an external speakers as it doesn’t have one
built in. The PS3 uses analog sound with Dolby Digital 5.1 speakers. The PS3
needs an external speakers as it does not have one built in The PS4 has 7.1
stereo surround sound. The PS4 also needs an external speaker as the console
doesn’t have its own integrated speakers. The 3DS has two built in speakers on
the top screen these speakers use a stereo sound the 3DS also has a built in
music player and a sound recorder which can record MP3 and MP4 files. The 3DS
has its own integrated speakers meaning that external speakers are not needed. The
Sony Xperia Z5 uses a Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 soundcard and has two
stereo speakers. The Xperia Z5 has a built in internal speaker meaning that it
won’t need an external speaker. The Stormforce Inferno VR gaming pc uses a high
definition 7.1 stereo speaker system and has a built in internal speaker meaning
it won’t need an external speakers.
Displays
Displays are used in to project images when playing games
there are a range of different displays that a person can use when gaming
including TV’s and monitors. There are two different types of displays LCD and
LED. LCD stands for liquid crystal display and this is the type that is used by
a lot of TV’s, monitors and mobiles, LCD screens use red green and blue pixels
giving the a detailed picture to the user. LED stands for light emitting diode
these screens have different arrangements of tubes so when the screen is light
it shows colours lighter than others LED screens also don’t produce as much
energy as LCD screen. There is a range of different resolutions that a display
can have one of the most common resolutions is 1080p this is the resolutions
that is used in most TV’s and monitors at the moment, 1080p uses 1,920x 1,200
pixels. Although 1080p might be the most common resolution at the moment many
people are now are upgrading to 4K resolution this is a huge step up from 1080p
this resolution uses 4,096x 2,160 pixels which is a lot more then 1080.HDR
stands for high dynamic range this improves the picture quality immensely as it
has a higher colour pallet and a better contrast ratio although not every device
supports HDR.
The Xbox one has a max display resolution of 4K and has some
games that can support HDR some of these games are Gears of War 4 and
Battlefield 1
The Xbox 360 has a max display resolution of 1080p and also
has some games that support HDR including Halo 3
The PS4 has a max display resolution of 4K and has some
games that support HDR like Detroit Becoming human and Spiderman.
The 3DS has a max display resolution of 800x240 and does not
support HDR
The GeForce 1080 graphics card has a max display resolution
of 4K and has some games that supports HDR like rise of tomb raider
The Sony Xperia Z5 has a max resolution of 1080x 1920 pixel
and does support HDR
Game Storage
Proprietary game storage is a file format that stores data
in a particular data scheme Proprietary game storage also designed to be
secretive and takes decoding programs made by the company to use. Standard game
storage is a type of storage that is open source and doesn’t require any
knowledge or decoding to use
There are different types of game storage most consoles now
use Blu-Ray and hard drive storage this is probably the best way that consoles
can use to store games as Blu-Ray disc can hold a lot of data unlike things
like cartridges. Blu-Ray disc now on consoles have to be installed to the hard
drive this is because the hard drive can run faster than the disc making the
game look and load better. An SSD hard drive can be used by consoles and PC a
SSD hard drive is much faster than a normal hard drive but they cost a lot more,
SSD hard drives make a console or a pc much faster SSD hard drives also make a
lot less noise which is why a lot of recording artist use them. A hard drive
will be used by PC’s and consoles hard drives are a lot faster than discs but
when download games they can take a long time.
Proprietary game storage is good for anti-piracy as Proprietary
game require decoding software which is made by the company so if they don’t
have this software then they won’t be able to play the game
Connectivity
There are many different types or connectivity that are used
in consoles and PC’s one being stand alone, stand-alone connectivity is where a
pc or laptop will be able to connect to a local area network or a wide area
network meaning that a network connection isn’t needed for general use.
There are many ways to connect a controller to a console PS4
uses built in Bluetooth to connect their controller to the console, Xbox one
uses a Microsoft’s own Bluetooth system as well as Bluetooth this might be due
to the fact that Xbox One controllers can also connect to PC’s as well older
consoles like the Nintendo GameCube and the PS2 the controllers had to be
plugged into a port
PSU
A PSU stands for power supply system and this is what will supply
a console or a PC the power to run
A PC will have a built in Power supply system that will be
built into the motherboard. An Xbox one has an external power brick that has to
be plug into the console. The PS4 has a built in PSU which is built into the
console. And a Nintendo DS has a built in PSU
