Paint By Numbers Online Trivia | Computers

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Paint by Numbers"? What do computers have to do with that? My computer has little lights on its screen and they go on and off when I want them to. Fine, then. Do you know what each of those little dots of light are called?

Answer: Pixels

A pixel is one of the ways of measuring the resolution of a picture. When a picture that is two inches high has few pixels, it will look like a bunch of coloured squares. When the same two-inch picture has more and more pixels, it will look more and more defined until you realize, "YAY! I have a picture of a kitty!"
Beware of having too high a resolution, as it can slow down your computer's processes.

2. So my computer screen is made up of pixels. Whoopdedo? My pretty pictures and advanced video games are just little dots of light randomly changing colours. Well, no. Not exactly. In one pixel, how many different colours of light are there?

Answer: Three

The three colours are red, green and blue: the basics of the spectrum of light. Any colour visible to the human eye can be made my adding different amounts of each of the three colours. The key to making graphics is discovering the CORRECT amounts.

3. I'm starting to understand. My monitor doesn't draw objects; it dabs small dots. But before it does that it uses its internal electronic little art pallette to find the correct mix of red, green and blue. There you are! You're on your way! But a computer being what it is, everything has to be in code. On most computers, what is the hexadecimal code for red?

Answer: FF0000

It's a six-digit hexadecimal number! Wait what? Let's break that down.

Six-digit? How is the letter 'F' a digit?
Hexadecimal? What does that mean?

Our traditional numbering system is called decimal or base10, because there are ten digits in each place value (0-9). Hexadecimal (or base16) has six more digits: the letters 'A' through 'F'. 'A' in hexadecimal is equal to '10' in base10.

What does FF0000 mean then? Look at it in groups of two.
The 'FF' refers to the red of the pixel and 'FF'=255, which is the highest value allowed. (It's also (2^8)-1! Go figure!)
The other two pairs of '00' refer to green and blue, respectively. '00'=0, which is the lowest value allowed.
We are now telling the monitor that this one pixel is all red and no green or blue.

4. Well, that was somewhat confusing. Don't do anymore weird questions like that anymore, OK? I'll try, but no promises. However, something new has come up. On a monitor screen, how do you tell the difference between black and white?

Answer: Black leaves all lights off; white turns them all on.

The human mind is amazing, but not that much. I told you earlier in this quiz that there weren't going to be any separate lights, so you should have been reading! If you were attempting to follow this quiz by mixing together paints, you might have missed this question.

In real life, mixing together red, green and blue paint, you get a mess. But more importantly, you get a really dark sludgy mixture that's close to black. However, when mixing light colours, white is the combination of everything. Almost seems intuitive now, right? Black means all the lights are off; white means all the lights are on?

5. Great. My computer's monitor is made up of a bunch of flashing red, green and blue lights. Why would I care? Because it's cool. Or I think it's cool. If you agree, here's a fun FITB question. If you disagree, I punish you with this fun FITB question. Given the context of this quiz, what does CRT stand for?

Answer: cathode ray tube

If you spelt it wrong, I'm afraid I disagree with the 60's philosophy of 'creative spelling'. There is only one correct way to spell 'cathode ray tube'.

Pixels on a CRT screen don't operate the same way as a light bulb. A light bulb has a current of electrons flowing through a wire in a vacuum. This current heats up the wire and it creates light energy in the form of a large glow. CRT screens are generally used on pictures that are ever-changing/need to be changed quickly. They have three electron guns for firing (that's right, you guessed it) red, green and blue phosphor dots at certain sections of the screen. That's how you get the pictures.

6. My monitor doesn't have all those tubes, though! My monitor says that it is an LCD screen! Very well. What does LCD stand for, then?

Answer: Liquid Crystal Display

I wanted to put some cool facts about LCD screens here, but you know what?

I don't think I have the experience necessary to really explain what an LCD screen is.

I'd try and explain what little I do know, but this is something better searched up individually for the people interested. Just search up 'LCD' and you'll get several hits.

7. So far, my computer chooses the colour and turns it into a code. Then my monitor (CRT or LCD) uses that code to create that colour on the screen? Ummm...you might have missed an important step there, though. The information must somehow get from the computer to the monitor via some sort of cable, like a DVI cable. But I'll be nice and make this multiple choice...what does DVI stand for?

Answer: Digital Visual Interface

Random fact: The first draft of this question talked about the other major kind of cable: a Video Graphics Array cable (VGA). One of the incorrect answers was 'Venezuelan Golf Association'. If such an association does exist, can someone send me a message, please?

What? Oh, right! Digital Visual Interface. It works as described: data is turned into binary code then transmitted to the monitor. This is preferred over analog connectors, because analog wires are more prone to distortion, internally or externally.

8. So my computer sends the picture to the screen through the cable, then. When I watch videos, the computer is obviously sending the information quickly and often, then, right? Yes, exactly. That's called the refresh rate. Which one of these frequencies is the least likely to match your monitor's refresh rate?

Answer: 0.15 kHz

For conversion, a hertz (Hz) is equal to 1/second. A kilohertz(kHz) is 1000Hz.

Right now, the average monitor (LCD or CRT) will only refresh at a range of about 60Hz to 75Hz. With technology improving, this will likely reach the low 100s at some point.

But, right now, a 150Hz refresh rate is a bit overkill. Even for hardcore gamers.

9. The first home computer with a monitor was the IBM PC released in 1981.

Answer: False

August 12, 1981 was the main release date. While it's true that the Altair 8800 was heralded as the first home computer, it didn't have a screen per se. The user would use toggle switches and LED lights to program machine language.

However, and applauds go to JohnFair for recognizing this, the Apple II series had monitors and the first Apple II was released in 1977, four years earlier.

10. Whoa, I'm having a bit of a brain overload. This is a little too much data for me to process. I'm even talking like a computer. Hey! That's a great way to end the quiz! What would be better than an obscure fact? Monitors use electricity and light, two very complex energy forms. What is it called when, using the tiny amounts of radiation left by the monitor as it writes, you 'eavesdrop' on a computer? (Hint: Don't be scared!)

Answer: Van Eck Phreaking

Rinson is a random name I chose for the quiz.
CRTSpy Method sounds like it might be a program using this method, but Van Eck Phreaking is also plausible on LCD screens.
RSA is a cryptography protocol and has nothing to do with Paint By Numbers. Although, it's equally cool to read about.

Source: Author Mercenary_Elk

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Paint By Numbers Trivia Quiz

From the CRT to LCD, how does a computer monitor give us our colour pictures? Let's see if you know.

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