ks26+@andrew.cmu.edu.UUCP (10/01/87)
I recently purchased IBM's VGA card and 8513 Color monitor and have some
questions:
1) Can I run a CGA card and VGA card in the same machine?
2) Are there any interesting programming features of the VGA, above and
beyond the 256 color palette in mode 13h?
3) Are there any demo programs (with source) available that would show off
the card's capabilities?
Thanks in advance,
Ken Sykes
P.S. The IBM VGA card is (supposed to be) exactly the same as the VGA in the
PS/2 50's and above.johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine) (10/02/87)
In article <8VMOzLy00Xo6d080Bo@andrew.cmu.edu> ks26+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kenneth Sykes) writes: >I recently purchased IBM's VGA card and 8513 Color monitor ... > >1) Can I run a CGA card and VGA card in the same machine? I doubt it, the VGA implements all of the CGA modes along with other stuff. In a PS/2, the VGA is on the motherboard and there is a little connector on one of the expansion slots that lets an add-in video card turn the VGA on and off and drive the screen directly. Assuming the add-in VGA is the same, it expects to be on all of the time unless a smarter card overrides it. >2) Are there any interesting programming features of the VGA, above and > beyond the 256 color palette in mode 13h? There is a 640x480x4 mode which gives you somewhat better than EGA resolution and square pixels. There is also an 80x50 alpha mode that lets you draw lots of teensy characters on your screen. >3) Are there any demo programs (with source) available that would show off > the card's capabilities? IBM had some nice demos with digitized pictures at the April PS/2 announcement, but I haven't seen them since. -- John R. Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349, +1 617 492 3869 { ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something The Iran-Contra affair: None of this would have happened if Ronald Reagan were still alive.
nichols+@andrew.cmu.edu (David Nichols) (01/27/89)
I have some questions about VGA boards and monitors. 1) I'm interested in lots of text lines (50+). Some of the boards advertise 60-line modes while some only claim 43-lines. Yet I have seen references by some writers to the "50-line mode that all VGA boards support." What's the scoop here? My guess is that the modes the manufacturers advertise are the BIOS modes, and that any of the boards can be set into 50-line or so modes by appropriate setting of the VGA registers (at least for the register- compatible cards). Is this guess correct? 2) My current favorites for monitors are the Nec Multisync II and the Sony 1302. Both are advertised as handling 560 lines. What happens when you flip your board into 800x600 mode? Do 40 lines get trashed? Does it work at all? Or does everything work fine because the monitor specs are conservative? 3) I thought someone mentioned in this group that the Sony 1302 was great, but avoid the 1302A. Why? According to the Sony person I talked to, the difference is that the 1302A has vertical auto-sizing circuitry added, which seems like a win to me. I'm mostly interested in the questions, but if folks want to send recommendations on super-VGA boards and monitors, I'll be grateful for them as well. Of course, I will summarize and post any responses I get. David Nichols Arpa: nichols+@andrew.cmu.edu or David.Nichols@andrew.cmu.edu Usenet: uunet!andrew.cmu.edu!david.nichols (maybe, I don't understand Usenet)
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (01/27/89)
David:
According to what I know, VGA's support 50 lines of text. I'm not sure about
the 60 lines (haven't heard of it before now). Anyway, I can tell you that
at 50 lines, the text is very small and may seem hard to read.
As for the 560 scan lines, you're correct. If you have a card that goes to
800 x 600 mode, there will be 40 lines thrown away. In order to use that
card effectively you must get a higher resolution monitor. If I remember
correctly, Sony and Nec, both have higher resolution monitors. And I think
that the Nec Multisync II has about 640 lines of resolution (vertical) and not
the 560 that you mentioned (I may be very wrong though.)
I hope this helps.
-- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.)
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Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (01/28/89)
>And I think >that the Nec Multisync II has about 640 lines of resolution (vertical) and not >the 560 that you mentioned (I may be very wrong though.) The specs say 560 vertical. But it works fine vertically in 600x800 mode. But the horizontal width is too narrow by about one inch.
everett@hpcvlx.HP.COM (Everett Kaser) (01/31/89)
Yes, 60 lines is entirely possible. I've seen it. No, it's NOT real comfort- able to read. VGA has 480 lines vertically; hence, if you load an 8x8 bit font, voila! you have 60 lines of text. Everett Kaser !hplabs!hp-pcd!everett everett%hpcvlx@hplabs.hp.com
ncsmith@ndsuvax.UUCP (Timothy Smith) (01/31/89)
In article <QXs6L1y00UsQ82B808@andrew.cmu.edu> jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) writes: >David: >As for the 560 scan lines, you're correct. If you have a card that goes to >800 x 600 mode, there will be 40 lines thrown away. In order to use that >card effectively you must get a higher resolution monitor. If I remember >correctly, Sony and Nec, both have higher resolution monitors. And I think >that the Nec Multisync II has about 640 lines of resolution (vertical) and not >the 560 that you mentioned (I may be very wrong though.) The NEC Multisync II is capable of being driven to 1024x768, if you don't mind alittle magnetic interference. If you do drive it to 800x600 you will have to use to horizontal adjustment control to move the picture into the display area. Also there are no lines thrown away. The card that I am using is the STB VGA Extra/EM. -- Tim Smith North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105 UUCP: ...!uunet!ndsuvax!ncsmith | 90% of the people on this planet BITNET: ncsmith@ndsuvax.bitnet | are crazy and the rest of us are INTERNET: ncsmith@plains.NoDak.edu | in grave danger of contamination
corbin@pinocchio.Encore.COM (Steve Corbin) (02/01/89)
In article <45900198@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: > >>And I think >>that the Nec Multisync II has about 640 lines of resolution (vertical) and not >>the 560 that you mentioned (I may be very wrong though.) > >The specs say 560 vertical. But it works fine vertically in 600x800 >mode. But the horizontal width is too narrow by about one inch. Hmmmm. I have a NEC Multisync II and it doesn't do 560 lines. The top 40 lines in 800x600 mode are chopped off. I have no problems with the horizontal resolution. The NEC Multisync 2 A will do 600 lines according to NEC's advertisements. Apparently the 2 A just came out and I bought the II a few months ago. I wish I had waited. Stephen Corbin UUCP: {bu-cs,decvax,necntc,talcott}!encore!corbin Internet: corbin@multimax.ARPA
davidg@janus.uucp (David Gaertner) (02/11/89)
I've tried the Multisync 2A in 800x600 mode with Microsoft Windows.
With a Vega VGA card, there is a lot of flicker that makes it
unusable. But with a Paradise VGA Plus card, it looked great! Only
the grays looked like they were being affected by some kind of
interference.
/ / David Gaertner
__/ __. , __o __/ ...ucbvax!janus!davidg, davidg@janus.berkeley.edu
(_/_(_/|_\/ <__(_/_ "Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing."sac90286@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (02/12/89)
If your Multisync 2A flockers in 800x600 mode with your Vega VGA, get a Princeton UltraSync. No problems in any of the Vega VGA's modes.
joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) (02/14/89)
In article <27982@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, davidg@janus.uucp (David Gaertner) writes: > I've tried the Multisync 2A in 800x600 mode with Microsoft Windows. > With a Vega VGA card, there is a lot of flicker that makes it > unusable. I noticed the same effect when using the CompuAdd VGA card, which is made by VEGA, with a Magnavox Multimode monitor. I found it aggravating enough that I went back to my old Genoa SuperEga card which isn't VGA compatible, but does a pretty good job in 800x600 mode. This was with the digital output from the card, not the analog. Does anybody have any experience with hooking VGA cards up to the Magnavox multimode in analog mode? Will it work at all, and if it does how do you wire the cable? The only time I've used analog mode on the Magnavox so far is with an Amiga, which worked fine. -- Joel Upchurch/Concurrent Computer Corp/2486 Sand Lake Rd/Orlando, FL 32809 joel@peora.ccur.com {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd,ucf-cs}!peora!joel (407)850-1040