nmiller@mstr.hgc.edu (norman miller) (08/16/90)
I'm running a Hercules Graphics Plus card with a mono monitor. I'm very happy with it because I can use the RAMFONT drivers to give me a screen font that I like. Moreover, WP 5.1 and NotaBene support the card. But my friends tell me that I'm simply not in the swim without a VGA card and monitor and I'm beginning to believe them. *But* I'm not going to give up my lovely sanserif screen font without a fight. The question, therefore, is: can I get the same choices under VGA? If so, which? Then a second question: if I choose to work in mono mode (I hope that's the right phrase) will the resolution be degraded or will it still be VGA or SVGA quality?
tran@peora.ccur.com (Nhan Tran) (08/17/90)
In article <548@mstr.hgc.edu>, nmiller@mstr.hgc.edu (norman miller) writes: | I'm running a Hercules Graphics Plus card with a mono monitor. I'm | very happy with it because I can use the RAMFONT drivers to give me | a screen font that I like. Moreover, WP 5.1 and NotaBene support | the card. | | But my friends tell me that I'm simply not in the swim without a VGA | card and monitor and I'm beginning to believe them. *But* I'm not | going to give up my lovely sanserif screen font without a fight. The | question, therefore, is: can I get the same choices under VGA? If so, | which? | | Then a second question: if I choose to work in mono mode (I hope that's | the right phrase) will the resolution be degraded or will it still be | VGA or SVGA quality? You can down load 2 user-defined character sets for VGA cards. The character matrix is 9x16.
cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (Gordon Hlavenka) (08/18/90)
> ... *But* I'm not >going to give up my lovely sanserif screen font without a fight. The >question, therefore, is: can I get the same choices under VGA? The answer is: Sort of. PC Magazine put out a program a couple of years ago called FONTEDIT. This program allows you to create your own fonts for EGA/VGA use. The fonts are saved as a COM file; executing the file sets the font. But-- The font thus selected is the _only_ one on the screen; no mixing in italics, for instance. Also any application which resets the video adapter will reset to the default (hardware) font. The first problem has been addressed. I saw a program out there which leaves a portion of itself resident, and will reload the font if it gets trashed. The address given for VFONT (freeware) is: Ralph B Smith Jr clySmic software P. O. Box 2271 Empire State Plaza Albany, NY 12220 >Then a second question: if I choose to work in mono mode (I hope that's >the right phrase) will the resolution be degraded or will it still be >VGA or SVGA quality? The VGA supports many screen resolutions; SVGA even more. Among these are the lousy CGA fonts at 640X200. But the "standard" VGA text is as crisp as your Hercules board. For graphics, you get whatever the card/monitor combination will support. If you're planning on keeping your TTL Mono monitor, you probably won't see much diffreence. >I'm running a Hercules Graphics Plus card with a mono monitor. I'm >very happy with it because I can use the RAMFONT drivers to give me ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >a screen font that I like. Moreover, WP 5.1 and NotaBene support >the card. > >But my friends tell me that I'm simply not in the swim without a VGA >card and monitor and I'm beginning to believe them. Why listen to your friends? Keep the hardware you like until you have an actual _need_ for something else. If all you do is Word Processing, the color / graphics capabilities of a Super-VGA setup are probably overkill. (I'll get flamed for that by someone...) Don't run out and buy new stuff just to "be in the swim." That's stupid. ----------------------------------------------------- Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Disclaimer: I've fallen! And I can't get up! So how could I have expressed an opinion?
cak@vpnet.chi.il.us (Cindi Knox) (08/18/90)
also keep in mind that you can often use a monochrome adapter and a VGA compatible video adapter at the same time on two different monitors. This can be quite nice if you [have/can write] software to use both adapters. (Possible use... graphics (CAD?) on one monitor, text (netlist?) on another) This sentence is the only opinion I can count on my employers agreeing with. Cindi Knox REALITY: Not a concept. An Adventure. cak@vpnet.chi.il.us
shevett@mccc.uucp (Dave Shevett) (08/21/90)
In article <4322@peora.ccur.com> tran@peora.ccur.com (Nhan Tran) writes: =In article <548@mstr.hgc.edu>, nmiller@mstr.hgc.edu (norman miller) writes: =| I'm running a Hercules Graphics Plus card with a mono monitor. I'm =| very happy with it because I can use the RAMFONT drivers to give me =| a screen font that I like. =| =| But my friends tell me that I'm simply not in the swim without a VGA =| card and monitor [...]. *But* I'm not =| going to give up my lovely sanserif screen font without a fight. Ah, someone true to my heart. I was stuck in the same situation, until I was turned on to a *FANTASTIC* piece of software / (w/hardware for EGA) called UltraVision from Personics ( don't have all the specifics here, E-Mail me and I'll dig it up). In a nutshell - downloadable fonts (about 15 come with the package), with different fonts for different video modes (80x43 on EGA, 80x54 on VGA). The downloadable is somewhat of a misnomer, but you get the idea. Redefinable color palettes, and BLAZING screen i/o. It's around $79.95 last time I checked, and I'd HEARTILY recommend it. =| =| Then a second question: if I choose to work in mono mode (I hope that's =| the right phrase) will the resolution be degraded or will it still be =| VGA or SVGA quality? = Monochrome VGA is the same resolution as color vga, just... well... monochrome. /--------------------+ +----------------------\ | Dave Shevett | "The shortest distance | Labyrinth II BBS | | Lawrenceville, NJ | between two puns is a | (609) 584-8774 | | shevett@mccc.UUCP | straight line..." | 12/24/19200 PEP 24hrs| \--------------------+ - Doc Webster +----------------------/