Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!ADS.ARPA!Info-Graphics-Request From: Info-Graphics-Request@ADS.ARPA (Info-Graphics moderator Andy Cromarty) Newsgroups: comp.graphics.digest Subject: Info-Graphics Digest Message-ID: <8705101136.AA22096@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Sun, 10-May-87 06:00:26 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8705101136.AA22096 Posted: Sun May 10 06:00:26 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 10-May-87 11:44:31 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: Info-Graphics@ADS.ARPA Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 362 Approved: info-graphics@ads.arpa Info-Graphics Digest Sun May 10 03:00:26 PDT 1987 - Send submissions to Info-Graphics@ADS.ARPA - Send requests for list membership to Info-Graphics-Request@ADS.ARPA Today's Topics: Re: Distributed Computation for Computer Animation Looking for PHIGS and GKS-3D standards Distributed animation summary IBM Graphics Cards and Monitors Addition ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tue, 5 May 87 10:30:45 +0100 Date: Tue, 5 May 87 10:22:42 -0100 From: unido!gmdzi!hops@seismo.CSS.GOV (Peter Seuffert) Subject: Re: Distributed Computation for Computer Animation peterson@cs.utah.edu (John W Peterson): > > > I'd like to thank all the people who responded to my "Distributed > computation for computer animation" survey. I received several > interesting responses. Since the summary of these responses was > rather long, I've mailed it directly to the people who requested a > summary rather than post it. If you'd like a copy, send me e-mail and > I'll send one off. > > Cheers, > John Peterson > > peterson@cs.utah.edu > {ihnp4,decvax,seismo}!utah-cs!peterson > Interested. Please send me a summary. Greetings, Peter "hops" Seuffert ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 May 87 12:08:23 edt From: ho@rti.rti.org (Don Rich) Subject: Looking for PHIGS and GKS-3D standards Does anyone know where I can get copies of the (proposed?) standards for PHIGS and GKS-3D ? Or, if standardized, what the magic ANSI or NBS numbers for them are? Thanks, ho@rti.rti.org --- Don Rich, Research Triangle Institute, Box 12194, Res. Tri. Park, NC 27709 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 May 87 11:03:19 EST From: munnari!goanna.oz!gl@seismo.CSS.GOV (Leachie) Subject: Distributed animation summary Could you please send me a copy of the summary? Ta Geoff Leach Department of Computing RMIT Melbourne, Australia ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 May 87 17:05 EST From: INTORCIO%ecs.umass.edu@RELAY.CS.NET Subject: IBM Graphics Cards and Monitors X-Vms-To: CSNET%"Info-Graphics@ADS.ARPA" >I have just started looking at all these graphics cards for PC's (we have >zeniths with IBM cards here at Queens) and am frankly getting quite confused >about all the different standards (CGA, EGA, HERC, ...the new IBM standard) >as well as what screen works with what (monochrome, high-res, ttl...) > >I have some vendor documentation but it's difficult to see the forest for the >trees. Is there any article or reference out there that gives a clear, >simple overview of the whole subject of graphics cards/standards/monitors? In response, I offer a bulletin that I prepared for an MS-DOS bulletin board that I am associated with. It's somewhat dated in that it was written before the PS/2 line came out and, as such, contains no onformation on the new displays and adapters. It may, however, prove a worthwhile introduction: = W H A T A R E M D A, C G A, E G A, A N D H E R C D I S P L A Y S ? = Although the technical details are beyond the scope of this bulletin, it may serve to clarify the some of the differences between the various types of display adapters available for he IBM PC and its compatibles. There are other display adapters available and this does not claim to be an exhaustive survey but rather an introduction. Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD This adapter provides only monochrome text on a monochrome monitor. It will will not work properly with a color monitor. This adapter is not capable of displaying any "bit mapped" graphics whatsoever. It is important to realize that the ASCII line characters such as B and G are not true graphics but are merely characters that may be put together to resemble graphics. In fact, such displays are often referred to as "character graphics". So, even on a monochrome display adapter which cannot display graphics, graphs such as the following are possible: Sales of Personal Computers 4 3 ZDDD? 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 ZDDD? 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 @DDDDDDDADDDADDDDDDADDDADDDDDD IBM Other (If the above looks like garbage, chances are you're not working on an IBM compatible machine. My apologies for the mess. Try to imagine that as a nice little graph.) Again, this is not a true graphic. The MDA can display only the 256 characters which make up the IBM standard character set. The MDA will work only with a monochrome monitor. Further, the monochrome monitor most accept TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) input. The MDA is connected to the monitor with a cable (usually attached to the monitor) equipped with a DB-7 plug. The MDA will function only with software that does not require a graphics display. A database or wordprocessing program for example would likely function just fine with an MDA. A graphics oriented program such as the AutoCAD drafting system would not function with an MDA. Hercules Graphics Card (HGC) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD The Hercules Co. was the first to introduce a display adapter which could produce bit mapped graphics on a monochrome monitor. They made a fortune. HGC now refers to cards from a number of manufacturers which implement the Hercules graphics standard. In addition to being able to do all that the MDA does, this card can display bit mapped graphics with a resolution of 720 x 348. To understand what that means, just look real close at you screen. You'll see that each character is made up of lots of little dots. The number of little dots that an adapter/monitor combination can display is know as the resolution and is expressed as "seven-twenty by three-forty-eight" or "six-forty by four-hundred". The first number is the number of little dots horizontally across the screen and the second, the number vertically. Each dot is an individually addressable location that, at least for monochrome, may either be "on" (have a bit value of 1) or "off" (have a bit value of 0). The pattern of bits in the computer which represents the display gives rise to the term "bit mapped graphics". The fact that the HGC can display "bit mapped graphics" or merely "graphics" means that it is especially desirable to those who wish to use a program such as Lotus 1-2-3 which has the ability to draw pie charts and other graphs or AutoCAD which allows the user to draw any number of shapes. The pseudo-graphics provided by the ASCII characters are not sufficient for such applications. Again, the HGC will work only with a monochrome monitor. Further, the monochrome monitor most accept TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) input. The HGC is connected to the monitor with a cable (usually attached to the monitor) equipped with a DB-7 plug. The HGC is the display adapter most often provided with discount IBM pc compatibles. It will operate with most software and is widely supported amongst the commercial vendors. The notable exception is most game software which will not function with the HGC without the use of special software to "fool" the game program. Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD The IBM CGA is perhaps considered the industry standard display adapter. It can operate in one of six display modes: 1. BW80 Where it acts the same as the MDA and displays only characters and only in white on black. 2. BW40 Where again only monochrome characters are displayed but this time at double width, only 40 characters per line. 3. CO80 Character mode with 80 characters per line but this time with eight colors at two intensity levels effectively providing 16 colors. 4. CO40 Same as above but with only 40 characters per line. 5. MEDIUM "Medium" resolution graphics mode providing a resolution of 320 x 200 with four colors (one of which is black) from a choice of two pallets (one provides cyan-magenta-white, the other, yellow-red-green). 6. HIGH "High" resolution graphics mode providing a resolution of 640 x 200 but with only two colors (white on black). The CGA will work with either an RGB or Composite color monitor or a composite monochrome monitor. It displays only monochrome images on the monochrome monitor, not shades of gray (The Compaq portables have been available with a special type of monochrome monitor that functions with a CGA compatible card to provide shades of green instead of colors.). It connects to a composite color or monochrome monitor with a coaxial cable equipped with RCA plugs and to an RGB monitor with a DB-7 plug. Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD The EGA card is IBM's latest offering in the graphics adapter line. Now being offered by other manufacturers as well, it's still high priced but it does do much more than any of the other adapters discussed so far. Being new, there's still a lot of confusion around about what it is and what it does. (This author being among the confused, much of what appears here is excerpted from several articles appearing in PC Magazine.) The EGA standard provides for 12 graphics modes (for some silly reason, they're numbered 0 through 7 and 13 through 16). Which of those modes is actually available depends on the monitor to which the EGA is attached. With a TTL Monochrome monitor: Mode Type Resolution Colors Comments DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 7 Text 720 x 350 4 Compatible with MDA 15 Graphics 640 x 350 4 (The four colors are black and three shades of green) With and RGB color monitor: Mode Type Resolution Colors Comments DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 0&1 Text 320 x 200 16 CGA Compatible - 40 Char 2&3 Text 640 x 200 16 CGA Compatible - 80 Char 4&5 Graphics 320 x 200 4 CGA Compatible 6 Graphics 640 x 200 2 CGA Compatible 13 Graphics 320 x 200 16 14 Graphics 640 x 200 16 With an Enhanced color monitor: Mode Type Resolution Colors Comments DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 0&1 Text 320 x 200 16 CGA Compatible - 40 Char 2&3 Text 640 x 200 16 CGA Compatible - 80 Char 4&5 Graphics 320 x 200 4 CGA Compatible 6 Graphics 640 x 200 2 CGA Compatible 13 Graphics 320 x 200 16 14 Graphics 640 x 200 16 16 Graphics 640 x 350 4 or 16 The number of colors depends on the amount of graphics memory installed on the EGA card. 64k gives 4 colors, 128k gives 16. These modes are for the IBM version of the EGA adapter. Many other manufacturers produce cards with other modes as well. It should also be noted that although the EGA claims compatibility with software written for the MDA and CGA, that compatibility is not absolute and some programs written for the CGA or MDA will not function with the EGA. Most notable of these are Flight Simulator from Microsoft and Lotus 1-2-3 Release 1A. Also, the card may have additional memory beyond 128k which will not provide additional colors in the high resolution mode but will provide faster display of complicated images and faster scrolling. Other Graphics Adapters (OGA's?) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Of course, other than the above "standards" there are a whole bunch of other cards around. Some things to be aware of follow: Other EGA Cards There are a lot of companies making IBM EGA compatible cards these days and some have approved upon the original IBM design. Even IBM itself is due to release a revised EGA. Some things to look for are an added mode which mimics the HGC (Quadram QuadEGA+, Video-7 Vega, etc.), the ability to display more modes on monochrome and standard color monitors (ATI's EGAWonder which even supports composite color monitors), 132 column modes, etc. Additionally, although the IBM EGA was a full length board, many of the other cards on the market are half length or shorter. Many of these cards offer much improved compatibility with the MDA, CGA, and HGC cards and some are even able to detect what type of adapter the software is looking for and switch into that mode (Paradise AutoSwitch etc.). CGA Like Cards Other display adapters are available that offer graphics similar to the CGA but with enhancements which allow for more colors at higher resolution. Some notable cards include the Tecmar Graphics Master offer 640 x 400 with 16 colors and the Plantronics card offering 4 colors at 640 x 200. Professional Graphics Adapter (PGA) Another high resolution high cost offering from IBM, this card is priced out of reach of most home users and was aimed at the serious CAD users. Higher Resolution Cards There are cards available, at higher prices, that will provide the user with resolutions of 1024 x 1024 or better (Number Nine, BNW Graphics, etc.). These cards generally have a standard mode which emulates the CGA and offer the enhanced graphics modes only to programs specifically written to take advantage of their abilities. AutoCAD for example supports many of these cards. I hope that all of this is helpful. I hope it's fairly accurate as well. Please drop a note if you find any mistakes and we'll try to pick 'em up. Enjoy reading! >>> John <<< 2/5/87 =============================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 May 87 16:52:27 CDT From: Kevin Black Subject: Addition Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you in advance Regards, Kevin Black ------- ------------------------------ End of INFO-GRAPHICS ********************