7 Jan
2001
7 Jan
'01
11:37 p.m.
I guess that this is a rather naive question, but is
there any such
thing as an 8-bit VGA card? If not, is the 16-bits necessary or is
it just because it came about after 16-bit ISA came along with the
AT class computers?
- don
The earliest VGA cards tended to be 8bit, or 8/16bit
autosensing. Paradise was the main supplier, though Oak and Tseng
Labs produced some as well. They generally had only 256k of RAM
onboard and would do 16colors at 640 x 480. No acceleration either,
as it was before Cirrus and the others started trying to speed up
Windows screen draws using the graphics chipset. VGA actually had
it's beginnings on the MCA bus with the PS/2 but was then adapted for
the ISA bus by the 3rd party vendors.
Jeff
--
Collector of Classic Microcomputers and Video Game Systems:
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757