Lack of 8-bit threads (was Re: Linux question)

Indeed it does. And on an European PC, that RGBI signal is the same spec as in the US version, that is, with 60Hz vertical sync frequency, etc. It is possible to re-program the 6845 CRTC chip on the CGA card to get 50Hz vertical. I have a PAL encoder box that plugs into the DE9 connector on a CGA card and which came with a little bit of software to do just that. But no IBM machine did that as standard in the 'European' version. The composite signal is output on 2 connectors on the IBM CGA card. Firstly on the RCA phono socket on the back, indented to link to US TVs, etc. And secondly on a 4 pin BERG header on the card. This was used to connect the monitor in the 5155 PortablePC (the monitor in that is an amber-screen Zneith composite mono monitor), and also to connect an RF modulator (There's a 12V power output on another pin of that connector. Odd. Just about all the ones I've seen did, although not necessarily on an RCA phono conenctor on the bracket. Some had that connector -- I have a clone CGA card which is pretty much a copy of the IBM one apart from using different DRAM chips (I can't rememebr if it's that they're 8 off 16K*1 5V-only ones, or a pair of 16K*4s). I saw a clone CGA card _years_ ago which was one big ASIC and a couple of RAMs. It had a 2-pin header plug on the PCB that carried composite NTSC video. I never _owned_ that card though. But I do have something called a 'Colorgraph+' It's a CGA card which can take 48K of RAM (6 off 16K*4 chips), and thus has a 640*200 in 8 colours (separate R,G,B bitplanes) mode, along with a 320*200 in 16 colours mode, etc. This only has a DE9 connector, but pin 7, normally unused on a CGA card, carries the composite NTSC signal. -tony