
The Graphics Chip Chronicles - nsajko
https://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded-revolution/graphics-chip-chronicles
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smacktoward
It would be hard to overstate the importance of VGA in the history of personal
computing. The original IBM PC's graphics capabilities (see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_Graphics_Adapter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_Graphics_Adapter))
were laughable. The PC/AT's 16-color EGA
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Graphics_Adapter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Graphics_Adapter))
chip was better, but still lagged behind what could be done with a machine
like an Amiga. It wasn't until the introduction of VGA that the PC platform
had a really industry-leading graphics capability.

VGA made the IBM PC into a credible multimedia machine, which led to the
obsolescence of the "home computer" vs. "business computer" distinction as the
PC could now sell equally well into both categories. And _that_ led to the
world where a "computer" was defined as "an Intel x86 machine running
Microsoft Windows."

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mntmoss
One of the "what ifs" I often have when looking back at this period is that if
CGA/EGA had fully supported user-defined palettes(the actual support for it is
"in some modes, kinda", with the original CGA monitor design being a major
factor in why it isn't available), and the PCjr/Tandy sound became standard in
the mid-80s, the audiovisual capabilities would have been almost exactly on
par with the Atari ST, which was viewed as the direct competitor to the Amiga
when it launched. And in that case, would the market have settled on the PC
even earlier? The games being made in the late 80's were generally not memory-
intensive enough to support assets over 4-bit color; it was the fixed palette
and reliance on beeper sound that made PC games look and sound ugly compared
to other platforms, with the raw horsepower being a secondary consideration,
though the rapid advancement of x86 made it appealing on that front too.

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nwallin
EGA had credible support for indexed color. It had 4 bit indexes into 6 bit
RRGGBB color. Honestly, it was pretty good.

CGA was craptastic though. It would have been so much better if it would have
just supported 2 bit indexed color into its 4 bit palette. Literally night and
day better. I legitimately don't understand why they didn't go that route, the
circuit would be trivial.

~~~
m463
You could pick the happy color palette (red, green, yellow, black) or the
boring color palette (cyan, magenta, white, black). games were so dull.

Even 90's web pages were more visually appealing.

~~~
LocalH
Don't forget CGA composite. Featuring both direct color as well as artifact
color. CGA was better than RGB-only usage suggested.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_artifact_colors#CGA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_artifact_colors#CGA)

~~~
m463
I personally never saw CGA hooked to composite, just to the IBM color monitor
with the shiny tube.

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fabiensanglard
Great topic :) ! Horrible horrible website :(!

~~~
jchw
Hijacks back for a newsletter sign up. This is the kind of shit that makes my
blood boil.

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lostgame
Absolutely awful, unreadable web site, and I am unfortunately not exaggerating
- an advertisement actually half-covers the small section of content that is
actually even visible on my iPad, meaning even if I wanted to slog my way
through the 'get as many as views as possible' page-by-page design, I couldn't
even read the content.

Shameful. How did this make it up to page 1?

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PorterDuff
82786 was a strange part. I programmed it for one product. As I remember it
was mostly set up for windowing with a handful of primitives and not really
worth the trouble. We probably should have used an ASIC.

Also used the 34010 and 34020.

I do remember the fuss when VGA came out. The hardware guys took apart one of
each of the PS2s. Nobody cared about microchannel some interest in VGA.

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erickhill
Should have been titled: The (PC) Graphics Chip Chronicles

