THB EGA BOARI) IBM' s EGA is versatile enough to work wíth IBM' s monochrome and ordinary color monitors as well as with the new Enhanced Color Dísplay fBM's Enhanced Graphics Adapter, I28K unless you have a specialized ap- Display, the EGA can also be set to video Ibecause it is highly compatible with plication that requires the extra video mode 15, unique to the EGA. This 350- the older Monochrome Adapter and Col- pages. line by 640-dot graphics mode has four or/Graphics Adapter, is at once both very ' "colors" (black, normal, high intensity, versatile and somewhat confusing. What VYRESTLING \ryITH HERCULES and blinking) and is nol compatible with you can do with the EGA depends on the \ùy'hen attached to the IBM Monochrome the Hercules monochrome graphics amount of memory installed on the board Display, the Enhanced Graphics Adapter mode. However, you will find that most and the type of color monitor you con- can emulate the operation of the IBM programs that specifically support the nect to it. Monochrome Adapter for the 25-line by high-resolution rnodes of EGA will also 80-character display. (IBM calls this support this monochrome graphics ASSEMBLINGTHEPIECES TheEn- "video mode 7".) The display address is mode. The few programs I tried out that hanced Graphics Adapter ($524) comes worked on the EGA/Monochrome Dis- with 64K of memory already in- play combination are Microsofl Word; stalled on the card. With this memory M icrosofi Windows ; Digital Research's you can use all of the character and r Most programs that run GEM Desktop; I -2-3, Release 2;andLo- graphics modes available, but the high- tus's new EGA drivers for 1-2-3, Release est-resolution graphics nrode (350 lines on the Monochrome lA. Brìnging the EGA up to l28K bytes down by 640 dots across) is limited to 4 of memory adds another video page in colors instead of 16. Adapter should run on this graphics mode. The Graphics Memory Expansion Card ($ 199) comes with another 64K of the EGA/Monochrome SAME DISPII\Y, DIIT'ERENT ADAP- memory and piggybacks on the main TER When attached totheregularlBM board for a total of 128K. The board still Display combination Color Display (or compatible monitor), takes up only one slot. This exffa memo- the EGA can emulate all modes of the ry allows the adapterto display all l6 col- with no problems. Color/Graphics Adapter (CGA): the 40- ors in the highest-resolution graphics character text modes 0 and l, the 80- mode. When using text modes, you can character text modes 2 and 3 , the 200 by also upload an additional character set for the same, and most of the registers func- 320 four-color graphics modes 4 and 5, a total of512 displayable cha¡acters. For tion similarly. Most programs that run on and the 200 by 640 two-color graphics most normal uses of the EGA, l28K the Monochrome Adapter should run on mode 6. However, the EGA has only a bytes is sufhcient. the EGA/Monochrome Display combi- direct-drive RGB o¡rtput and does not du- The Graphics Memory Module Kit nation with no problerns. However, plicate the output of the ($259) contains l28K bytes ofchips that some of the attributes (high intensity, un- CGA. plug into empty sockets on the Memory derlining, and reverse video) are differ- Most programs that use CGA graph- Expansion Card for a total of 256K. This ent, so programs that use the same attri- ics will run on the EGA, but software that is the maximum memory the adapter can butes for monochrome and color may not attempts to directly program the 6845 hold. Programs can use the extra memo- look the sarne. chip on the CGA may have some prob- ry for multiple video pages. Under this mode, the EGA can offer lems. The most notorious example is the If you will be using the card with the eight video pages instead of the one original graphics driver with I-2-3, Re- IBM Monochrome or IBM Color Dis- available with the normal Monochrome lease lA. (Lotus has recently brought out play, you will probably only need the Adapter. By increasing memory to l28K new drivers for the EGA.) Games that do 64K on the main board unless you want bytes, you can upload another font to cre- extensive adapter programming, such as to try out the 512-character set with ate a set of 512 characters. Even with Microsoft's Flight Simulalor, will not 128K. If you also get the Enhanced 64K, the normal font is replaceable by run at all. Graphics Display, you'll probably want software. Programs may also switch into The EGA also has two new graphics to increase memory to l28K with the a43-line using an I by 8 char- modes that can run on the IBM Color Graphics Memory Expansion Card. You actel'box. Display. Mode 13 displays 200 lines of reap no advantage from going beyond When attached to the Monoehrome (contínrcd)

PC MACAZINE T MARCH25, I986 l15 THE EGA STANDARD

faked on the EGA in the enhanced mode by combining a dark green and a bright ("The EGA Board" conthruecl) and Word and Windows will then use it. red, and so the ploper contl'ast setting is 320 dots with l6 colors. Two video Adding another I 28K gives you a second imporlant. (However, on other Enhanced pages are available with 64K, four with video page. Color Displays I've seen, the preset con- 128K, and eight with 256K. Mode 14 trast does not give a good brown. Perhaps displays 200lines of-640 dots, also with STAY Iul\IED The EGA also contains a control to adjust the setting for the pleset 16 colors but half the number of video a interface (compatible with the contrast would be a help. This would es- pages. The programs I mentioned above one on the CGA) and a32-pin connector sentially give you two contrast ranges se- that specifically support the EGA will refened to in the IBM documentation lectable by pulling out or pushing in the use mode 14 if the EGA is attached to a only as a "feature connector." contrast knob.) ColorDisplay. What feature is that? you hray ask. You can change vertical size (the height Through the feature connector, an exter- of the display alea) with one of two knobs TIIE INEVITABLE STEP uP You'll nal device has access to the.color and in the back, depending on the horizontal eventually want to match the EGA to an sync output of the EGA, thç 2 video jacks scan rate the monitol is using. On sorne Enhanced Color Display or compatible. on the back of the adapter (which serve Enhancecl Graphics Displays, the display It can do everything the EGA/Color Dis- no otherpurpose), and some intemal reg- area is slightly off center', but thele is no play cor.nbination can do and more. Be- ister settings. The EGA can also be pro- way to correct that ploblern. cause the Enhanced Display is capable of grammed to use the clock and sync sig- For overall clarity, color, and display 350-line vertical resolution, the EGA nals from the external device instead of stability, the IBM was neally the best of displays existing text modes (0 through its own. In short, since the feature does the displays for the EGA that PC Labs test- 3) with an 8 by 14 character box instead not yet exist, it is limited only by your ed. On sorne other monitors, a light full- ofthe 8 by 8 character box. Thus, exist- imagination. screen background will bounce in size as ing software that uses text modes will the brightness contlol is quickly turned up suddenly be a lot more readable on the TIIE I\IEXT-HIGIIER STEP The En- and down. On the IBM display, this EGA. Programs can also upload their hanced Graphics Adapter is not IBM's bounce was negligible. The display gener- own character fonts to the boa¡d in text only high-resolution alternative to the ally recovered fiom a mode change very mode. Monochrome and Color/Graphics quickly without the type of screen flipping If you don't mind an 8 by 8 character Adapters. About the same time it intro- you often see on the IBM Color Display. box, with a little effort and programming duced the EGA, IBM also unveiled the (Again, however, I've seen other IBM En- you can use the increased resolution to Professional Graphics Controller (PGC) hanced Graphics Displays that rolled a bit display 43 lines of text instead of the nor- and Professional Graphics Display. This when the mode was changed.) mal 25 lines, So far, I've seen this ac- team offers the same horizontal resolu- The distinct effects of the brightness complished only with that masterpiece of tion as the EGA does (6¿10 dots) but in- and contrast controls help you set the dis- malleable programming, WordStar (see creases the vertical resolution from 350 play for clear and readable text. Even in Power User, Volume 4 Number 25), lines to 480lines. An on-boa¡d 8088 mi- the 43-line EGA mode using an 8 by 8 You can use PC-DOS in a 43line text croprocessor corrìmands 320K byæs of character box, text is more readable than it mode, but not if you have ANSI.SYS memory for 256 colors out of a palette of is on the old Color Display using the same loaded. 4,096. 8 by 8 font. The contrast is good in 350- Adding an Enhanced Color Display With builrin pixel-crunching soft- line modes and about the same as the Color also makes available the EGA's highest- ware, the PGC is best suited for graphic Display's for 200-line modes. The 350- resolution graphics mode: 350 lines by art, image processing, and engineering line modes' contrast only look deficient 640 dots (mode 16). This is the mode that applications such as computer-aided de- when compared side by side with the NEC gives you nearly the resolution of the sign (CAD). Like the EGA, the PGC can JC-140 lP3A Multisync, also reviewed monochrome display with color and emulate the Color/Graphics Adapter vid- here. Even with the brightness turned up graphics. However, with the standard eo modes, It uses two slots in an XT, AT, all the way, the black background stays 64K on the board, you can only get 4 col- or expansion chassis (not a regular PC) black. ors in this mode. If you have a 64K EGA and draws 5 amps of power. In a colorbar display, the bright colors with an Enhanced Color Display, pro- For most business applications the have a pastel glow that makes programs grams such as Microsofi Word and Mï PGC is overkill, but for potential EGA that use color extensively (like Microsoft croSoft Windows will use mode 14, buyers, it serves a very important func- Windows) look very pretty. which has a lower resolution but the full tion: Since the Professional Graphics Overall, the IBM Enhariced Color Dis- 16 colors. Controller costs $2,Ð5 and the hofes- play is a fine companion to the IBM En- Adding the Memory Expansion sional Graphics Display costs $1,295, hanced Graphics Adapter. Of course, as Board to increase the total memory to the PGC helps convince you that the with most of IBM's products, the price is l28K lets you use 16 colors in mode 16, EGA is abargain.{harles Petzold really the only signifrcant problem. PC MAGAZINE I MARCH25, I986 l16