Multi-Color Graphics Array

Last updated
Multi-Color Graphics Array
Release date1986;38 years ago (1986)
Cards
Entry-level IBM PS/2 Model 30 & 25 motherboards; Epson Equity Ie motherboard; Delta Computer DG-630 motherboard [1]
History
Predecessor Color Graphics Adapter
Successor Video Graphics Array

The Multi-Color Graphics Array or MCGA is a video subsystem built into the motherboard of the IBM PS/2 Model 30, introduced on September 2, 1986, and Model 25, introduced later on August 11, 1987; no standalone MCGA cards were ever made. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

The MCGA supports all CGA display modes plus 640 × 480 monochrome at a refresh rate of 60  Hz, and 320 × 200 with 256 colors (out of an 18-bit RGB palette of 262,144) at 70 Hz. The display adapter uses a DE-15 connector, sometimes referred to as HD-15.

MCGA is similar to VGA in that it had a 256-color mode (the 256-color mode in VGA was sometimes referred to as MCGA) and uses 15-pin analog connectors. The PS/2 chipset's limited abilities prevent EGA compatibility and high-resolution multi-color VGA display modes.

The tenure of MCGA was brief; the PS/2 Model 25 and Model 30 were discontinued by 1992, and the only manufacturer to produce a clone of this display adapter was Epson, in the Equity Ie and PSE-30, since the VGA standard introduced at the same time was considered superior. [9] [10]

Software support

The 256-color mode proved most popular for gaming. 256-color VGA games ran fine on MCGA as long as they stuck to the basic 320 × 200 256-color mode and didn't attempt to use VGA-specific features such as multiple screen pages.

Games lacking support for 256-color graphics were forced to fall back to four-color CGA mode (or not run at all) due to the incompatibility with EGA video modes (320 × 200, 640 × 200, or 640 × 350, all in 16 colors). Some games, including point-and-click adventures from Sierra On-line and Lucasfilm Games, as well as simulation and strategy titles from Microprose, solved this problem for low-resolution titles by supporting the MCGA's 320 × 200 256-color mode and picking the colors most resembling the EGA 16-color RGB palette, while leaving the other available colors in that mode unused.

Higher resolution titles were often unsupported unless graphics could be converted into either MCGA low or high (640 × 480 monochrome, which would also support 640 × 400 and 640 × 350 with some letterboxing) resolution mode in an acceptable fashion. An alternative approach used by a small number of (generally earlier) games was to use four-color CGA assets but make use of the adaptor's ability to freely change the palette for a slightly enhanced appearance.

Output capabilities

MCGA offered:

CGA compatible modes:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video Graphics Array</span> Computer display standard and resolution

Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. The term can now refer to the computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector, or the 640 × 480 resolution characteristic of the VGA hardware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hercules Graphics Card</span> IBM PC graphic adapter and display standard

The Hercules Graphics Card (HGC) is a computer graphics controller formerly made by Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. that combines IBM's text-only MDA display standard with a bitmapped graphics mode, also offering a parallel printer port. This allows the HGC to offer both high-quality text and graphics from a single card.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enhanced Graphics Adapter</span> IBM PC graphic adapter and display standard

The Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) is an IBM PC graphics adapter and de facto computer display standard from 1984 that superseded the CGA standard introduced with the original IBM PC, and was itself superseded by the VGA standard in 1987. In addition to the original EGA card manufactured by IBM, many compatible third-party cards were manufactured, and EGA graphics modes continued to be supported by VGA and later standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM PS/2</span> Second generation of personal computers by IBM

The Personal System/2 or PS/2 is IBM's second generation of personal computers. Released in 1987, it officially replaced the IBM PC, XT, AT, and PC Convertible in IBM's lineup. Many of the PS/2's innovations, such as the 16550 UART, 1440 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk format, 72-pin SIMMs, the PS/2 port, and the VGA video standard, went on to become standards in the broader PC market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deluxe Paint</span> Raster graphics editor

Deluxe Paint, often referred to as DPaint, is a bitmap graphics editor created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts and published for the then-new Amiga 1000 in November 1985. A series of updated versions followed, some of which were ported to other platforms. An MS-DOS release with support for the 256 color VGA standard became popular for creating pixel graphics in video games in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mode 13h</span> Standard 256-color mode on VGA graphics hardware

Mode 13h is the standard 256-color mode on VGA graphics hardware introduced in 1987 with the IBM PS/2. It has a resolution of 320×200 pixels. It was used extensively in computer games and art/animation software of the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. "13h" refers to the number of the mode in the VGA BIOS. The "h" stands for hexadecimal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Color Graphics Adapter</span> IBM PC graphic adapter and display standard

The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card for the IBM PC and established a de facto computer display standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM Monochrome Display Adapter</span> IBM PC graphic adapter and display standard

The Monochrome Display Adapter is IBM's standard video display card and computer display standard for the IBM PC introduced in 1981. The MDA does not have any pixel-addressable graphics modes, only a single monochrome text mode which can display 80 columns by 25 lines of high-resolution text characters or symbols useful for drawing forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hold-And-Modify</span> Display mode used in Commodore Amiga computers

Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible. HAM mode was commonly used to display digitized photographs or video frames, bitmap art and occasionally animation. At the time of the Amiga's launch in 1985, this near-photorealistic display was unprecedented for a home computer and it was widely used to demonstrate the Amiga's graphical capability. However, HAM has significant technical limitations which prevent it from being used as a general purpose display mode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional Graphics Controller</span> Graphics adapter and display standard for early IBM PCs

Professional Graphics Controller is a graphics card manufactured by IBM for PCs. It consists of three interconnected PCBs, and contains its own processor and memory. The PGC was, at the time of its release, the most advanced graphics card for the IBM XT and aimed for tasks such as CAD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plantronics Colorplus</span> Graphics card for IBM PC computers

The Plantronics Colorplus is a graphics card for IBM PC computers, first sold in 1982. It implements a superset of the then-current CGA standard, using the same monitor standard and providing the same pixel resolutions. It was produced by Frederick Electronics, a subsidiary of Plantronics since 1968, and sold by Plantronics' Enhanced Graphics Products division.

In computing, indexed color is a technique to manage digital images' colors in a limited fashion, in order to save computer memory and file storage, while speeding up display refresh and file transfers. It is a form of vector quantization compression.

The eXtended Graphics Array is a graphics card manufactured by IBM and introduced for the IBM PS/2 line of personal computers in 1990 as a successor to the 8514/A. It supports, among other modes, a display resolution of 1024 × 768 pixels with 256 colors at 43.5 Hz (interlaced), or 640 × 480 at 60 Hz (non-interlaced) with up to 65,356 colors. The XGA-2 added an 800 × 600 65,356 color mode and 1024 × 768 60 Hz non-interlaced.

The ATI Wonder is a series of video cards for the IBM Personal Computer and compatibles, introduced by ATI Technologies in the mid to late 1980s. These cards were unique at the time as they offered the end user a considerable amount of value by combining support for multiple graphics standards into a single card. The VGA Wonder series added additional value with the inclusion of a bus mouse port, which normally required the installation of a dedicated Microsoft Mouse adapter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tandy Graphics Adapter</span> Computer display standard for the Tandy 1000 series

Tandy Graphics Adapter is a computer display standard for the Tandy 1000 series of IBM PC compatibles, which has compatibility with the video subsystem of the IBM PCjr but became a standard in its own right.

Composite artifact colors is a designation commonly used to address several graphic modes of some 1970s and 1980s home computers. With some machines, when connected to an NTSC TV or monitor over composite video outputs, the video signal encoding allowed for extra colors to be displayed, by manipulating the pixel position on screen, not being limited by each machine's hardware color palette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM PS/2 Model 30</span> 1987 IBM desktop computer

The Personal System/2 Model 30 and Personal System/2 Model 30 286 are IBM's entry-level desktop computers in their Personal System/2 (PS/2) family of personal computers. As opposed to higher-end entries in the PS/2 line which use Micro Channel bus architecture, the Model 30 features an Industry Standard Architecture bus, allowing it to use expansion cards from its direct predecessors, the PC/XT and the PC/AT. The original PS/2 Model 30 is built upon the Intel 8086 microprocessor clocked at 8 MHz; the Model 30 286 features the Intel 80286 clocked at 10 MHz.

References

  1. Brownstein, Mark (May 30, 1988). "Delta Announces PC-Compatible Product Line". InfoWorld. IDG Publications. 10 (22): 27 via Google Books.
  2. Sanchez, Julio; Canton, Maria P. (2003). The PC Graphics Handbook. CRC Press. p. 122. ISBN   9780203010532.
  3. "MCGA Games (PC/DOS) - LCD vs CRT \ VOGONS".
  4. "Epson Equity 1e". 20 December 2014.
  5. "Nerdly Pleasures: Unique PC Hardware & Game Support". 28 April 2012.
  6. "Epson Equity 1e". YouTube .
  7. "Epson Equity 1e a second look". YouTube .
  8. "The secret story of MCGA". 26 December 2020.
  9. REM (1989). Equity Ie - CGA/EGA/VGA/MCGA Video Mode Compatibility (PDF). Epson. p. 13.
  10. Farquhar, Dave (May 2022). "MCGA vs VGA". The Silicon Underground.