Programmer’s Guide to the EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Cards
Posted on November 22nd, 2009 in Peripheral Cards, Guide., Programmer's, Super
Product DescriptionThis revised, updated edition gives graphics programmers and developers all the knowledge and skills they need to successfully program graphics hardware. It is a complete reference to the video graphics standard for IBM . . . More >>
Programmer’s Guide to the EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Cards
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November 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Back in the day, this book was like the gospel of video cards, I got it cause I am ancient-school, I still delight in messing around with VGA stuff. The information in it is all legacy and can be found around the net but its nice to have a printed book. I really expected to pay $1. 00 for it simply because all its information is legacy. I was surprised but pleased to pay the $20.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
When this book was written back in 1994, it was more hard to program quick graphics applications on the PC without resorting to assembly code that manipulated the hardware directly. That aspect of graphics programming has changed drastically, but the fundamentals mentioned in this book really haven’t. You CAN still do things the way that they are described in this book, the question is SHOULD you do things this way. That being said, the book is a very excellent education on how graphics tasks are performed by the hardware in a PC. If you are interested in such things, the low price of a used book might make it worth it for you.
Chapters 2 through 5 equip the programmer with a thorough understanding of the EGA/VGA and the relationships these adapters have to other show adapters, the PC, graphics devices, and graphics software. A tutorial supplies a background in C and assembly language for the novice programmer. The graphics algorithms used in the program examples are introduced in the computer graphics tutorial. Chapters 6 through 11 specify the function of the EGA/VGA cards. These chapters offer clear and comprehensive information on the show modes, show memory, graphics processor, downloadable fonts, color processing, control registers, and BIOS calls. This information is translated into programming examples in chapter 12. Seventy program examples are included to illustrate the power and versatility of the EGA/VGA cards.
Chapter 15 provides a detailed look at the function specifications for the IBM Applications Interface. This interface is used on the Graphics Accelerator Toolkit that was available from the author at the time this book was published and was supported by the XGA, 8514, and many Super VGAs. I don’t even know if it is possible to find this toolkit any longer. Chapter 16 provides an in-depth look at the XGA cards. Included are the relevant register definitions and descriptions of the graphics accelerator. The XGA is treated as if it were another Super VGA, which it really is. Chapters 13 through 30 provide detailed descriptions of the Super VGA chips as they existed in 1994. The scope and depth of information here allows the programmer to identify which chip is present; control, configure, and fine-tune the chip; invoke the advanced show modes; access up to one megabyte of show memory; and control the start address and cursor.
The actual table of contents for the book is as follows:
1. Introduction to the Programmer’s Guide
2. The EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Features
3. Graphics Hardware and Software
4. Types of Graphics Systems
5. Principles of Computer Graphics
6. Alphanumeric Processing
7. Graphics Processing
8. Color Palette and Color Registers
9. Reading the State of the EGA and VGA
10. The EGA/VGA Registers
11. The EGA/VGA BIOS
12. Programming Examples
13. The Super VGA
14. Graphics Coprocessors
15. Super VGA Code Basics
16. The Adapter Interface
17. The 8514/A
18. The XGA
19. ATI Technologies
20. Chips and Technologies
21. Cirrus Logic
22. The Video7 Super VGA Chip Set
23. IIT
24. NCR
25. Oak
26. S3 Incorporated
27. The Trident Super VGA Chip Sets
28. The Tseng Labs Super VGA Chips
29. The Paradise Super VGA Chips
30. Weitek
Rating: 4 / 5
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Loaded with general graphics subsystem information, plenty of graphic theory and a ton of examples, this reference is a must-have for any serious graphics programmer. In the style of Richard Wilton’s, “Video Systems for the IBM PC and PS/2 Systems”, this huge manual provides a reference to nearly every aspect of the graphics processing of the IBM PC. The book contains C and assembler source as well as a lot of sound theory. It is essential to you reference library.
Rating: 4 / 5