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81-480: 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 (and monitors) into a single card. The VGA Wonder series added additional value with the inclusion of

162-457: A bus mouse port , which normally required the installation of a dedicated Microsoft Mouse adapter. The VGA Wonder series later merged with the ATI Mach series of cards in 1990. The ATI Graphics Ultra ( VRAM ) and ATI Graphics Vantage ( DRAM ) cards both featured independent VGA Wonder ASICs in addition to their Mach8 8514 compatible graphics processor . The Graphics Ultra

243-578: A graphics card comes in the form of a printed circuit board (expansion board) which is to be inserted into an expansion slot. Others may have dedicated enclosures, and they are connected to the computer via a docking station or a cable. These are known as external GPUs (eGPUs). Graphics cards are often preferred over integrated graphics for increased performance. Graphics cards, also known as video cards or graphics processing units (GPUs), have historically evolved alongside computer display standards to accommodate advancing technologies and user demands. In

324-430: A 17% fall from Q3 2012 levels. Shipments reached an annual total of 44 million in 2015. The sales of graphics cards have trended downward due to improvements in integrated graphics technologies; high-end, CPU-integrated graphics can provide competitive performance with low-end graphics cards. At the same time, graphics card sales have grown within the high-end segment, as manufacturers have shifted their focus to prioritize

405-487: A GPU in the long term. Some graphics cards can be linked together to allow scaling graphics processing across multiple cards. This is done using either the PCIe bus on the motherboard or, more commonly, a data bridge. Usually, the cards must be of the same model to be linked, and most low end cards are not able to be linked in this way. AMD and Nvidia both have proprietary scaling methods, CrossFireX for AMD, and SLI (since

486-483: A RAMDAC, but they reconvert the analog signal back to digital before they can display it, with the unavoidable loss of quality stemming from this digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion. With the VGA standard being phased out in favor of digital formats, RAMDACs have started to disappear from graphics cards. The most common connection systems between the graphics card and the computer display are: Also known as D-sub , VGA

567-509: A computer display that uses analog inputs such as cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays. The RAMDAC is a kind of RAM chip that regulates the functioning of the graphics card. Depending on the number of bits used and the RAMDAC-data-transfer rate, the converter will be able to support different computer-display refresh rates. With CRT displays, it is best to work over 75  Hz and never under 60 Hz, to minimize flicker. (This

648-406: A factor with low-quality or overly long cables. Solutions include shielded cables, cables that include a separate internal coaxial cable for each color signal, and "broken out" cables utilizing a separate coaxial cable with a BNC connector for each color signal. BNC breakout cables typically use five connectors, one each for Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal Sync, and Vertical Sync, and do not include

729-409: A fixed line scan (H-scan) rate – "multisync" monitors being, at the time, expensive rarities – and so the vertical/frame (V-scan) refresh rate had to be reduced in order to accommodate them, which increased visible flicker and thus eye strain . For example, the highest 800 × 600 mode, being otherwise based on the matching SVGA resolution (with 628 total lines), reduced

810-491: A graphical boot screen, while text-mode boot uses 720 × 400 @ 70 Hz. This convention has been eroded in recent years, however, with POST and BIOS screens moving to higher resolutions, taking advantage of EDID data to match the resolution to a connected monitor. 640 × 480 @ 60 Hz is the default Windows graphics mode (usually with 16 colors), up to Windows 2000. It remains an option in XP and later versions via

891-455: A greater throughput of the same functionality as HDMI , it is expected to complement the interface, not replace it. Chronologically, connection systems between graphics card and motherboard were, mainly: The following table is a comparison between features of some interfaces listed above. Video Graphics Array VGA was the last IBM graphics standard to which the majority of IBM PC compatible computer manufacturers conformed, making it

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972-511: A large motherboard with a proper configuration. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 590 graphics card can be configured in a four-card configuration. As stated above, users will want to stick to cards with the same performances for optimal use. Motherboards including ASUS Maximus 3 Extreme and Gigabyte GA EX58 Extreme are certified to work with this configuration. A large power supply is necessary to run the cards in SLI or CrossFireX. Power demands must be known before

1053-456: A low-resolution CGA display simultaneously. Many programmers also used such a setup with the monochrome card displaying debugging information while a program ran in graphics mode on the other card. Several debuggers, like Borland's Turbo Debugger , D86 and Microsoft's CodeView could work in a dual monitor setup. Either Turbo Debugger or CodeView could be used to debug Windows. There were also device drivers such as ox.sys , which implemented

1134-410: A major surge in price, with many retailers having stock shortages due to the significant demand among this market. Graphics card companies released mining-specific cards designed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week , and without video output ports. The graphics card industry took a setback due to the 2020–21 chip shortage . A modern graphics card consists of a printed circuit board on which

1215-422: A modern graphics card is also a computer unto itself. A heat sink is mounted on most modern graphics cards. A heat sink spreads out the heat produced by the graphics processing unit evenly throughout the heat sink and unit itself. The heat sink commonly has a fan mounted to cool the heat sink and the graphics processing unit. Not all cards have heat sinks, for example, some cards are liquid-cooled and instead have

1296-512: A much wider range of resolutions and refresh rates at arbitrary sync frequencies and pixel clock rates. For the most common VGA mode ( 640 × 480 , 60 Hz, non-interlaced ), the horizontal timings can be found in the HP Super VGA Display Installation Guide and in other places. 640 × 400 @ 70 Hz is traditionally the video mode used for booting VGA-compatible x86 personal computers that show

1377-570: A proper supply is installed. For the four card configuration, a 1000+ watt supply is needed. With any relatively powerful graphics card, thermal management cannot be ignored. Graphics cards require well-vented chassis and good thermal solutions. Air or water cooling are usually required, though low end GPUs can use passive cooling. Larger configurations use water solutions or immersion cooling to achieve proper performance without thermal throttling. SLI and Crossfire have become increasingly uncommon as most games do not fully utilize multiple GPUs, due to

1458-457: A separate display adapter installed in a slot in order to connect a monitor. The term "array" rather than "adapter" in the name denoted that it was not a complete independent expansion device, but a single component that could be integrated into a system. Unlike the graphics adapters that preceded it ( MDA , CGA , EGA and many third-party options) there was initially no discrete VGA card released by IBM. The first commercial implementation of VGA

1539-639: A serial interface simulation on the monochrome display and, for example, allowed the user to receive crash messages from debugging versions of Windows without using an actual serial terminal. It is also possible to use the "MODE MONO" command at the command prompt to redirect the output to the monochrome display. When a monochrome adapter was not present, it was possible to use the 0xB000–0xB7FF address space as additional memory for other programs. A VGA-capable PCI / PCIe graphics card can provide legacy VGA registers in its PCI configuration space , which may be remapped by BIOS or operating system . "Unchaining"

1620-421: A water block; additionally, cards from the 1980s and early 1990s did not produce much heat, and did not require heat sinks. Most modern graphics cards need proper thermal solutions. They can be water-cooled or through heat sinks with additional connected heat pipes usually made of copper for the best thermal transfer. The video BIOS or firmware contains a minimal program for the initial set up and control of

1701-605: Is backward compatible with the EGA and CGA adapters, but supports extra bit depth for the palette when in these modes. For instance, when in EGA 16-color modes, VGA offers 16 palette registers, and in 256-color modes, it offers 256 registers. Each palette register contain a 3×6 bit RGB value, selecting a color from the 18-bit gamut of the DAC . These color registers are initialized to default values IBM expected to be most useful for each mode. For instance, EGA 16-color modes initialize to

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1782-401: Is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a display device such as a monitor . Graphics cards are sometimes called discrete or dedicated graphics cards to emphasize their distinction to an integrated graphics processor on the motherboard or the central processing unit (CPU). A graphics processing unit (GPU) that performs the necessary computations

1863-414: Is a compact audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed video data and compressed/uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant device ("the source device") to a compatible digital audio device, computer monitor , video projector , or digital television . HDMI is a digital replacement for existing analog video standards. HDMI supports copy protection through HDCP . DisplayPort

1944-668: Is a digital display interface developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). The interface is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor , though it can also be used to transmit audio, USB, and other forms of data. The VESA specification is royalty-free . VESA designed it to replace VGA , DVI , and LVDS . Backward compatibility to VGA and DVI by using adapter dongles enables consumers to use DisplayPort fitted video sources without replacing existing display devices. Although DisplayPort has

2025-436: Is also provide this port-mapped I/O segment: Due to the use of different address mappings for different modes, it is possible to have a monochrome adapter (i.e. MDA or Hercules ) and a color adapter such as the VGA, EGA , or CGA installed in the same machine. At the beginning of the 1980s, this was typically used to display Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets in high-resolution text on a monochrome display and associated graphics on

2106-430: Is an analog-based standard adopted in the late 1980s designed for CRT displays, also called VGA connector . Today, the VGA analog interface is used for high definition video resolutions including 1080p and higher. Some problems of this standard are electrical noise , image distortion and sampling error in evaluating pixels. While the VGA transmission bandwidth is high enough to support even higher resolution playback,

2187-486: Is limited to supplying 75 watts. Modern graphics cards with a power consumption of over 75 watts usually include a combination of six-pin (75 W) or eight-pin (150 W) sockets that connect directly to the power supply. Providing adequate cooling becomes a challenge in such computers. Computers with multiple graphics cards may require power supplies over 750 watts. Heat extraction becomes a major design consideration for computers with two or more high-end graphics cards. As of

2268-601: Is not a problem with LCD displays, as they have little to no flicker. ) Due to the growing popularity of digital computer displays and the integration of the RAMDAC onto the GPU die, it has mostly disappeared as a discrete component. All current LCD/plasma monitors and TVs and projectors with only digital connections work in the digital domain and do not require a RAMDAC for those connections. There are displays that feature analog inputs ( VGA , component, SCART , etc.) only . These require

2349-494: Is not enabled on the Blu-ray disc. Digital Visual Interface is a digital-based standard designed for displays such as flat-panel displays ( LCDs , plasma screens, wide high-definition television displays) and video projectors. There were also some rare high-end CRT monitors that use DVI. It avoids image distortion and electrical noise, corresponding each pixel from the computer to a display pixel, using its native resolution . It

2430-407: Is sometimes seen is 80 × 30 or 80 × 60 , using an 8 × 16 or 8 × 8 font and an effective 640 × 480 pixel display, which trades use of the more flickery 60 Hz mode for an additional 5 or 10 lines of text and square character blocks (or, at 80 × 30 , square half-blocks). Unlike the cards that preceded it, which used binary TTL signals to interface with a monitor (and also composite , in

2511-504: Is termed a duopoly . AMD and Nvidia also build and sell graphics cards, which are termed graphics add-in-boards (AIBs) in the industry. (See Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units and Comparison of AMD graphics processing units .) In addition to marketing their own graphics cards, AMD and Nvidia sell their GPUs to authorized AIB suppliers, which AMD and Nvidia refer to as "partners". The fact that Nvidia and AMD compete directly with their customer/partners complicates relationships in

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2592-634: Is the main component in a graphics card, but the acronym "GPU" is sometimes also used to erroneously refer to the graphics card as a whole. Most graphics cards are not limited to simple display output. The graphics processing unit can be used for additional processing, which reduces the load from the CPU. Additionally, computing platforms such as OpenCL and CUDA allow using graphics cards for general-purpose computing . Applications of general-purpose computing on graphics cards include AI training , cryptocurrency mining , and molecular simulation . Usually,

2673-646: Is worth noting that most manufacturers include a DVI- I connector, allowing (via simple adapter) standard RGB signal output to an old CRT or LCD monitor with VGA input. These connectors are included to allow connection with televisions , DVD players , video recorders and video game consoles . They often come in two 10-pin mini-DIN connector variations, and the VIVO splitter cable generally comes with either 4 connectors ( S-Video in and out plus composite video in and out), or 6 connectors (S-Video in and out, component YP B P R out and composite in and out). HDMI

2754-508: The NTSC-M video system, as this made it much easier to offer optional TV-out solutions or external VGA-to-TV converter boxes at the time of VGA's development. It is also at least nominally twice that of CGA, which also supported composite monitors . All derived VGA timings (i.e. those which use the master 25.175 and 28.322 MHz crystals and, to a lesser extent, the nominal 31.469 kHz line rate) can be varied by software that bypasses

2835-606: The Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series, Ampere architecture , a custom flashed RTX 3090 named "Hall of Fame" has been recorded to reach a peak power draw as high as 630 watts. A standard RTX 3090 can peak at up to 450 watts. The RTX 3080 can reach up to 350 watts, while a 3070 can reach a similar, if not slightly lower peak power draw. Ampere cards of the Founders Edition variant feature a "dual axial flow through" cooler design, which includes fans above and below

2916-451: The Turing generation, superseded by NVLink ) for Nvidia. Cards from different chip-set manufacturers or architectures cannot be used together for multi-card scaling. If graphics cards have different sizes of memory, the lowest value will be used, with the higher values disregarded. Currently, scaling on consumer-grade cards can be done using up to four cards. The use of four cards requires

2997-472: The cathode-ray tube controller ( CRTC ) was integrated into a main VGA chip, which eliminated several other chips in previous graphics adapters, so VGA only additionally required external video RAM and timing crystals . This small part count allowed IBM to include VGA directly on the PS/2 motherboard, in contrast to prior IBM PC models – PC , PC/XT , and PC AT  – which required

3078-802: The lowest common denominator that virtually all post-1990 PC graphics hardware can be expected to implement. VGA was adapted into many extended forms by third parties, collectively known as Super VGA , then gave way to custom graphics processing units which, in addition to their proprietary interfaces and capabilities, continue to implement common VGA graphics modes and interfaces to the present day. The VGA analog interface standard has been extended to support resolutions of up to 2048 × 1536 for general usage, with specialized applications improving it further still. The color palette random access memory (RAM) and its corresponding digital-to-analog converter (DAC) were integrated into one chip (the RAMDAC ) and

3159-530: The "VGA" graphics mode remained a compatibility option for PC operating systems. Nonstandard display modes can be implemented, with horizontal resolutions of: And heights of: For example, high resolution modes with square pixels are available at 768 × 576 or 704 × 528 in 16 colors, or medium-low resolution at 320 × 240 with 256 colors. Alternatively, extended resolution is available with "fat" pixels and 256 colors using, e.g. 400 × 600 (50 Hz) or 360 × 480 (60 Hz), and "thin" pixels, 16 colors and

3240-639: The 256 KB VGA memory into four separate "planes" makes VGA's 256 KB of RAM available in 256-color modes. There is a trade-off for extra complexity and performance loss in some types of graphics operations, but this is mitigated by other operations becoming faster in certain situations: Software such as Fractint , Xlib and ColoRIX also supported tweaked 256-color modes on standard adaptors using freely-combinable widths of 256, 320, and 360 pixels and heights of 200, 240 and 256 (or 400, 480 and 512) lines, extending still further to 384 or 400 pixel columns and 576 or 600 (or 288, 300). However, 320 × 240

3321-527: The 256-color palette. The CPU interface combines the 4 planes in the same way, a feature called "chain-4", so that each pixel appears to the CPU as a packed 8-bit value representing the palette index. The video memory of the VGA is mapped to the PC's memory via a window in the range between segments 0xA0000 and 0xBFFFF in the PC's real mode address space (A000:0000 and B000:FFFF in segment:offset notation). Typically, these starting segments are: A typical VGA card

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3402-514: The 70 Hz refresh rate with e.g. 736 × 410 mode. "Narrow" modes such as 256 × 224 tend to preserve the same pixel ratio as in e.g. 320 × 240 mode unless the monitor is adjusted to stretch the image out to fill the screen, as they are derived simply by masking down the wider mode instead of altering pixel or line timings, but can be useful for reducing memory requirements and pixel addressing calculations for arcade game conversions or console emulators. The PC version of Pinball Fantasies has

3483-437: The CPU and system RAM, therefore the overall performance for a computer could improve in addition to increased performance in graphics processing. Such improvements to performance can be seen in video gaming , 3D animation , and video editing . Both AMD and Intel have introduced CPUs and motherboard chipsets which support the integration of a GPU into the same die as the CPU. AMD advertises CPUs with integrated graphics under

3564-514: The DIMM or PCIE slots. This can be fixed with a larger computer case such as mid-tower or full tower. Full towers are usually able to fit larger motherboards in sizes like ATX and micro ATX. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, some high-end graphics card models have become so heavy that it is possible for them to sag downwards after installing without proper support, which is why many manufacturers provide additional support brackets. GPU sag can damage

3645-544: The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founder's Edition averaged 300 watts of power consumption. While CPU and power supply manufacturers have recently aimed toward higher efficiency, power demands of graphics cards continued to rise, with the largest power consumption of any individual part in a computer. Although power supplies have also increased their power output, the bottleneck occurs in the PCI-Express connection, which

3726-670: The Macintosh graphical user interface, allowed for the rapid rendering of bitmapped graphics, fonts, and shapes, and the introduction of such hardware-based enhancements signaled an era of specialized graphics processing in consumer machines. The evolution of graphics processing took a major leap forward in the mid-1990s with 3dfx Interactive 's introduction of the Voodoo series , one of the earliest consumer-facing GPUs that supported 3D acceleration. These cards, however, were dedicated entirely to 3D processing and lacked 2D support, necessitating

3807-961: The RIVA 128 was one of the first consumer-facing GPUs to integrate both 3D and 2D processing units on a single chip. This innovation simplified the hardware requirements for end-users, as they no longer needed separate cards for 2D and 3D rendering, thus paving the way for the widespread adoption of more powerful and versatile GPUs in personal computers. In contemporary times, the majority of graphics cards are built using chips sourced from two dominant manufacturers: AMD and Nvidia . These modern graphics cards are multifunctional and support various tasks beyond rendering 3D images for gaming. They also provide 2D graphics processing, video decoding , TV output , and multi-monitor setups . Additionally, many graphics cards now have integrated sound capabilities, allowing them to transmit audio alongside video output to connected TVs or monitors with built-in speakers, further enhancing

3888-609: The VGA firmware interface and communicates directly with the VGA hardware, as many MS-DOS based games did. However, only the standard modes, or modes that at least use almost exactly the same H-sync and V-sync timings as one of the standard modes, can be expected to work with the original late-1980s and early-1990s VGA monitors. The use of other timings may in fact damage such monitors and thus was usually avoided by software publishers. Third-party "multisync" CRT monitors were more flexible, and in combination with "super EGA", VGA, and later SVGA graphics cards using extended modes, could display

3969-423: The boot menu "low resolution video" option and per-application compatibility mode settings, despite newer versions of Windows now defaulting to 1024 × 768 and generally not allowing any resolution below 800 × 600 to be set. The need for such a low-quality, universally compatible fallback has diminished since the turn of the millennium, as VGA-signalling-standard screens or adaptors unable to show anything beyond

4050-553: The card to dissipate as much heat as possible towards the rear of the computer case. A similar design was used by the Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 Pulse graphics card. Graphics cards for desktop computers have different size profiles, which allows graphics cards to be added to smaller-sized computers. Some graphics cards are not of the usual size, and are named as "low profile". Graphics card profiles are based on height only, with low-profile cards taking up less than

4131-463: The case of the CGA), the VGA introduced a video interface using pure analog RGB signals , with a range of 0.7 volts peak-to-peak max. In conjunction with a 18-bit RAMDAC (6-bit per RGB channel), this produced a color gamut of 262,144 colors. The original VGA specifications follow: The intended standard value for the horizontal frequency of VGA's 640 × 480 mode is exactly double the value used in

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4212-404: The components are mounted. These include: A graphics processing unit ( GPU ), also occasionally called visual processing unit ( VPU ), is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. Because of the large degree of programmable computational complexity for such a task,

4293-512: The default CGA 16-color palette, and the 256-color mode initializes to a palette consisting of 16 CGA colors, 16 grey shades, and then 216 colors chosen by IBM to fit expected use cases. After initialization they can be redefined at any time without altering the contents of video RAM, permitting palette cycling . In the 256-color modes, the DAC is set to combine four 2-bit color values, one from each plane, into an 8-bit-value representing an index into

4374-476: The development of modern graphical capabilities. In the late 1980s, advancements in personal computing led companies like Radius to develop specialized graphics cards for the Apple Macintosh II . These cards were unique in that they incorporated discrete 2D QuickDraw capabilities, enhancing the graphical output of Macintosh computers by accelerating 2D graphics rendering. QuickDraw, a core part of

4455-455: The fact that most users cannot afford them. Multiple GPUs are still used on supercomputers (like in Summit ), on workstations to accelerate video and 3D rendering, visual effects , for simulations, and for training artificial intelligence. A graphics driver usually supports one or multiple cards by the same vendor and has to be written for a specific operating system. Additionally,

4536-439: The gaming and enthusiast market. Beyond the gaming and multimedia segments, graphics cards have been increasingly used for general-purpose computing , such as big data processing. The growth of cryptocurrency has placed a severely high demand on high-end graphics cards, especially in large quantities, due to their advantages in the process of cryptocurrency mining. In January 2018, mid- to high-end graphics cards experienced

4617-552: The graphics card simultaneously to feed separate displays. The main advantages of integrated graphics are: a low cost, compactness, simplicity, and low energy consumption. Integrated graphics often have less performance than a graphics card because the graphics processing unit inside integrated graphics needs to share system resources with the CPU. On the other hand, a graphics card has a separate random access memory (RAM), cooling system, and dedicated power regulators. A graphics card can offload work and reduce memory-bus-contention from

4698-484: The graphics card. It may contain information on the memory and memory timing, operating speeds and voltages of the graphics processor, and other details which can sometimes be changed. Modern Video BIOSes do not support full functionalities of graphics cards; they are only sufficient to identify and initialize the card to display one of a few frame buffer or text display modes. It does not support YUV to RGB translation, video scaling, pixel copying, compositing or any of

4779-464: The height of a PCIe slot, some can be as low as "half-height". Length and thickness can vary greatly, with high-end cards usually occupying two or three expansion slots, and with modern high-end graphics cards such as the RTX 4090 exceeding 300mm in length. A lower profile card is preferred when trying to fit multiple cards or if graphics cards run into clearance issues with other motherboard components like

4860-557: The horizontal dimension), vertical roll, poor horizontal sync or even a complete lack of picture depending on the exact mode attempted. Due to these potential issues, most VGA tweaks used in commercial products were limited to more standards-compliant, "monitor-safe" combinations, such as 320 × 240 (square pixels, three video pages, 60 Hz), 320 × 400 (double resolution, two video pages, 70 Hz), and 360 × 480 (highest resolution compatible with both standard VGA monitors and cards, one video page, 60 Hz) in 256 colors, or double

4941-798: The industry. AMD and Intel being direct competitors in the CPU industry is also noteworthy, since AMD-based graphics cards may be used in computers with Intel CPUs. Intel's integrated graphics may weaken AMD, in which the latter derives a significant portion of its revenue from its APUs . As of the second quarter of 2013, there were 52 AIB suppliers. These AIB suppliers may market graphics cards under their own brands, produce graphics cards for private label brands, or produce graphics cards for computer manufacturers. Some AIB suppliers such as MSI build both AMD-based and Nvidia-based graphics cards. Others, such as EVGA , build only Nvidia-based graphics cards, while XFX , now builds only AMD-based graphics cards. Several AIB suppliers are also motherboard suppliers. Most of

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5022-459: The largest AIB suppliers are based in Taiwan and they include ASUS , MSI , GIGABYTE , and Palit . Hong Kong–based AIB manufacturers include Sapphire and Zotac . Sapphire and Zotac also sell graphics cards exclusively for AMD and Nvidia GPUs respectively. Graphics card shipments peaked at a total of 114 million in 1999. By contrast, they totaled 14.5 million units in the third quarter of 2013,

5103-450: The mid 1990s, a 640 × 480 ×16 graphics mode using the VGA memory and register specifications was expected by operating systems such as Windows 95 and OS/2 Warp 3.0 , which provided no support for lower resolutions or bit depths, or support for other memory or register layouts without additional drivers. Well into the 2000s, even after the VESA standard for graphics cards became commonplace,

5184-803: The monitor. The 400-line signal was the same as the standard 80 × 25 text mode, which meant that pressing Esc to return to text mode didn't change the frequency of the video signal, and thus the monitor did not have to resynchronize (which could otherwise have taken several seconds). The standard VGA monitor interface is a 15-pin D-subminiature connector in the "E" shell, variously referred to as "DE-15", "HD-15" and erroneously "DB-15(HD)". All VGA connectors carry analog RGBHV (red, green, blue, horizontal sync , vertical sync ) video signals. Modern connectors also include VESA DDC pins, for identifying attached display devices. Because VGA uses low-voltage analog signals, signal degradation becomes

5265-409: The multimedia experience. Within the graphics industry, these products are often referred to as graphics add-in boards (AIBs). The term "AIB" emphasizes the modular nature of these components, as they are typically added to a computer's motherboard to enhance its graphical capabilities. The evolution from the early days of separate 2D and 3D cards to today’s integrated and multifunctional GPUs reflects

5346-496: The multitude of other 2D and 3D features of the graphics card, which must be accessed by software drivers. The memory capacity of most modern graphics cards ranges from 2 to 24 GB . But with up to 32 GB as of the last 2010s, the applications for graphics use are becoming more powerful and widespread. Since video memory needs to be accessed by the GPU and the display circuitry, it often uses special high-speed or multi-port memory, such as VRAM , WRAM , SGRAM , etc. Around 2003,

5427-426: The ongoing technological advancements and the increasing demand for high-quality visual and multimedia experiences in computing. As an alternative to the use of a graphics card, video hardware can be integrated into the motherboard , CPU , or a system-on-chip as integrated graphics. Motherboard-based implementations are sometimes called "on-board video". Some motherboards support using both integrated graphics and

5508-511: The operating system or an extra software package may provide certain programming APIs for applications to perform 3D rendering. Some GPUs are designed with specific usage in mind: As of 2016, the primary suppliers of the GPUs (graphics chips or chipsets) used in graphics cards are AMD and Nvidia. In the third quarter of 2013, AMD had a 35.5% market share while Nvidia had 64.5%, according to Jon Peddie Research. In economics, this industry structure

5589-421: The option to use non-standard modes "high res" modes, such as 640 × 350 , allowing it to display a larger portion of the pinball table on screen. VGA also implements several text modes: As with the pixel-based graphics modes, additional text modes are possible by programming the VGA correctly, with an overall maximum of about 100 × 80 cells and an active area spanning about 88 × 64 cells. One variant that

5670-423: The original resolutions have become increasingly rare. 320 × 200 at 70 Hz was the most common mode for early 1990s PC games, with pixel-doubling and line-doubling performed in hardware to present a 640 × 400 at 70 Hz signal to the monitor. The Windows 95/98/Me LOGO.SYS boot-up image was 320 × 400 resolution, displayed with pixel-doubling to present a 640 × 400 at 70 Hz signal to

5751-408: The other signal lines of the VGA interface. With BNC, the coaxial wires are fully shielded end-to-end and through the interconnect so that virtually no crosstalk and very little external interference can occur. The use of BNC RGB video cables predates VGA in other markets and industries. The VGA color system uses register-based palettes to map colors in various bit depths to its 18-bit output gamut. It

5832-503: The palette with VGA-specific commands. The 640 × 480 resolution (at 256 colors rather than 16) was originally used by IBM in PGC graphics (which VGA offers no backward compatibility for) but did not see wide adoption until VGA was introduced. As the VGA began to be cloned in great quantities by manufacturers who added ever-increasing capabilities, its 640 × 480 , 16-color mode became the de facto lowest common denominator of graphics cards. By

5913-407: The picture quality can degrade depending on cable quality and length. The extent of quality difference depends on the individual's eyesight and the display; when using a DVI or HDMI connection, especially on larger sized LCD/LED monitors or TVs, quality degradation, if present, is prominently visible. Blu-ray playback at 1080p is possible via the VGA analog interface, if Image Constraint Token (ICT)

5994-406: The realm of IBM PC compatibles, the early standards included Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) , Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) , Hercules Graphics Card , Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) , and Video Graphics Array (VGA) . Each of these standards represented a step forward in the ability of computers to display more colors, higher resolutions, and richer graphical interfaces, laying the foundation for

6075-483: The refresh rate from 60 Hz to about 50 Hz (and 832 × 624 , the theoretical maximum resolution achievable with 256 KB at 16 colors, would have reduced it to about 48 Hz, barely higher than the rate at which XGA monitors employed a double-frequency interlacing technique to mitigate full-frame flicker). These modes were also outright incompatible with some monitors, producing display problems such as picture detail disappearing into overscan (especially in

6156-488: The trademark Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), while Intel brands similar technology under " Intel Graphics Technology ". As the processing power of graphics cards increased, so did their demand for electrical power. Current high-performance graphics cards tend to consume large amounts of power. For example, the thermal design power (TDP) for the GeForce Titan RTX is 280 watts . When tested with video games,

6237-525: The use of a separate 2D graphics card in tandem. The Voodoo's architecture marked a major shift in graphical computing by offloading the demanding task of 3D rendering from the CPU to the GPU, significantly improving gaming performance and graphical realism. The development of fully integrated GPUs that could handle both 2D and 3D rendering came with the introduction of the NVIDIA RIVA 128 . Released in 1997,

6318-674: The video memory was typically based on DDR technology. During and after that year, manufacturers moved towards DDR2 , GDDR3 , GDDR4 , GDDR5 , GDDR5X , and GDDR6 . The effective memory clock rate in modern cards is generally between 2 and 15  GHz . Video memory may be used for storing other data as well as the screen image, such as the Z-buffer , which manages the depth coordinates in 3D graphics , as well as textures , vertex buffers , and compiled shader programs . The RAMDAC , or random-access-memory digital-to-analog converter, converts digital signals to analog signals for use by

6399-876: Was a built-in component of the IBM PS/2, in which it was accompanied by 256 KB of video RAM, and a new DE-15 connector replacing the DE-9 used by previous graphics adapters. IBM later released the standalone IBM PS/2 Display Adapter , which utilized the VGA but could be added to machines that did not have it built in. The VGA supports all graphics modes supported by the MDA, CGA and EGA cards, as well as multiple new modes. The 640 × 480 16-color and 320 × 200 256-color modes had fully redefinable palettes, with each entry selected from an 18-bit (262,144-color) gamut. The other modes defaulted to standard EGA or CGA compatible palettes and instructions, but still permitted remapping of

6480-789: Was later renamed the VGA Wonder GT . In 1992, their following product line , the Mach32 , integrated the VGA wonder core and coprocessor into a single IC . At this point the VGA Wonder line was cancelled and replaced with a cost reduced DRAM based version of Mach32 known as the ATI Graphics Wonder . Video card Display via one of: A graphics card (also called a video card , display card , graphics accelerator , graphics adapter , VGA card/VGA , video adapter , display adapter , or colloquially GPU )

6561-510: Was the best known and most frequently used, as it offered a standard 40-column resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio with square pixels. " 320 × 240  × 8" resolution was commonly called Mode X , the name used by Michael Abrash when he presented the resolution in Dr. Dobb's Journal . The highest resolution modes were only used in special, opt-in cases rather than as standard, especially where high line counts were involved. Standard VGA monitors had

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