Super VGA

Template:Short description Template:Infobox GPU Super VGA (SVGA) or Extended VGA is a broad term that covers a wide range of computer display standards that extended IBM's VGA specification.<ref> Template:Cite book </ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

When used as shorthand for a resolution, as VGA and XGA often are, SVGA refers to a resolution of 800 × 600.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

File:Vector Video Standards2.svg

Comparison between common display resolutions, including several resolutions defined for Super VGA by VESA BIOS Extensions

In the late 1980s, after the release of IBM's VGA, third-party manufacturers began making graphics cards based on its specifications with extended capabilities. As these cards grew in popularity, they began to be referred to as "Super VGA".

This term was not an official standard, but a shorthand for enhanced VGA cards which had become common by 1988.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The first cards that explicitly used the term were Genoa Systems's SuperVGA and SuperVGA HiRes in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Super VGA cards broke compatibility with the IBM VGA standard, requiring software developers to provide specific display drivers and implementations for each card their software could operate on. Initially, the heavy restrictions this placed on software developers slowed the uptake of Super VGA cards, which motivated VESA to produce a unifying standard, the VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE), first introduced in 1989,<ref name="asdfghjkl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to provide a common software interface to all cards implementing the VBE specification.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Eventually, Super VGA graphics adapters supported innumerable modes.

Specifications

File:640x400x256 ar corrected.png

Simulated SVGA 640 × 400 image (corrected for aspect ratio)

File:640x480x256 scaled.png

Simulated SVGA 640 × 480 image

The Super VGA standardized the following resolutions:<ref name="asdfghjkl" />

• 640 × 400 or 640 × 480 with 256 colors
• 800 × 600 with 24-bit color depth
• 1024 × 768 with 24-bit color depth
• 1280 × 1024 with 24-bit color depth

SVGA uses the same DE-15 VGA connector as the original standard, and otherwise operates over the same cabling and interfaces as VGA.

Early manufacturers

Some early Super VGA manufacturers and some of their models, where available:

• Ahead Technologies (Not related to Nero AG, formerly Ahead Software)
• Amdek: VGA ADAPTER/132 (Tseng Labs chipset)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• AST Research, Inc.: VGA Plus<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (rebranded Paradise)

• ATI Technologies: VIP (82C451),<ref name="GG1">Template:Citation</ref> VGA Wonder
• Chips and Technologies: 82C451<ref name="GG1"/>
• Cirrus Logic: CL-GD410/420<ref name="GG2">Template:Citation</ref>
• Compaq: VGC Board (Paradise chipset)
• Everex
• Genoa Systems: Genoa VGA 5100-5400<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (ET3000)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Orchid Technology: Designer VGA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (ET3000), Pro Designer Plus

• Western Digital's Paradise Inc.: VGA Plus<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (PVGA1), VGA Plus 16, VGA Pro

• Sigma Designs: SigmaVGA (ET3000)
• STB Systems: VGA Extra/EM (ET3000),<ref name="GG">Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
• Video Seven: V-RAM VGA<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
• Willow Peripherals: VGA-TV/Publisher's, VGA-TV + Genlock<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Trident Microsystems: TVGA8800, TVGA8900, and TVGA9000 series

Gallery

• ALiCat MV3147V.JPG

  ALiCat M3147V SVGA video card

• Cirrus Logic GD5429 VLB.jpg

  Cirrus Logic GD5429 VLB SVGA video card

• Igs1682.jpg

  Early 1996 IGS IGA1682_A PCI SVGA video card

• S3 805 VLB.jpg

  S3 805 VLB SVGA video card

• WDC Video ISA.jpg

  WDC ISA SVGA video card