Editing VESA BIOS Extensions (section)

=== Linux video mode numbers ===

The [[Linux|Linux kernel]] allows the user to select the VESA mode at boot time by passing a code in memory to the kernel.  The LILO boot loader passes this code based on a "vga" parameter in its configuration file.  It takes the form 'vga=XXX', where XXX is the decimal value, or 'vga=0xHHH', where HHH is the hexadecimal value. However, the 'vga=' boot loader parameter does not directly accept VESA video mode numbers; rather, the Linux video mode number is the VESA number plus 512 (in the case of the decimal representation) or plus 0x200 (in the case of the hexadecimal representation).  For example, the defined VESA value of 257 (0x101), representing 640x480 and 256 colours, has an equivalent Linux video mode value of 769 (0x301).<ref>See the kernel documentation in [https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/svga.txt Documentation/svga.txt] and [https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt].</ref>

As indicated earlier, the VESA standard defines a limited set of modes; in particular, none above {{val|1280}}×{{val|1024}} are covered and, instead, their implementation is completely optional for graphics adapter manufacturers.  As vendors are free to utilize whatever additional values they please, this means that, in the table below, the modes {{color|red|denoted in red}} (and expressed in decimal form) '''may not apply to every graphics adapter'''!

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 !
 ! 320×200
 ! 640×400
 ! 640×480
 ! 800×500
 ! 800×600
 ! 896×672
 ! {{val|1024}}×640
 ! {{val|1024}}×768
 ! {{val|1152}}×720
 ! {{val|1280}}×1,024
 ! {{val|1400}}×1,050
 ! {{val|1440}}×900
 ! {{val|1600}}×1,200
 ! {{val|1920}}×{{val|1080}}
 ! {{val|1920}}×{{val|1200}}
 |-
 !16 colors
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | 770 0302h
 |
 |
 | 772 0304h
 |
 | 774 0306h
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |-
 ! 256 colors
 |
 | 768 0300h
 | 769 0301h
 | 879 036Fh
 | 771 0303h
 | 815 032Fh
 | 874 036Ah
 | 773 0305h
 | {{color|red|869}}
 | 775 0307h
 | {{color|red|835}}
 | {{color|red|864}}
 | {{color|red|796}}
 |
 | {{color|red|893}}
 |-
 ! 15-bit (5:5:5)
 | 781 030Dh
 | 801 0321h
 | 784 0310h
 | 880 0370h
 | 787 0313h
 | 816 0330h
 | 875 036Bh
 | 790 0316h
 | {{color|red|870}}
 | 793 0319h
 |
 | {{color|red|865}}
 | {{color|red|797}}
 |
 |
 |-
 ! 16-bit (5:6:5)
 | 782 030Eh
 | 802 0322h
 | 785 0311h
 | 881 0371h
 | 788 0314h
 | 817 0331h
 | 876 036Ch
 | 791 0317h
 | {{color|red|871}}
 | 794 031Ah
 | {{color|red|837}}
 | {{color|red|866}}
 | {{color|red|798}}
 |
 |
 |-
 ! 24-bit (8:8:8)
 | 783 030Fh
 | 803 0323h
 | 786 0312h
 | 882 0372h
 | 789 0315h
 | 818 0332h
 | 877 036Dh
 | 792 0318h
 | {{color|red|872}}
 | 795 031Bh
 | {{color|red|838}}
 | {{color|red|867}}
 | {{color|red|799}}
 |
 |
 |-
 ! 32-bit (8:8:8)<sup>1</sup>
 |
 | {{color|red|804}}
 | {{color|red|809}}
 | {{color|red|883}}
 | {{color|red|814}}
 | {{color|red|819}}
 | {{color|red|878}}
 | {{color|red|824}}
 | {{color|red|873}}
 | {{color|red|829}}
 |
 | {{color|red|868}}
 | {{color|red|834}}
 | {{color|red|980<br>03D4h}}
|}
<small>1: [[32-bit]] is really (8:8:8:8), but the final 8-bit number is an "empty" alpha channel. It is otherwise equal to 24-bit colour. Many GPUs use 32-bit colour mode instead of 24-bit mode merely for faster video memory access through 32-bit memory alignment.</small>

VGA={{color|red|864 [ 352 (0160h)]}} also appears to select {{val|1280}}×800 (8-bit) for various laptops' displays. <br>
VGA={{color|red|834 [ 322 (0142h)]}} is {{val|1400}}×{{val|1050}}