Programmer's Guide To The EGA, VGA, And Super VGA Cards (3rd Edition)

462.1 MB·English

by  Richard F. Ferraro

Richard F. Ferraro
Programmer's Guide
~·
to the EGA, VGA,
and Super VGA Cards
OPAMP TECHNICAL BOOKS
1033 North Sycamore Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tel. [phone]-(BOO) 468-4322
Monday-Saturday 8:00-5:30
Programmer's Guide to
the EGA, VGA, and
Super VGA Cards
Third Edition
Programmer's Guide to
the EGA, VGA, and
Super VGA Cards
Third Edition
Richard F. Ferraro
...
......
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
Reading, Massachusetts • Menlo Park, California • New York • Don Mills, Ontario
Wokingham, England • Amsterdam • Bonn • Sydney • Singapore • Tokyo
Madrid • San Juan • Paris • Seoul • Milan • Mexico City • Taipei
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their
products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book,
and Addison-Wesley was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been
printed in initial capital letters or all capital letters.
The authors and publishers have taken care in preparation ofthis book, but
make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility
for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential
damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or
programs contained herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ferraro, Richard F.
Programmer's guide to the EGA, VGA, and Super VGA cards : including XGA
cards I Richard F. Ferraro. --3rd ed. ·
p. em.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-201-62490-7
1. IBM Personal Computer--Programming. 2. IBM Personal System/2
(Computer system)--Programming. 3. Expansion boards (Microcomputers) I. Title.
QA 76.8.12594F48 1994
006.6'765--dc20 93-35645
CIP
Copyright© 1994 by Richard Ferraro
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Published
simultaneously in Canada.
Sponsoring Editor: Philip Sutherland
Project Managers: Eleanor McCarthy and Claire Horne
Production Coordinator: Lora L. Ryan
Cover design: Trish LaPointe
Text design: Kenneth J. Wilson (Wilson Graphics & Design)
Set in 10 point New Century Schoolbook by Context Publishing Services
2 3 4 5 6-BAH-9998979695
Second printing, June 1995
Addison-Wesley books are available for bulk purchase by corporations, institutions,
and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Corporate,
Government and Special Sales Department at [phone].
Dedication
For my parents Jennie and Joseph, my wife Paula, my children Ricco and
Georgia, my brothers Frank and Raymond, and my lifelong friends Rocco,
Mario, Bo, John, and Trudy.
For those readers who believe the world is worth protecting-and do some
thing about it.
For the dolphins I have known.
Contents
Preface xxi
Comprehensive Software Now Available xxv
Acknowledgments xxix
Chapter 1
Introduction to the Programmer's Guide 1
1.1 About Computer Graphics Cards 1
1.2 About the Need for this Book 4
1.3 About this Book 4
1.4 Companion Disk, Toolbox, and Accelerator Toolboxes 5
1.5 Terms and Styles Used in this Book 6
1.6 About the Chapters in General 7
1. 7 About the Chapters in Detail 7
1.8 Program Examples 9
1.9 Compilers and Assemblers 11
Chapter2
The EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Features 13
2.1 EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Features 13
2.2 Standard EGA and VGA Features 14
2.3 Graphics Read and Write Modes 19
2.4 EGA and VGA Resolution 23
2.5 The Super VGA Features 27
2.6 Super VGA Resolutions 33
2. 7 Raster Ops 39
2.8 Graphics Accelerators 44
vii
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 3
Graphics Hardware and Software 67
3.1 PC Hardware 67
3.2 Graphics Adapters 73
3.3 Monitors and Displays 82
3.4 The Co-Resident VGA 90
3.5 Popular Computer Buses 92
3.6 The Green PC 94
Chapter 4
Types of Graphics Systems 95
4.1 Chips, Cards, and Motherboards 95
4.2 The EGANGA Standard 98
4.3 The Super VGA 99
4.4 The Hercules Monochrome Graphics Card 101
4.5 The Color Graphics Adapter 103
4.6 The Multicolor Graphics Array 107
4. 7 The Professional Graphics Adapter 108
4.8 The 8514/A Display Adapter 109
4.9 The XGA 111
4.10 The TIGA Display Adapter 112
Chapter 5
Principles of Computer Graphics 115
5.1 Coordinate Systems 115
5.2 Coordinate Transformations 119
5.3 The Character 124
5.4 The Point 129
5.5 The Line 143
5.6 The Circle 154
5.7 The Image 158
5.8 Color Theory 162
CONTENTS ix
Chapter6
Alphanumeric Processing 167
6.1 EGANGA Character Processing 167
6.2 Character Shape 170
6.3 Character Attributes 177
6.4 Display Memory 181
6.5 Alphanumeric Display Modes 192
6.6 The Cursor 200
6.7 Downloadable Character Sets 202
Chapter 7
Graphics Processing 213
7.1 Characters 213
7.2 Graphics Attributes 218
7.3 Display Memory 221
7.4 Graphics Display Modes 224
7.5 Writing to Display Memory 243
7.6 Reading from Display Memory 258
7. 7 Display Memory Timing 263
Chapter 8
Color Palette and Color Registers 269
8.1 Color Palette 269
8.2 Converting Data to Colors 275
8.3 Color Registers 282
Chapter9
Reading the State of the EGA and VGA 297
9.1 Reading the State of the Adapter 297
9.2 Reading the Display Registers 297
9.3 Reading BIOS Tables from Memory 300
9.4 Reading the State of the EGA and VGA Adapters 306
9.5 Testing for Hardware 318
X CONTENTS
Chapter 10
The EGA/VGA Registers 327
10.1 The EGANGA Registers 327
10.2 The General or External Registers 330
10.3 The Sequencer Registers 337
I
10.4 The CRT Controller Registers 347
10.5 The Graphics Controller Registers . 374
10.6 The Attribute Controller Registers 392
10.7 Color Registers 406
Chapter 11
The EGA/VGA BIOS 409
11.1 EGANGA BIOS Descriptions 409
11.2 Display Modes 410
11.3 Cursor Control 414
11.4 Light Pen Position 417
11.5 Display Page Selection 418
11.6 Scroll Screen 419
11.7 Read/Write Characters 421
11.8 Color Palette 426
11.9 Read/Write Pixel 427
11.10 Palette Registers 431
11.11 Color Registers 438
11.12 Character Generation 443
11.13 Alternate Select 460
11.14 Writing a String of Characters 469
11.15 Return Condition of the VGA 470
Chapter 12
Programming Examples 475
12.1 List of Standard VGA Functions 4 7 5
12.2 Introduction 489
12.3 Naming Conventions 490
12.4 Controlling and Reading the Status ofthe Display 491
12.5 Determining the State of the VGA Adapter 499