 | |
| Release date | 1987; 38 years ago (1987) |
|---|---|
| Cards | |
| Entry-level | IBM Image Adapter/A |
| History | |
| Predecessor | EGA,PGC |
| Successor | XGA |
IBM 8514 is agraphics card manufactured byIBM and introduced with theIBM PS/2 line of personal computers in 1987. It supports adisplay resolution of1024 × 768pixels with256 colors at 43.5 Hz (interlaced), or640 × 480 at 60 Hz (non-interlaced).[1][2] 8514 usually refers to thedisplay controller hardware (such as the 8514/Adisplay adapter).[2] However, IBM sold the companionCRT monitor (for use with the 8514/A) which carries the same designation, 8514.
The 8514 uses a standardisedAPI called the "Adapter Interface" or AI. This interface is also used byXGA,IBM Image Adapter/A, and clones of the 8514/A and XGA such as theATI TechnologiesMach series andIITAGX. The interface allows computer software to offload common2D-drawing operations (line-draw,color-fill, and block copies via ablitter) onto the 8514 hardware. This frees the hostCPU for other tasks, and greatly improves the speed of redrawing a graphics visual (such as apie-chart orCAD-illustration).
The 8514 initially sold for $1290 for the adapter and $270 for the 512 KB memory expansion (equivalent to $3600 and $750, respectively, in 2024).[3] The 8514/A required aMicro Channel architecture bus at a time whenISA systems were standard.
The 8514 was introduced with theIBM PS/2 computers in April 1987. It was an optional upgrade to theMicro Channel architecture based PS/2'sVideo Graphics Array (VGA), and was delivered within three months of PS/2's introduction.
Although not the first PC video card to supporthardware acceleration, IBM's 8514 is often credited[by whom?] as the first PC mass-marketfixed-function accelerator. Up until the 8514's introduction, PC graphics acceleration was relegated to expensiveworkstation-class, graphicscoprocessor boards.Coprocessor boards (such as theTARGA Truevision series) were designed around special CPU ordigital signal processor chips which were programmable. Fixed-function accelerators, such as the 8514, sacrificed programmability for better cost/performance ratio.[citation needed]
Later compatible 8514 boards were based on theTexas InstrumentsTMS34010 chip.[citation needed]
Even though the 8514 was not a best-seller, it created a market for fixed-function PC graphics accelerators which grew exponentially in the early 1990s.[citation needed]
TheATI Mach 8 andMach 32 chips were popularclones, and several companies (notablyS3) designed graphics accelerator chips which were not register compatible but were conceptually very similar to the 8514/A.[4]
The 8514 was superseded by IBMXGA.
TheVESA Group introduced a common standardized way to access features like hardware cursors, Bit Block transfers (Bit Blt), off screensprites, hardware panning, drawing and other functions withVBE/accelerator functions (VBE/AF) in August 1996.
Software that supported this graphic standard:[5]
The 8514 offered:
Latter clone board offered additional resolutions:[citation needed]
In the late 1980s, several companies cloned the 8514/A often for the ISA bus. Notable among those wasWestern Digital Imaging'sPWGA-1 (also known as theWD9500 chip set), theChips & Technologies82C480, andATI'sMach8 and laterMach32 chips. In one way or another, the clones were all better than the original with more speed, enhanced drawing functionality and overall improved video mode selections. Clone support for non-interlaced modes at resolutions like 800×600 and 1280×1024 was typical, and all clones had longer command queues for increased performance.