Introduction.
This is intended as a collection of documentation about all the various
display adapters for the IBM PC series (and relatives).
This is NOT intended as an introduction to basic VGA programming. There are
numerous books available on the subject with much better general VGA/graphics
programming sections.
Neither is this intended to cover benchmarking, highlevel graphics algorithms,
graphics file formats or specific graphics programs.
This compilation (c) Copyright 1991-94 Finn Thoegersen. All Rights Reserved.
You can redistribute the collection provided it is distributed unmodified in
its entirety and these clauses are left intact. The programs - executables and
source - can be left out if they are not meaningful for the intended audience.
No fee, monies et cetera can be charged, except for normal connection, media,
shipment and handling expenses.
You are free to use the information herein and excerpts from the programs,
provided that the source is credited (My name and the VGADOC2 package).
In short you can redistribute and use the information. What you cannot do is
charge for it (except as above) or change it (please communicate corrections
and additions to me).
No fees, monies et cetera is asked, however contributions in the form of
information, documentation (datasheets/books, programmers refs...) relevant
for this collection will be gratefully accepted and credited.
I can be contacted at:
Email: jesperf@daimi.aau.dk ;This is not my account, so please
;include either Finn or VGADOC in
;the subject: line
Telephone: +45 9751 3788 ;Both the Phone and FAX are company
;numbers, so please attention:
FAX: +45 9751 4050 ;Finn Thoegersen
;Also these numbers are different
;from those given in VGADOC2
Surface: Finn Thoegersen
Nordbanevej 3 C
DK-7800 Skive
Denmark
Terminology/style:
The BIOS calls are mostly taken directly from Ralf Brown's interrupt list
and tends to follow its style and structure.
The register descriptions are sorted by the register number.
All register addresses, data values et cetera are given in hexadecimal.
3d4h means 3D4h when in color mode and 3B4h when in monochrome mode.
3CEh index 3 means register 3CEh is set to 3 and register 3CFh is the
data port. See notes on register 3C0h under VGA registers.
On some cards write operations can be done with a single OUTW
instruction. This may fail on some cards or machines.
ATI cards require the index to be updated before each access to
the dataport.
(R) means the register is Read Only.
(W) means the register is Write Only.
(R/W) means the register is both Readable and Writable.
(r/W) means the register is Write Only on EGA cards and Read/Writable
on VGA cards.
Sometimes the size of the registers is given as:
W(R/W): The register is 2 bytes (16 bits) long. If the register is
indexed, the low byte is in the low index (n) and the high byte is
in the high index (n+1) unless otherwise indicated.
3(R/W): The register is 3 bytes (24 bits) long. The lowest byte is in the
low index (n), the middle byte is in the middle index (n+1) and
the upper byte in the high index (n+2).
Examples are in Turbo Pascal for readability (your mileage may vary,
I don't discuss politics, choice of computer, editor, keyboard,
programming language or other religious matters on the net :-) ).
Seriously while assembler can be more precise and/or efficient for the
low-level register access, the complexity and volume of assembler can make
even simple examples totally incomprehensible to all but experts.
Also when I started this my "C" was not up to the task, so ...
A short translation of terms:
Pascal: C: Assembler: Description:
x:byte; unsigned char x; x DB ? 8 bit unsigned byte
y:word; unsigned int y; y DW ? 16 bit unsigned word.
z:integer; int z; z DW ? 16 bit signed word.
w:longint; long w; w DD ? 32 bit signed Dword
s:string[20]; char s[21]; x DB 20 dup(?) a 20 character string
$ABCD 0xABCD 0ABCDh The value 43981
(ABCD hex)
x:=port[$3CC] x=inp(0x3CC) MOV DX,03CCh Read an 8bit value from
IN AL,DX I/O port $3CC.
y:=portw[$3CE] y=inpw(0x3CE) MOV DX,03CEh Read a 16bit value from
IN AX,DX I/O ports $3CE and $3CF
port[$3C2]:=x outp(0x3C2,x) MOV DX,03C2h Write an 8bit value to
OUT DX,AL I/O port $3C2.
portw[$3CE]:=y outpw(0x3CE,y) MOV DX,03CEh Write a 16bit value to
OUT DX,AX I/O ports $3CE and $3CF
a shr 3 a>>3 SHR AX,3 Shifts a 3 bits rights
(Divides by 8).
a shl 3 a<<3 SHL AX,3 Shifts a 3 bits left
{Comment} /* comment */ ;comment Comments.
'string' "string" DB "string" Text string
procedure x; void x(void) x PROC A procedure/function
var x:integer; { ;Alloc x on stack with no parameters
begin int x; _code_ a local variable
_code_ _code_ ;reset stack and main body.
end; } RET
function y: int y(void) Well you A function returning
integer; { figure it out! an integer.
begin
y:=123; return(123)
end; }
The examples use a number of simple rutines:
procedure vio(ax:word); {Calls interrupt 10h with register AX=parameter ax
other registers can be set in the rp structure.
rp.ax is set to the return value in the AX register}
function inp(reg:word):byte; {returns a byte from I/O port REG.}
procedure outp(reg,val:word); {writes the byte VAL to I/O port REG}
function rdinx(pt,inx:word):word; {read register PT index INX}
procedure wrinx(pt,inx,val:word); {write VAL to register PT index INX}
procedure modinx(pt,inx,mask,nwv:word);
{In register PT index INX change the bits
indicated by MASK to the ones in NWV
keeping the other bits unchanged).
function tstrg(pt,msk:word):boolean; {Returns true if the bits specified in
MSK are read/writable in register PT}
function testinx(pt,rg:word):boolean; {Returns true if all 8 bits of register
PT index RG are read/writable}
function testinx2(pt,rg,msk:word):boolean;
{Returns true if the bits specified in MSK
are read/writable in register PT index RG}
procedure dac2pel; {Forces the DAC back to PEL (normal) mode}
procedure dac2comm; {Enter command mode of HiColor DACs}
References:
Richard F. Ferraro's Programmer's guide to the EGA and VGA cards 2nd ed.
Addison-Wesley 1990. ISBN 0-201-57025-4.
George Sutty and Steve Blair's Advanced Programmers Guide to Super VGAs.
Brady Books 1990. ISBN 0-13-010455-8.
John Mueller and Wallace Wang's The Ultimate DOS Programmer's Manual.
Windcrest/McGraw-Hill 1990. ISBN 0-8306-3434-3.
Jake Richter's Power Programming the IBM XGA.
MIS Press 1992. ISBN 1-55828-127-4 (1-55828-124-9 with disc).
Ralf Brown's interrupt list version 38.
(Simtel: info/inter38a.zip - info/inter38d.zip)
This is based on contributions from many people, including:
Dennis Grinberg dennis+@cs.cmu.edu MCGA/VGA
Michael A. Moran Michael@cup.portal.com VGA INT 10h
Gary E. Miller GEM@cup.portal.com Paradise, WD90c & Diamond
Stealth 24X VGA
Michael Shiels mshiels@ziebmef.uucp ATI VIP INT 10h
Robert Seals rds95@leah.Albany.EDU ATI VGA Wonder modes
Peter Sawatzki IN307@DHAFEU11.BITNET Video7 extended INT 10
Ben Myers 0003571400@mcimail.com Everex Viewpoint VGA, NCR
77c22 modes
Mark Livingstone markl@csource.oz.au TVGA video modes
Patrick Ibbetson ibbetsom@nes.nersc.gov NEL Electronics BIOS, Cirrus
chipsets
A. Peter Blicher Oakland, CA Genoa Super EGA
Tim Farley tim@magee.mhs.compuserve.com XGA
Bent Lynggaard lynggaard@risoe.dk misc video
Frank Klemm pfk@rz.uni-jena.de Diamond Speedstar 24X
Mikael Rydberg Sweden Cirrus/UM587/etc video modes
Jens Vollmar Erlangen, Germany Trident/C&T video
Aki Korhonen aki@holonet.net Cirrus Logic BIOS
Alexi Lookin alexi@riaph.irkutsk.su Realtek RTVGA, Avance Logic,
C&T video
Win Osterholt 2:512/56.198 Cirrus Logic BIOS 3.02
And many, many others...
John Bridge's VGAKIT52.
(Simtel: vga/vgakit52.zip)
Fractint v18.1 source (primarily video.asm).
(Simtel: graphics/frasr181.zip)
Configuration files and drivers from amongst others:
CSHOW: (Simtel: graphics/cshw860a.zip)
VPIC: (Simtel: gif/vpic60.zip)
VUIMAGE: (Simtel: gif/vuimg340.zip)
SVGA: (Simtel: gif/svga112.zip)
XFree86 2.0 - X11 Unix SVGA driver. Available from:
ftp.x.org: /contrib/XFree86
ftp.physics.su.oz.au: /XFree86
ftp.win.tue.nl: /pub/XFree86
ftp.prz.tu-berlin.de: /pub/pc/src/XFree86
The XFree86 team includes:
Robert Baron Robert.Baron@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu
David Dawes dawes@physics.su.oz.au
Dirk Hohndel hohndel@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
Rich Murphey Rich@Rice.edu
Jon Tombs jon@gtex02.us.es
David Wexelblat dwex@goblin.org, dwex@aib.com
Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
Orest Zborowski orestz@microsoft.com
E-mail regarding XFree86 should be sent to xfree86@physics.su.oz.au
PCVISION plus Frame Grabber User's Manual.
Enhanced Graphics Adapter Reference Manual from HP.
Data Sheet for the Yamaha 6388 VPDC.
Commodore Advanced Graphics Adapter (AGA) manual.
Chips and Technologies Inc datasheets for:
82c455A, 82c456, 82c457, 82c480, 65520/530, 82c425, 82c426, 82c9001A.
Truevision Targa+ Hardware Technical Reference Manual.
The following have contributed information:
Darren Senn sinster@scintilla.capitola.ca.us
Tomi H Engdahl then@vipunen.hut.fi
Jori Hamalainen jhamala@kannel.lut.fi
H.R.R van Roosmalen and E. Zoer,
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands huub@dutetvd.ET.TUDelft.NL
Eric ?? praetzel@marconi.uwaterloo.ca
Frank Klemm pfk@rz.uni-jena.de
Michael Schindler michael@eichow.tuwien.ac.at
Kendall Bennett kjb@cgl.citri.edu.au
Danny Halamish dny@cs.huji.ac.il
Daniel Sill sill@zoe.as.utexas.edu
GARY GEM@rellim.com
Testers:
Ross Ackland rackland@csis.dit.csiro.au
Chris Bailey cbailey@crl.com
Ross Becker beckerr@pyrite.som.cwru.edu
Darren Brown de2brown@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca
Carlos Henrique Cantu cahcantu@pintado.ciagri.usp.br
Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au
Frank Dikker dikker@cs.utwente.nl
Michael Eichow michael@eichow.tuwien.ac.at
Torben H. Hansen 100024,3066@compuserve.com
Heikki Julkunen dp93hju@txfs1.hfb.se
Nanda G. Kutty eapu290@orion.oac.uci.edu
Leonardo Loureiro loureiro@fiu.edu
Steven Martin Steven.Martin@eng.monash.edu.au
Jouni Miettunen jon@stekt.oulu.fi
Jack Nomssi Nomssi@physik.tu-chemnitz.de
Juho-Pekka Rosti atjuro@uta.fi
Lode Vande Sande stud11@cc4.kuleuven.ac.ec
Disclaimer:
All information herein is presented as is and without warranty.
Use at your own risk.
IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT, PCjr, PS/2, Micro Channel, Personal System/2,Enhanced Graphics Adapter, Color Graphics Adapter, Video Graphics Adapter, IBM Color Display, IBM Monochrome Display, 8514/A and XGA are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
MS-DOS, Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft, Incorporated.
Hercules is a trademark of Hercules Computer Technology, Inc.
Multisync is a trademark of Nippon Electric Company (NEC).
Brooktree and RAMDAC are trademarks of Brooktree Corporation.
SMARTMAP is a trademark of Chips and Technologies, Incorporated.
TARGA is a registered trademark of Truevision, Inc.
Cirrus Logic is a trademark of Cirrus Logic, Inc.
HiColor is a trademark of Sierra Semiconducter, Inc.
i386, i486 and Intel are trademarks of Intel Corp.
Inmos and SGS-Thomson are trademarks of SGS-Thomson, Ltd.
IIT is a trademark of Integrated Information Technology, Inc.
Motorola is a trademark of Motorola Corp.
TIGA is a trademark of Texas Instruments.
VBE, VESA and VSE are trademarks of the Video Electronics Standards Association.
All other product names are copyright and registered trademarks/tradenames of their respective owners.