A DE-15 VGA port.
Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a display standard developed by IBM for their Personal Computer, with 640 x 480 pixels in a minimum of 16 colors (later at a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a less-commonly used text mode with 720 x 400 pixels.
History[]
IBM technical references define the official product name of their original VGA display board as Video Graphics Array, released in 1986. This naming convention is in contrast to the preceding boards, the Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) and Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA), released in 1981 and 1984, respectively.[1]
Extended standards[]
In 1990, IBM sought to update VGA with their eXtended Graphics Array (XGA) standard, with 640 x 480 in 16-bit color, or 1024 x 768 pixels in at least 256 colors.[2] However, 3rd-party video card manufacturers had already widely adopted the 800 x 600 resolution of Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA), standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) through their BIOS extensions in 1989. Super VGA became a generic term for higher PC video resolutions, including XGA, before the adoption of high-definition video.[3]
Macintosh compatibility[]
The Macintosh II was introduced by Apple Computer in 1987 with color video cards that used signals derived from VGA, but using its own physical connector — a wider DA-15 instead of VGA's more compact DE-15 (sometimes called HD-15). This led to the use of adapters to connect multisync VGA and SVGA displays with color-capable Macs.[4][5][6]
| Mac pin (DA-15) | Description | VGA pin (DE-15) |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Red ground | 06 |
| 02 | Red video | 01 |
| 03 | Color sync | |
| 04 | Sense pin | |
| 05 | Green video | 02 |
| 06 | Green ground | 07 |
| 07 | Sense pin | * |
| 08 | ||
| 09 | Blue video | 03 |
| 10 | Sense pin | * |
| 11 | Color sync and vertical sync ground | 10 |
| 12 | Vertical sync | 14 |
| 13 | Blue ground | 08 |
| 14 | Horizontal sync ground | 05 |
| 15 | Horizontal sync | 13 |
- *Connecting Mac pins 7 and 10 would indicate a standard 640 x 480 VGA monitor.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Video Graphics Array at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. 1995-01-12.
- ↑ XGA at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. 1999-08-01.
- ↑ Super Video Graphics Array at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. 1995-01-12.
- ↑ Apple Macintosh Video 15 pin, AllPinouts. 1998-03-01.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Macintosh LC III: Using with a VGA Monitor, Apple Inc. 2012-02-19. Archived 2014-10-10.
- ↑ Sub-D HD15 / DE15 / VGA, Doctor HDMI. 2012.
External links[]
- Macintosh VGA at the code/src wiki
- Video Graphics Array at Wikipedia
