perezx wrote on 2023-01-12, 15:40:
Jo22 wrote on 2023-01-07, 08:04:Another thing I read online was, that Hercules Monochrome graphics
was apparently very popular in the early-mid 90s, not VGA.
Seems to be more myth than true. Most of 8080-based "home PCs" used TV sets as a display. 8088/8086 which were "professional" and "industrial" almost totally relied on CGA and included a bunch of remarked US chips.Check this one for example 😀
269-odo5yvPq0L8.jpg
I see the picture, but how does this affect my statement? 🤷♂️
I'm not saying that it's right / that I'm right, it could be well the case that it is wrong /that I'm wrong.
Since I'm from Europe and never been there at the time, all I can do is to draw conclusions from what I hear/read.
Both CGA and Hercules used the same CRTC.
There used to be CGA/HGC graphics cards with a switch to change to either mode.
Some 80s PCs with on-board graphics even had a software-configurable switch for such things.
In the 80s, many simple PCs made at the time used CGA compatible graphics, even if they had a native mode on their own that was higher-end.
In parts, I suppose it's because CGA used TV compatible timings.
That allowed to use modified TV sets (or hacked TVs, more precisely; tuner by-passed/removed for VBS input) and low-end monitor tubes, in general.
The clumsy 40x25 character mode didn't require anything good, after all.
It was often used by toy computers, thus.
(Other platforms like the Atari/Amiga had fuzzy, TV compatible video modes, too.)
Real computers used 80x24 minimum (25th line was a status line in the terminal era).
Like MDA, CGA also had a 80x25 mode, otherwise real software wouldn't have been compatible with it.
In case of USSR, this circumstance might have been convenient.
Its TV technology (for the citizens) wasn't exactly the best, I suppose.
Well, the Junost black/white TV (originally a TV for the youth?) which I once opened was a total mess with a horrible power supply, at least.
Nothing was modular, short cables everywhere. A nightmare for any TV repairman. 😰
I hope it was not a prime example of USSR TV engineering.
Edit: Text edited once.
Edit: Who reads this: Please don't get me wrong, I don't mean to argue or to prove I am right or something along these lines.
I'm merely thinking about the matter. It's fun discussing these things. ^^
Edit: There we are again. I'm too chatty again. My apologies for going off-topic. 😅
Speaking of the VGA graphics.. I've attached the Windows 2.x drivers for you (ET3k, ET4k, Paradise, V7).
They also work with Windows 3.0 in Real-Mode.
Useful if you work with Windows 1.x/2.x applications.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-gXfHpedtY
Mode utility can be found at Vogons drivers.
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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
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