IBM 8514/A

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IBM 8514/A
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Release date1987; 39 years ago (1987)
Cards
Entry-levelIBM Image Adapter/A
History
PredecessorEGA, PGC
SuccessorXGA
File:Ibm 8414 1024x768x256 example.png
IBM 8514/A 1024 × 768 x 256 color image

The IBM 8514/A is a graphics card manufactured by IBM and introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of personal computers in 1987. It supports a display resolution of Template:Resx pixels with 256 colors at 43.5 Hz (interlaced), or Template:Resx at 60 Hz (non-interlaced).[1][2] IBM sold the companion CRT monitor (for use with the 8514/A) which carries the designation, 8514.

The 8514/A uses a standardised API called the "Adapter Interface" or AI. This interface is also used by XGA, IBM Image Adapter/A, and clones of the 8514/A and XGA such as the ATI Technologies Mach series and IIT AGX. The interface allows computer software to offload common 2D-drawing operations (line-draw, color-fill, and block copies via a blitter) onto the 8514/A hardware. This frees the host CPU for other tasks, and greatly improves the speed of redrawing a graphics visual (such as a pie-chart or CAD-illustration).

The 8514/A initially sold for $1290 for the adapter and $270 for the 512 KB memory expansion (equivalent to $3700 and $770, respectively, in 2025).[3] The 8514/A required a Micro Channel architecture bus at a time when ISA systems were standard.

History

The 8514/A was introduced with the IBM PS/2 computers in April 1987. It was an optional upgrade to the Micro Channel architecture based PS/2's Video Graphics Array (VGA), and was delivered within three months of PS/2's introduction.

Although not the first PC video card to support hardware acceleration, IBM's 8514/A is often credited[by whom?] as the first PC mass-market fixed-function accelerator. Up until the 8514/A's introduction, PC graphics acceleration was relegated to expensive workstation-class, graphics coprocessor boards. Coprocessor boards (such as the TARGA Truevision series) were designed around special CPU or digital signal processor chips which were programmable. Fixed-function accelerators, such as the 8514/A, sacrificed programmability for better cost/performance ratio.[citation needed]

The ATI Mach 8 and Mach 32 chips were popular clones, and several companies (notably S3) designed graphics accelerator chips which were not register compatible but were conceptually very similar to the 8514/A.[4]

The 8514/A was superseded by IBM XGA.

The VESA Group introduced a common standardized way to access features like hardware cursors, Bit Block transfers (Bit Blit), off screen sprites, hardware panning, drawing and other functions with VBE/accelerator functions (VBE/AF) in August 1996.

Software support

Software that supported this graphic standard:[5]

Output capabilities

The 8514/A offered:

  • Template:Resx graphics with 256 colors out of 262,144 (18 bit RGB); text mode with 80×34 characters;
  • Template:Resx graphics with 256 colors out of 262,144 (18 bit RGB); text mode with 85×38 or 146×51 characters;

Latter clone boards offered additional resolutions:[1]

Clones

File:ATIMach32VLB.JPG
ATI Mach32 VLB video card

In the late 1980s, several companies cloned the 8514/A often for the ISA bus. Notable among those was Western Digital Imaging's PWGA-1 (also known as the WD9500 chip set), the Chips & Technologies 82C480, and ATI's Mach8 and later Mach32 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.

See also

References

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  1. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 8514/A Graphics Accelerator". OS/2 Museum. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Walsh, William (2024). "8514A". 9595 Ardent Tool Of Capitalism V2. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  3. ^ 1634–1699: Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Córdova; Zelnick (June 11, 1991). "$520 Adapter Marries 8514/A, TIGA Graphics". PC Magazine. p. 58.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."IBM PS/2: 8514/A Graphics Standard". Theodor.lauppert.ws. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Aptiva - Installing the 8514/A display driver in Windows 95". IBM. 1999-02-19 [first published 5 August 1996]. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Video cards supported by SCO Xsight 2.3 Server EFS". SCO Sales. Computer Business Consultants - SCO Sales. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Corp., NeoSoft (1998). "QuikMenu - Version 3.1 - IMPORTANT INFORMATION". jasonwilliams400com.startlogic.com.

Further reading

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