IBM Graphics Displays, Adapters Improve Resolution

What's New

Byte Magazine

November 1984

IBM recently introduced several graphics products for its personal computers. The IBM Personal Computer Professional Graphics Display, which can only be used with IBM's Professional Graphics Controller, is a noninterlaced, high-resolution RGB monitor. It can display 640 by 480 pixels, or 67 pixels per inch, in up to 256 colors (from a palette of 4096). The display measures 15 1/2 by 17 by 11 1/2 inches and is priced at $1295.

The Professional Graphics Controller occupies two full IBM PC, PC XT, or PC AT expansion slots. It can emulate the IBM Color Graphics Adapter and has an expanded graphics mode that enables full use of the Professional Graphics Display capabilities. The controller includes 320K bytes of RAM: 300K for display storage and 20K for internal variables and lists. The controller has its own on-board 8088 processor and graphics firmware in a 64K byte ROM.

The controller allows two- or three-dimensional drawing in hardware and has built-in functions to rotate, translate, or scale objects. You have access to 256 user-programmable display lists and can select either the built-in character set or define your own. The controller features vector and polygon drawing as well as polygon fill. The two-card Professional Graphics Controller has a list price of $2995.

For less demanding PC owners, IBM also announced the Enhanced Color Display and Enhanced Graphics Adapter. The display provides a resolution of up to 640 by 350 pixels in 16 colors (from a 64-color palette) and should be available by January for $849.

The Enhanced Graphics Adapter provides 640 by 200 or 320 by 200 pixel graphics in 16 colors on the IBM PC Color Display, or 640 by 350 pixels on the IBM Monochrome Display. On the Enhanced Color Display, the adapter can display the full 640 by 350 pixels in up to 4 colors with the standard 64K bytes of RAM or up to 16 colors when upgraded to 128K bytes with the optional Graphics Memory Expansion Card. An optional Graphics Memory Module Kit expands the card's memory to 256K bytes, allowing smooth scrolling and panning and additional pages of graphics data. A RAM-resident character generator can use from 256 (with 64K bytes) to 1024 (with 256K bytes) user-defined characters in sizes up to 8 by 32 pixels.

IBM warns that some PC owners may require a ROM BIOS replacement in order to use the Enhanced Graphics Adapter, which is priced at $524. The optional Graphics Memory Expansion Card, which upgrades the adapter to an 128K-byte RAM, costs $199; the Graphics Memory Module Kit is $259.

Graphics Software

Also announced by IBM were a number graphics subroutine libraries for the IBM Personal Computer. All require DOS 2.1 or later, at least 256K bytes of RAM, and one of IBM's color graphics adapters, Language bindings are provided to access the routines from programs compiled by FORTRAN 2.0, Professional FORTRAN, Lattice C, and BASIC compilers.

The IBM Personal Computer Graphical Kernel System is a subroutine library of two-dimensional graphics primitives consistent with the proposed ANSI and ISO standards. The Plotting System assists programmers in generating most types of standard charts and graphs. The Graphical File System is an implementation of the proposed ANSI Metafile Standard. The Graphical Kernel System costs $295; the Plotting System, $225; and the Graphical File System, $175.

The Graphics Development Toolkit is designed for software developers writing graphics applications. By licensing the device drivers contained in the Toolkit, developers can sell device-independent software to users who need not buy the Toolkit themselves. The Graphics Terminal Emulator provides emulation of Tektronix 4010 and Lear Siegler ADM3A protocols. The Toolkit can be purchased for $350, and the Graphics Terminal Emulator costs $295.

Contact IBM Corp., Entry Systems Division, POB 1328, Boca Raton, FL 33432, (800) 447-4700.