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5 <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Pure VGA/SVGA hardware programming (registers, identification, and otherlow-level stuff.)">
6 <META NAME="KeyWords" CONTENT="VGA SVGA hardware video programming">
7 <TITLE>FreeVGA - Video Programming Glossary</TITLE>
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18 <HR><B>Hardware Level VGA and SVGA Video Programming Information Page</B></CENTER>
20 <CENTER>Video Programming Glossary
23 <BR> This page is a glossary
24 covering video programming related terms. It is extremely difficult
25 for me to determine which terms should be included in this page, thus if
26 you have come here looking for a particular term and are dismayed at not
27 finding it listed here, please send a note with the <A HREF="feedback.htm">Feedback
28 Form</A> including the term in the body of the message, and it will be
30 <CENTER><A NAME="C"></A><B>------ C ------</B></CENTER>
33 <P><B>CLUT</B> -- see <A HREF="#CLUT">Color Look-Up Table</A>
35 <P><A NAME="CLUT"></A><B>Color Look-Up Table</B> -- <A HREF="#PLUT">see
36 Palette Look-Up Table</A>
39 <CENTER><A NAME="D"></A><B>------ D ------</B></CENTER>
42 <P><A NAME="DAC"></A><B>DAC</B> -- acronym for Digital to Analog Converter,
43 which is a integrated circuit that converts intensity values to analog
44 signal values. This is used in video chipsets to produce the analog
45 signals that are sent to the monitor. Some DACs, known as RAMDACs
46 contain a palette look-up table.
48 <P><B>Digital to Analog Converter</B> -- see <A HREF="#DAC">DAC</A>
49 <CENTER><A NAME="F"></A><B>------ F ------</B></CENTER>
52 <P><B>Frame Buffer</B> -- RAM that is part of the graphics hardware that
53 stores the pixel values that are converted into color intensity.
54 <CENTER><A NAME="P"></A><B>------ P ------</B></CENTER>
57 <P><A NAME="PLUT"></A><B>Palette Look-Up Table</B> -- a small table of
58 RAM that contains a set of <A HREF="#RGB">RGB</A> intensity values for
59 each index, of which there are 256 locations. The information in
60 this table is used by the <A HREF="#DAC">DAC</A> to generate the analog
61 signal. Also known as a Color Look-Up Table or CLUT.
62 <CENTER><A NAME="R"></A><B>------ R ------</B></CENTER>
65 <P><B>RAMDAC</B> -- A <A HREF="#DAC">DAC</A> that contains a built-in <A HREF="#PLUT">palette
68 <P><A NAME="RGB"></A><B>RGB</B> -- acronym for Red, Blue & Green, which
69 describes the three primary colors of light that a CRT generates to produce
70 the range of visible colors.
71 <CENTER><A NAME="S"></A><B>------ S ------</B></CENTER>
74 <P><B>Super VGA</B> -- see <A HREF="SVGA">SVGA</A>
76 <P><A NAME="SVGA"></A><B>SVGA </B>-- acronym for Super-<A HREF="#VGA">VGA</A>,
77 which is a term applied to chipsets and the advanced functionality of those
78 chipsets that are above and beyond the capabilities of the original IBM
79 <A HREF="#VGA">VGA</A> chipset.
80 <CENTER><A NAME="V"></A><B>------ V ------</B></CENTER>
83 <P><A NAME="VGA"></A><B>VGA</B> -- acronym for Video Graphics Array, which
84 is the term for IBM's successor to the EGA graphics chipset. This
85 term is also used when describing register compatible functions of other
86 chipsets such as SVGA chipsets.
88 <P><B>Video Graphics Array</B> -- see <A HREF="VGA">VGA</A>
92 <P>Notice: All trademarks used or referred to on this page are the property
93 of their respective owners.
94 <BR>All pages are Copyright © 1997, 1998, J. D. Neal, except where
95 noted. Permission for utilization and distribution is subject to the terms
96 of the <A HREF="license.htm">FreeVGA Project Copyright License</A>.