View source for IBM 8514

{{Redirect|8514|the number|8000 (number)}}
{{Short description|IBM graphics card and computer display standard}}
{{Infobox GPU
| name = IBM 8514
| image = [[File:IBM 8514.jpg|220px|The IBM 8514 Micro Channel adapter, with memory add-on.]]
| codename = 
| created = {{Start date and age|1987}}
| transistors = 
| entry = IBM Image Adapter/A
| midrange = 
| highend  = 
| enthusiast  = 
| openglversion = 
| d3dversion = 
| predecessor = [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]], [[Professional Graphics Controller|PGC]]
| successor   = [[XGA]]
}}
[[File:Ibm 8414 1024x768x256 example.png|thumb|IBM 8514 1024 × 768 x 256 color image]]
'''IBM 8514''' 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 {{resx|1024x768}} [[pixel]]s with [[256 colors]] at 43.5&nbsp;[[Hertz|Hz]] ([[Interlaced video|interlaced]]), or {{resx|640x480}} at 60&nbsp;Hz ([[Progressive scan|non-interlaced]]).<ref name="os2museum">{{cite web|url=http://www.os2museum.com/wp/?p=1850 |title=The 8514/A Graphics Accelerator |publisher=OS/2 Museum |date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2014-06-19}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=William |date=2024 |title=8514A |url=http://www.walshcomptech.com/ohlandl/video/8514A.html |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=9595 Ardent Tool Of Capitalism V2}}</ref>  8514 usually refers to the [[display controller]] hardware (such as the 8514/A [[display adapter]]).<ref name=":0" />  However, IBM sold the companion [[CRT monitor]] (for use with the 8514/A) which carries the same designation, 8514.

The 8514 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]] [[ATI Mach|Mach series]] and [[8x8|IIT]] ''AGX''. The interface allows computer software to offload common [[2D computer graphics|2D-drawing]] operations ([[line-draw]], [[color-fill]], and block copies via a [[blitter]]) onto the 8514 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 initially sold for $1290 for the adapter and $270 for the 512{{nbsp}}KB memory expansion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|1290|1987|r=-2}} and ${{Inflation|US|270|1987|r=-1}}, respectively, in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{Inflation/fn|US}} The 8514/A required a [[Micro Channel architecture]] bus at a time when [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] systems were standard.

==History==
The 8514 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 is often credited{{by whom|date=December 2016}} as the first PC mass-market [[fixed-function]] accelerator. Up until the 8514's introduction, PC graphics acceleration was relegated to expensive [[workstation]]-class, graphics [[coprocessor]] boards. [[Coprocessor]] boards (such as the [[Truevision TGA|TARGA]] Truevision series) were designed around special CPU or [[digital signal processor]] chips which were programmable. Fixed-function accelerators, such as the 8514, sacrificed programmability for better cost/performance ratio.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Later compatible 8514 boards were based on the [[Texas Instruments]] [[TMS34010]] chip.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Even though the 8514 was not a best-seller, it created a market for fixed-function PC graphics accelerators which grew exponentially in the early 1990s. {{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

The ''[[ATI Mach series|ATI Mach]] 8'' and ''Mach 32'' chips were popular [[Clone (computing)|clones]], and several companies (notably [[S3 Graphics|S3]]) designed graphics accelerator chips which were not register compatible but were conceptually very similar to the 8514/A.<ref name="google">{{Cite news |last1=Córdova |last2=Zelnick |date=June 11, 1991 |title=$520 Adapter Marries 8514/A, TIGA Graphics |pages=58 |work=PC Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LNhQLiJ8TgQC/page/n67/mode/2up}}</ref>

The 8514 was superseded by IBM [[XGA]]. 

The [[Video Electronics Standards Association|VESA]] Group introduced a common standardized way to access features like hardware cursors, Bit Block transfers ([[Bit blit|Bit Blt]]), off screen [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]], hardware panning, drawing and other functions with [[VESA_BIOS_Extensions#VBE/accelerator_functions_(VBE/AF)_(August_1996)|VBE/accelerator functions (VBE/AF)]] in August 1996.

==Software support==
Software that supported this graphic standard:<ref name="lauppert1">{{cite web|url=http://theodor.lauppert.ws/computer/ps2/8514a.htm |title=IBM PS/2: 8514/A Graphics Standard |publisher=Theodor.lauppert.ws |access-date=2014-06-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714141930/http://theodor.lauppert.ws/computer/ps2/8514a.htm |archive-date=2014-07-14 }}</ref>

*[[OS/2]]
*[[Windows 2.1x|Windows 2.1]]
*[[Windows 3.x]]
*[[Windows 95]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ps-2.kev009.com/pcpartnerinfo/ctstips/4152.htm |title=Aptiva - Installing the 8514/A display driver in Windows 95 |publisher=[[IBM]] |access-date=2019-04-12 |date=1999-02-19 |orig-year=first published 5 August 1996}}</ref>
*[[XFree86]] 2.1.1
*[[AutoCAD]] 10
*QuikMenu<ref>{{Cite web |last=Corp. |first=NeoSoft |date=1998 |title=QuikMenu - Version 3.1 - IMPORTANT INFORMATION |url=http://jasonwilliams400com.startlogic.com/snor/weeds/QuikMenu_III/Documentation/QuikMenu_III_Readme.txt |website=jasonwilliams400com.startlogic.com}}</ref>
*Any [[Borland Graphics Interface|BGI]] software using ''IBM8514.BGI''

==Output capabilities==
The 8514 offered:
*'''{{resx|640×480}}''' graphics with 256 colors out of 262,144 ([[List_of_monochrome_and_RGB_color_formats#18-bit_RGB|18 bit RGB]]); text mode with 80×34 characters;
*'''{{resx|1024×768}}''' graphics with 256 colors out of 262,144 (18 bit RGB); text mode with 85×38 or 146×51 characters;

Latter clone board offered additional resolutions:{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
*'''{{resx|800×600}}''' with [[High color|16-bit]] and [[Color depth#True color (24-bit)|24-bit color depths]]
*'''{{resx|1280×1024}}''' with 16-bit and 24-bit color depths

==Clones==
[[File:ATIMach32VLB.JPG|thumb| [[ATI Mach|ATI Mach32]] VLB video card]]
[[File:Et4000.jpg|thumb|[[Tseng Labs ET4000|Tseng ET4000]]]]
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 and Technologies|Chips & Technologies]] ''82C480'', and [[ATI Technologies|ATI's]] ''[[ATI Mach series|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.

*[[ATI Technologies]]: the ''Mach8'', ''Mach32'',<ref name="os2museum" /> ''Graphics Vantage'' and ''8514/Ultra''
*[[Chips and Technologies]]: ''F82C480 B EIZO - AA40'' and ''F82C481 Miro Magic Plus''
*[[Matrox]]: ''MG-108''
*[[Paradise Systems]]: ''Plus-A'', Renaissance ''Rendition II''
*Desktop Computing: ''AGA 1024 (also capable of emulating [[Texas Instruments Graphics Architecture|TIGA]] standards)''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Matthew |date=May 15, 1990 |title=New and Improved - Improved AGA 1024 |pages=56 |work=PC Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Magazine_1990-05-15_v9n09/page/n67/mode/2up}}</ref>
*[[NEC]]: ''Multisync Graphics Engine''
*[[8x8|IIT]] ''AGX'' and [[Tseng Labs ET4000]] are also referenced as being IBM 8514 compatible.<ref name="lauppert1"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Richter |first=Jake |date=July 16, 1990 |title=High-resolution video boards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51 |work=InfoWorld |pages=51, 54, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=8514A Card Search |url=http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/content/article/59-vlasks-articles/index.php?option=com_customproperties&view=show&task=show&cp_made=&cp_bus=&cp_memsize=&cp_year=&cp_memory=&cp_family=&cp_cardtype=8514a&cp_owner=&cp_directx=&cp_opengl=&cp_pipelines=&cp_manufacturer=&cp_process=&cp_text_search= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140629122800/http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/content/article/59-vlasks-articles/index.php?option=com_customproperties&view=show&task=show&cp_made=&cp_bus=&cp_memsize=&cp_year=&cp_memory=&cp_family=&cp_cardtype=8514a&cp_owner=&cp_directx=&cp_opengl=&cp_pipelines=&cp_manufacturer=&cp_process=&cp_text_search= |archive-date=2014-06-29 |access-date=2014-06-28 |website=VGA Legacy ...cards since 1981!}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of IBM products]]
*[[List of defunct graphics chips and card companies]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=Graphics Programming for the 8514/A: The New PC Graphics Standard|first1=Jake| last1=Richter|first2=Bud|last2=Smith|publisher=M & T Books|date=April 1990|isbn=1-55851-086-9}}
*{{cite book|title=The PC Graphics Handbook|first1=Julio|last1=Sanchez|first2=Maria P.|last2=Canton |publisher=CRC|date=February 26, 2003|isbn=0-8493-1678-2}}
* [http://www.os2museum.com/wp/the-8514a-graphics-accelerator/ Guide to the IBM 8514a]
* [http://www.walshcomptech.com/ohlandl/video/8514A.html 8514 Hardware]

{{Computer display standard}}
{{IBM personal computers}}

[[Category:Computer display standards]]
[[Category:IBM video hardware|8514]]
[[Category:Graphics cards]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1987]]
[[Category:IBM PS/2|8514]]