Graphics adapters. VGA-compatible video controller: what is it and how to fix problems with graphics adapters
Story
One of the first graphics adapters for the IBM PC was the MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter) in 2010. It worked only in text mode with a resolution of 80x25 characters (physically 720x350 pixels) and supported five text attributes: normal, bright, inverse, underlined and flashing. No color or graphic information it could not transmit, and what color the letters would be was determined by the model of the monitor used. They were usually black and white, amber or emerald. The Hercules company released further development MDA adapter, video adapter graphic resolution 720×348 pixels and supported two graphic pages. But he still didn’t allow me to work with color.
The first color video card was made by IBM and became the basis for subsequent video card standards. It could work either in text mode with resolutions of 40x25 and 80x25 (the character matrix is 8x8), or in graphic mode with resolutions of 320x200 or 640x200. IN text modes 256 symbol attributes are available - 16 symbol colors and 16 background colors (or 8 background colors and a blink attribute), in graphic mode 320x200 had four palettes of four colors each, while the high-resolution 640x200 mode was monochrome. In development of this map appeared
It is worth noting that the interfaces with the monitor of all these types of video adapters were digital, MDA and HGC transmitted only whether the dot was lit or not lit and additional signal brightness for the text attribute “bright”, similarly, CGA transmitted the main video signal through three channels (red, green, blue), and could additionally transmit a brightness signal (16 colors in total), EGA had two transmission lines for each of the primary colors, then each primary color could be displayed at full brightness, 2/3, or 1/3 of full brightness, giving a total of a maximum of 64 colors.
In early computer models from IBM PS/2, a new graphics adapter appears (acquired by AMD in 2006)
Specialized
Other manufacturers
- PNY Technologies (NVIDIA Partner)
- 3dfx (acquired by NVidia)
- XGI Technology Inc. (acquired by ATI in 2006)
- Scott Mueller Upgrading and Repairing PCs = Upgrading and Repairing PCs. - 17th edition - M.: “Williams”, 2007. - S. 889-970 . - ISBN 0-7897-3404-4
Literature
| Video adapter and monitor standards | |
|---|---|
| Video adapters | |
| MDA | CGA | PGC | MCGA | | | |
| VGA | XGA | XGA+ | SXGA+ | | |
| Widescreen options | |
| WXGA | WSXGA/WXGA+ | WSXGA+ | |
| Personal computer components | |
|---|---|
| System unit | |
| Computer memory | |
To obtain realistic images in games, video adapters have to work with the latest 3D technologies. We will talk about what other trump cards manufacturers of modern video cards have up their sleeves.
Fast-paced battles, detailed landscapes, perfectly clear elaboration of facial features... So that a modern computer game looked like a real movie, the video adapter has to give it its all. You will learn how he copes with this, as well as how a modern video card works, in this article.
Tasks for video cards
VGA graphics adapters from the distant 80s were completely “subordinate” to the PC’s central processor. They were only capable of displaying primitive pixel graphics with an extremely narrow range of colors. Modern models easily play video high definition. In this case, the CPU only provides access to the necessary data, while the resource-intensive operations of decoding and actually displaying the video are taken care of by the board itself.
For several years now, video cards have been transmitting signals digitally. DVI interface, which replaced analog VGA. In addition, many modern models equipped with multifunctional HDMI connectors, through which not only video but also audio signals can be transmitted. Therefore, video cards are increasingly equipped with an additional audio controller.
Modern graphics adapters can easily convert video, but their specialty is complex 3D computer games. This is a completely different amount of work. If the graphics card copes with video playback on the fly, then in three-dimensional games it has to form and draw entire scenes. To do this, the video card performs a detailed study of three-dimensional models and provides correct lighting game world. As a result CPU gets the opportunity to switch to other tasks, for example, calculating the behavior of game characters or modeling physical phenomena. However, modern video cards also reduce the load on the processor here, taking on the miscalculation physical processes, such as explosions or destruction of buildings.
Creation virtual world
In order for a 3D game image to appear on the monitor screen, in addition to the central processor and the video card itself, the process of its formation must also involve software components systems. Let's talk about the main ones.
Microsoft Library DirectX. Acts as an intermediate link between the computer game and the video card driver. The main function of DirectX is to display 2D and 3D graphics. Library DirectX versions 9 is standardly present in Microsoft Windows XP, in Windows Vista DirectX 10, and in Windows 7 - the newest version 11.
Video card driver. Translates DirectX control commands into a language that the video card understands. The driver sends the instructions translated in this way to the graphics processor (GPU - Graphics Processing Unit). Each video adapter model requires its own to operate. graphics driver in the operating system. GPU manufacturers (ATI and NVIDIA) offer users to download universal driver packages for their products from their websites.
Shaders. They are used for the graphics processor to execute commands given to it by the driver. Each shader is a program that runs inside the GPU. Any modern video card supports several types of shaders. For example, a vertex shader operates on the location of spatial mesh nodes, which forms the skeleton of a 3D model. By programming vertex shaders, you can change the location of an object in space and calculate the effects of its lighting.
Pixel shaders allow you to change the texture of an object's virtual skin, giving it the appropriate texture and color. When an object quickly approaches the viewer, geometry shaders are activated, which add the necessary elements to the image. After all, while the object is far away and its dimensions are small, a few lines will be quite enough to create outlines. However, as it gets closer and larger in size, drawing is required to obtain a realistic image. large quantity details.
After the shaders have done their work, textures, that is, color and texture, are applied to the surface of the object. The graphics processor loads textures into the video card memory at the very beginning of rendering the game scene - if possible in full, so that it does not have to send information during the process.
Image Enhancement Methods
There are two ways in which video cards can significantly improve the quality of the image displayed on the screen.
Anisotropic filtering. On oblique objects, textures appear fuzzy and flat. Anisotropic filtering improves image clarity.
Anti-aliasing. When anti-aliasing is activated, the GPU renders the entire image at a higher resolution and then downsamples it to the physical resolution of the monitor. On this operation The GPU spends an impressive share of its computing resources, but the boundaries of curved lines are smoother, without “jags.”
Innovations in modern video cards
ATI has prepared a new generation of video cards for the release of Windows 7 OS - ATI Radeon 5xxx series, NVIDIA responded to this by developing GeForce GTX 4xx. The use of new technologies has allowed both manufacturers to achieve improved image quality.
Tessellation. This important feature was introduced with the advent of DirectX libraries 11. It can greatly enhance the level of detail. The space between the points of the frame model is filled by the video card with new points calculated by the graphics processor. This allows you to model objects with a more complex structure than was originally specified. The computer's central processor is not involved in this operation.
Universal shaders. If in early video cards vertex, pixel and geometry shaders were executed in separate function blocks, then modern video adapters contain hundreds of universal units, also called processor units. They can take on the functions of any shaders. For example, the Radeon HD 5870 GPU has 1600 universal cores, in NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 their number is 480.
Large amount of memory for storing textures. In addition to the current image of the 3D scene, the memory of video cards temporarily stores quite a lot of additional information. Textures take up the largest part of memory. A modern computer game requires from 512 MB to 1 GB of video memory for temporary texture storage. If there is not enough volume, the GPU constantly has to load data from a slow (compared to memory) hard drive. This reduces the performance of the video card by almost 10%. However, more annoying is the image intermittency that appears when accessing hard drive. To avoid this, new video adapter models can use up to 3 GB random access memory PC.
Video card performance
Video adapters with different performance (in particular, with different clock frequency GPU or number of functional units) and cost differently. The more technologically advanced the video card, the more expensive it is. At the same time, boards of the same family are often equipped with graphics processors produced on the same production line, but in inexpensive models of video cards some of the GPU functional blocks are disabled.
The main (although far from the only) rule: the more numeric value in the name of the video card, the more performance it can provide.
Up to 1.5 thousand rubles. This price range includes outdated video cards, for example ATI Radeon 3xxx or NVIDIA GeForce 8400, as well as some modern budget models, for example ATI Radeon 4350 or NVIDIA GeForce GT 210. Such adapters are suitable for simple 2D games, and in graphically complex 3D they capable of delivering no more than 10 FPS. Anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering for such maps is an impossible task.
Up to 4 thousand rubles. For this amount you can purchase an NVIDIA GeForce GT 240, GTS 250 or ATI Radeon HD 4650, as well as video cards with DirectX 11 support based on the ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor. These models can provide comfortable performance in most applications. However, in complex 3D games you will have to give up the maximum level of detail, as well as reduce the quality of lighting and shadows. The ability to use anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering is limited.
Up to 8 thousand rubles. This class includes video cards such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 240, ATI Radeon HD 4890 and models with DirectX 11 support based on the Radeon HD 5770 GPU (price about 6 thousand rubles). Video cards this level performance is suitable for solving almost any gaming tasks: 40–50 fps at a resolution of 1650x1050 pixels and maximum level detail is not a problem for them. At a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, they also provide a quite decent 30-35 FPS.
More than 8 thousand rubles. Models of this price category in any 3D game can guarantee more than sufficient performance. So, even with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, the output will be from 60 to 70 fps. However, such ultra-fast models on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285/295/470/480 or ATI Radeon HD 5870/5970 processors cost 16–25 thousand rubles. It makes sense to purchase only for the most demanding gamers. Such adapters, as well as models costing from 4 to 8 thousand rubles, can be combined into a single video subsystem.
SLI and CrossFireX
NVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) and ATI CrossFireX technologies allow you to organize working together two or more video cards, which will significantly increase performance. Thus, one regular NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 video card at a very high resolution provides performance of 44 fps. After connecting a second same video card in SLI mode, performance will increase to 61 fps, that is, by almost 40%.
For the average gamer, there is no point in purchasing SLI or CrossFireX, since the ability to use these technologies is associated with high costs.
What is a video card? The video card is part computer hardware. It is the video card that creates the image on your monitor. The graphics card is responsible for rendering the image to your monitor. It does this by converting the data into a signal that the monitor can understand.
The better your Graphics Card, the better and smoother the image on your screen will be. This is naturally very important for gamers and video editors.
What is a video card - there are 2 types of video cards
Integrated-graphics. This video card is initially built into the motherboard. It is mainly used in budget models PCs and laptops. They have acceptable price, and they can be improved later.
Discrete video card. This is installed on the motherboard in addition to the integrated graphics. Ideal for those who want to speed up their system by replacing the video card. Many laptops have two video cards.
Most people use modern computer For standard tasks. For example, such as surfing the Internet, creating documents or watching movies. Integrated graphics will be enough for them. Main SSD drive put it on the computer so it won't be stupid. And the picture will be good enough.
Professional and gaming video cards
Gamers or professionals, such as video editors, usually require a discrete graphics card to speed up image processing. A computer simply won’t work without such a card. normal games. And it won't work to mount graphics either. Everything will be terribly slow, if it starts at all.
If you are planning to buy a laptop, it is better to take it from discrete video card. It cannot be replaced later. But the computer, on the contrary, can be assembled in parts. For example, first the case, disk, power supply, motherboard memory and GOOD percentage. And then you can add a normal video card.
A couple of points. The brain of a video card is the GPU. And the brain of the computer is the processor - the CPU.
GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. This is the brain of the video card and it creates visual effects that you see on the screen. How powerful your GPU is will depend on the model you choose.
Some terms
The GPU works as a translator, it takes the data coming from the processor and converts it into images. More complex visual effects, such as in high-definition games, require more complex and faster GPUs to process the data stream.
You can speed up your PC by installing a graphics card. Over the years, graphics expansion slots have changed significantly from PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) to latest version PCI-E (Gen1/2/3) (PCI-Express), which offers better throughput.
Some motherboards have expansion slots that allow users to add more than one graphics card. This is called SLI (NVIDIA) or CrossfireX (AMD). This allows users to get improved performance from their system. Users will need motherboard with SLI or CrossFire support to use these technologies. The essence of the technology is to connect a pair of video cards together so that they work as one.
SLI also known as Scalable Link Interface was developed by NVIDIA to link multiple cards into one system. SLI works by increasing the available computing power when using graphics.
CrossfireX, also known as Crossfire, developed by AMD.
FPS or frame rate
Modern games have a whole bunch of stunning special effects. To show them all in all their glory you need a decent video card. And preferably fresh.
To get a clear image, your computer must be able to process and output this data at an acceptable frame rate. You will see this figure expressed in frames per second or FPS. If your graphics card's frame rate is too low, beware! The nice, smooth hero movement you'd expect from a multi-thousand-dollar game is turned into a turn-based RPG. Just like on a computer from 1998. Tough! It’s better to play heroes right away).
Video card
Video card (also known as graphics card, graphics card, video adapter) (English videocard)- a device that converts an image stored in the computer's memory into a video signal for the monitor.
Usually the video card is an expansion card and is inserted into connector extensions, universal (ISA, VLB,PCI,PCI-Express) or specialized ( AGP), but it can also be built-in (integrated).
Modern video cards are not limited simple conclusion images, they have built-in graphics microprocessor, which can produce additional processing, relieving the central CPU computer. For example, all modern NVIDIA video cards and AMD( ATi) support OpenGL applications in hardware.
Video cards have following standards
On PS/2 computers, most of the video adapter circuitry is located on system board. This video adapter contains everything electronic circuits, necessary to support the VGA specification, on a single full-size board with an 8-bit interface.
BIOS VGA is a program designed to manage VGA circuits. Through BIOS programs can initiate some VGA procedures and functions without accessing the adapter.
All VGA equipment provides display of up to 256 shades on the screen from a palette of 262,144 colors (256 KB). An analog monitor is used for this.
If problems arise when booting the system, it boots into safe mode, where the default is VGA adapter in 640x480 mode, 16 colors.
SuperVGA Super Video Graphics Array. Provides more a high resolution than the VGA standard. Supports operating modes with resolutions of 800:600, 1024:768, 1280:1024 pixels (or more) with simultaneous display of 2 in 4, 8, 16, 32 degrees of color.
With adapters SVGA various models from different manufacturers you can communicate through a single software interface VESA
Existing standard VESA on boards SVGA provides the use of almost all common image formats and color coding options, up to a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels with 16,777,216 shades (24-bit color coding).
A modern video card consists of the following parts:
Bios (Basic Input/Output System - basic system I/O). The video adapter BIOS contains basic commands, which provide an interface between the video adapter hardware and software. BIOS that can be modified using software, called flash BIOS.
Graphics processing unit (graphics processing unit)- deals with calculations of the output image, relieving the central processor of this responsibility, and makes calculations for processing 3D graphics commands. Is the basis graphics card, the performance and capabilities of the entire device depend on it. Modern GPUs in complexity they are not much inferior to the central processor of a computer, and often surpass it both in the number of transistors and in computing power, thanks to a large number universal computing units. However, the architecture GPU The previous generation usually involves the presence of several information processing units, namely: a 2D graphics processing unit, a 3D graphics processing unit, in turn, usually divided into a geometric kernel (plus a vertex cache) and a rasterization unit (plus a texture cache), etc.
Video controller- responsible for forming an image in video memory, gives commands RAMDAC to generate scanning signals for the monitor and processes requests from the central processor. In addition, there is usually an external data bus controller (for example, PCI or AGP), internal data bus controller and video memory controller. The width of the internal bus and video memory bus is usually larger than the external one (64, 128 or 256 bits versus 16 or 32); many video controllers also have built-in RAMDAC. Modern graphics adapters ( ATI, nVidia) usually have at least two video controllers that operate independently of each other and simultaneously control one or more displays each.
Video memory- acts as a frame buffer in which the image is stored, generated and constantly changed by the graphics processor and displayed on the monitor screen (or several monitors). Video memory also stores intermediate image elements invisible on the screen and other data. Video memory comes in several types, differing in access speed and operating frequency. Modern video cards are equipped with memory type DDR, DDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4 and GDDR5. It should also be borne in mind that in addition to the video memory located on the video card, modern graphics processors usually use part of the total system memory computer, direct access to which is provided by the video adapter driver via the bus AGP or PCIE.
Digital-to-analog converter(DAC, RAMDAC - Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter)- serves to convert the image generated by the video controller into color intensity levels supplied to an analog monitor.
Video ROM- a permanent storage device in which video BIOS are recorded, screen fonts, service tables, etc. ROM is not used directly by the video controller - only the central processor accesses it. The video BIOS stored in ROM ensures the initialization and operation of the video card before loading the main one. operating system, and also contains system data that can be read and interpreted by the video driver during operation (depending on the method used sharing of responsibilities between the driver and the BIOS). On many modern maps electrically reprogrammable ROMs are installed ( EEPROM, Flash ROM), allowing the video BIOS to be rewritten by the user himself using a special program.
Cooling system- designed for preservation temperature regime video processor and video memory are within acceptable limits.
Sometimes a user needs to find out the model of his video card. And this can be done in several ways.
- Via Device Manager
To open device Manager devmgmt.msc. Will open device Manager, in which click on the plus sign next to the category Video adapters. As you can see in the screenshot, the PC has ATI video card Radeon HD 6800 Series.
If instead of the model it says “Standard VGA graphics adapter,” this means that the drivers for the video card were not installed, so Windows cannot determine its type and model.
Likewise, if there is nothing in Video adapters, and in Other devices is “Video controller (VGA-compatible)” or “Standard VGA graphics adapter”, then this again means that official driver was not installed, so Windows installed its own driver. In this case, you can find out the driver version like this: click on Standard VGA graphics adapter(or Video controller (VGA compatible)») right key mouse and select Properties.
In it, switch to the tab Intelligence, and in the section Property change the item Device Description on Equipment ID.
In chapter Values right-click on the first line and select Copy.
Paste the copied text into a search engine. As you can see in the screenshot, the video card you are looking for is ATI Radeon HD 6800 Series.
- Via Screen Options
For this purpose on empty space desktop, right-click and context menu select item Screen resolution. In the window that opens, find Extra options and open them. A window with properties will appear graphic editor. In chapter Intelligence about the adapter, find the item Adapter string. What is written next to it is the video card model.
- Using the program
This program will help you find out the manufacturer of your video card, its model and driver version. And if the driver is missing, Everest will also tell you the official website of the graphics adapter manufacturer, where you can download its latest version.
- Via DirectX Diagnostic Tool
To open DirectX Diagnostic Tool, press Win+R on your keyboard and in the window that appears, write dxdiag. Switch to tab Screen and in the section Device you will see the manufacturer and model of the video card.
- Removing the system unit cover
Typically, video cards always indicate its manufacturer and model.
