Amstrad PC - Revision history

Phi2x: /* CGA */

2025-05-12T07:57:47Z

‎CGA

Phi2x: /* CGA */

2025-05-12T07:56:26Z

‎CGA

Phi2x: /* VGA */

2025-05-12T07:34:38Z

‎VGA

Phi2x: /* The video displays */

2025-05-12T07:33:40Z

‎The video displays

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Phi2x: /* VGA */

2025-05-12T07:25:14Z

‎VGA

Phi2x at 19:45, 11 May 2025

2025-05-11T19:45:05Z

Phi2x: /* The video displays */

2025-05-11T17:59:16Z

‎The video displays

Phi2x: /* VGA */

2025-05-11T17:43:59Z

‎VGA

Phi2x: /* Palettes */

2025-05-11T13:38:51Z

‎Palettes

Phi2x at 13:22, 11 May 2025

2025-05-11T13:22:44Z

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 === CGA ===
-Enabled mostly 320x200 display with a palette of 4 colours choosen between 4 combinations from 16 total colours. It also offered a text mode with character attribute based 16 colours display.
+On RGBI monitors, it enabled mostly 320x200 display with a palette of 4 colours choosen between 4 combinations from 16 total colours. It also offered a text mode with character attribute based 16 colours display.
 On composite monitors or TVs, composite output enabled artifact-based NTSC colour emulation, simulating more colours (typically 16 colours simultaneously, but up to 1024 colours have been demonstrated).

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 === CGA ===
-Enabled mostly 320x200 display with a palette of 4 colours choosen between 4 combinations (only one colour to be chosen) from 16 total colours. Could also get a text mode with character attribute based 16 colours display.
+Enabled mostly 320x200 display with a palette of 4 colours choosen between 4 combinations from 16 total colours. It also offered a text mode with character attribute based 16 colours display.
 The Amstrad CPC can quite be considered a custom and more versatile CGA.

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 The widely used VGA mode was the MCGA : 320x200x256. When those kind of display were widely available the CGA and EGA were obsolete and the PC could start to kick Amiga and Atari ST standards out of the place. VGA could also display a 640x480x16 video mode. All those from a 262,144colour total palette (6x6x6 bits).
-VGA could emulate all CGA and EGA modes. However, as VGA monitors no longer supported 15.7kHz signals, CGA, EGA, and MCGA modes were line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
+VGA could emulate all CGA and EGA modes. However, as VGA monitors no longer supported 15.7kHz scan rates, CGA, EGA, and MCGA modes were line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
 <br>

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 [[File:Prince of persia vga ega cga hercules.png]]
-The major kind of display from this era had to get specific monitors, and those were quite expensive.
+During that era (late 1980s to early 1990s), different graphics standards typically required their own specific monitors which were quite expensive.
 === CGA ===
@@ Line 59: / Line 65: @@
 The widely used VGA mode was the MCGA : 320x200x256. When those kind of display were widely available the CGA and EGA were obsolete and the PC could start to kick Amiga and Atari ST standards out of the place. VGA could also display a 640x480x16 video mode. All those from a 262,144colour total palette (6x6x6 bits).
-VGA could emulate all CGA and EGA modes. However, as VGA monitors no longer supported 15KHz signals, CGA, EGA, and MCGA modes were line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
+VGA could emulate all CGA and EGA modes. However, as VGA monitors no longer supported 15.7kHz signals, CGA, EGA, and MCGA modes were line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
 <br>

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 The widely used VGA mode was the MCGA : 320x200x256. When those kind of display were widely available the CGA and EGA were obsolete and the PC could start to kick Amiga and Atari ST standards out of the place. VGA could also display a 640x480x16 video mode. All those from a 262,144colour total palette (6x6x6 bits).
-VGA could also display all previous modes from CGA and EGA cards. However, due to VGA monitors no longer being able to handle 15KHz, CGA and EGA modes were typically line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
+VGA could emulate all CGA and EGA modes. However, as VGA monitors no longer supported 15KHz signals, CGA, EGA, and MCGA modes were line-doubled to match the monitor's capabilities.
 <br>

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Amstrad pc1512-2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The '''Amstrad PC1512''' - The first PC by Amstrad]]
-[[File:Amstrad-pc1512-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Amstrad PC1512 advertised]]
+[[File:Amstrad-pc1512-ad.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Amstrad PC1512 advertisement]]
 [[Image:Amstrad PC20.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The '''Amstrad PC20''' - An attempt to market the PC as a home computer]]

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 = The video displays =
-The 3 major kind of display from this era had to get specific monitors, and those were quite expensive.
+VGA / EGA / CGA / Hercules graphics comparison:
 === CGA ===

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 === VGA ===
-The widely used VGA mode was the MCGA : 320x200x256. When those kind of display were widely available the CGA and EGA were obsolete and the PC could start to kick Amiga and Atari ST standards out of the place. VGA could also display a 640x480x16 video mode. All those from a 262,144colour total palette (6x6x6 bits). The VGA could also display all previous modes from CGA and EGA cards.
+The widely used VGA mode was the MCGA : 320x200x256. When those kind of display were widely available the CGA and EGA were obsolete and the PC could start to kick Amiga and Atari ST standards out of the place. VGA could also display a 640x480x16 video mode. All those from a 262,144colour total palette (6x6x6 bits).
 <br>

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:38, 11 May 2025
Line 70:		Line 70:

	This looks quite like a ZX Spectrum palette.		This looks quite like a ZX Spectrum palette.
		+
		+	Note: Color 6 is treated specially. Normally, color 6 would become dark yellow, but in order to achieve a more pleasing brown tone, special circuitry in most RGBI monitors makes an exception for color 6 and changes its hue from dark yellow to brown. Some monitors even provide a potentiometer labelled "BROWN ADJ." to adjust this color.

	*EGA palette :		*EGA palette :

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:22, 11 May 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[Image:Amstrad pc1512-2.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|The '''Amstrad PC1512''' - The first PC by Amstrad]]		[[Image:Amstrad pc1512-2.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|The '''Amstrad PC1512''' - The first PC by Amstrad]]
		+
		+	[[File:Amstrad-pc1512-ad.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|Amstrad PC1512 advertised]]

	[[Image:Amstrad PC20.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|The '''Amstrad PC20''' - An attempt to market the PC as a home computer]]		[[Image:Amstrad PC20.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|The '''Amstrad PC20''' - An attempt to market the PC as a home computer]]