page_title: IBM Personal System/2
section_title: Graphics
hierarchical_section_title: IBM Personal System/2 / Technology / Graphics
context_page_description: The Personal System/2 or PS/2 is IBM's third generation of personal computers. Released in 1987, it officially replaced the IBM PC, XT, AT, and PC Convertible in IBM's lineup. Many of the PS/2's innovations, such as the 16550 UART, 1440 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk format, Model M keyboard layout, 72-pin SIMMs, the PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, and the VGA video standard, went on to become standards in the broader PC market.
  The PS/2 line was created by IBM partly in an attempt to recapture control of the PC market by introducing the advanced yet proprietary Micro Channel architecture on higher-end models. These models were in the strange position of being incompatible with the IBM-compatible hardware standards previously established by IBM and adopted in the PC industry. However IBM's initial PS/2 computers were popular with target market corporate buyers, and by 30th September 1988 IBM reported that it had sold 3 million PS/2 machines. This was only 18 months after the new range had been introduced.
  Most major PC manufacturers balked at IBM's licensing terms for MCA-compatible hardware, particularly the per-machine royalties.
context_section_description: Most of the initial range of PS/2 models were equipped with a new frame buffer known as the Video Graphics Array, or VGA for short. This effectively replaced the previous EGA standard. VGA increased graphics memory to 256 KB and provided for resolutions of 640×480 with 16 colors, and 320×200 with 256 colors. VGA also provided a palette of 262,144 colors (as opposed to the EGA palette of 64 colors). The IBM 8514 and later XGA computer display standards were also introduced on the PS/2 line.
  Key monitors and their maximum resolutions:
  8504: 12″, 640×480, 60 Hz non-interlaced, 1991, monochrome
  8507: 19″, 1024×768, 43.5 Hz interlaced, 1988, monochrome
  8511: 14″, 640×480, 60 Hz non-interlaced, 1987
  8512: 14″, 640×480, 60 Hz non-interlaced, 1987
  8513: 12″, 640×480, 60 Hz non-interlaced, 1987
  8514: 16″, 1024×768, 43.5 Hz interlaced, 1987
  8515: 14″, 1024×768, 43.5 Hz interlaced, 1991
  8516: 14″, 1024×768, 43.5 Hz interlaced, 1991
  8518: 14″, 640×480, 75 Hz non-interlaced, 1992
  9515: 14″, 1024×768, 43.5 Hz interlaced, 1992
  9517: 16″, 1280×1024, 53 Hz interlaced, 1991
  9518: 14″, 640×480, non-interlaced, 1992
  38F4737: 10", 640×480, non-interlaced, 1989, amber monochrome plasma screen; this display was exclusive to models P70 and P75
  In truth, all "XGA" 1024×768 monitors are multimode, as XGA works as an add-on card to a built-in VGA and transparently passes-thru the VGA signal when not operating in a high resolution mode. All of the listed 85xx displays can therefore sync 640×480 at 60 Hz (or 720×400 at 70 Hz) in addition to any higher mode they may also be capable of. This however is not true of the 95xx models (and some unlisted 85xx's), which are specialist workstation displays designed for use with the XGA-2 or Image Adapter/A cards, and whose fixed frequencies all exceed that of basic VGA – the lowest of their commonly available modes instead being 640×480 at 75 Hz, if not something much higher still. It is also worth noting that these were still merely dual- or "multiple-frequency" monitors, not variable-frequency (also known as multisync); in particular, despite running happily at 640×480/720×400 and 1024×768, an (e.g.) 8514 cannot sync the otherwise common intermediate 800×600 "SVGA" resolution, even at the relatively low 50 to 56 Hz refresh rates initially used.
  Although the design of these adapters did not become an industry standard as VGA did, their 1024×768 pixel resolution was subsequently widely adopted as a standard by other manufacturers, and "XGA" became a synonym for this screen resolution. The lone exception were the bottom-rung 8086-based Model 25 and 30, which had a cut-down version of VGA referred to as MCGA; the 286 models came with VGA. This supported CGA graphics modes, VGA 320x200x256 and 640x480x2 mode, but not EGA or color 640x480.
caption: MCA IBM XGA-2 Graphics Card
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