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Graphics programming "in the 90s" encompasses a pretty wide range. You had raw access to things like VGA cards and then different tricks per each individual ca
by bluedino 1y ago
Graphics programming "in the 90s" encompasses a pretty wide range.
You had raw access to things like VGA cards and then different tricks per each individual card when it came to things like SVGA
http://qzx.com/pc-gpe/index.php http://qzx.com/pc-gpe/index.php
You had a few things like UniVBE that tried to create a common platform for VESA cards to be used
https://wiki.sierrahelp.com/index.php/Scitech_UniVBE https://wiki.sierrahelp.com/index.php/Scitech_UniVBE
Meanwhile, you had things like video drivers for Windows, usually basic 2D functionality:
https://www.os2museum.com/wp/windows-9x-video-minidriver-source-code/ https://www.os2museum.com/wp/windows-9x-video-minidriver-sou...
https://www.os2museum.com/wp/antique-display-driving/ https://www.os2museum.com/wp/antique-display-driving/
In the mid-90's we started getting 3D hardware like 3Dfx and Rendition cards, they each had their proprietary interfaces.
And then finally, the 3D hardware was adopted by standards like OpenGL and DirectX.
- ferguess_k 1y agoThanks. I agree that the 90s saw the explosion of graphic programming and graphic card techs. I wonder if a "graphic card emulator" is a legit thing, like a CPU emulator -- or is that simply a 2d/3d/text renderer? The problem I face is, most of the legacy cards are either gone, or expensive to acquire (plus I need to buy a legacy PC), so it is not practical to write drivers for most of the legacy physical cards -- but say if I want to write a driver for a Hercules Graphic Card (admittedly it's a 80s card), can I simply write a software emulation and plug the "driver" into some place? Is it equivalent to writing the low level graphic libraries like SDL?
- OCTAGRAM 1y agoI would look for MiSTer FPGA PC-XT core
- ferguess_k 1y agoThanks, I see. So it's like, instead of a softcore in Verilog, we have something similar for a GPU.