The 8514 had used 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 Mach 32 and
IIT AGX. The interface allows computer software to offload common
2D-drawing operations (
line-draw,
color-fill, and block copies via a
blitter) onto the 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). Hardware-level documentation of the XGA was also made, which had not been available for the 8514/A. XGA introduced a 64x64 hardware
sprite which was typically used for the
mouse pointer.
Differences from 8514/A •
Register-compatible with VGA • Adds a 132 column text mode and high color in • Requires a minimum of
80386 host CPU • Provides a 3-dimensional drawing space called a "bitmap" which may reside anywhere in system memory • Adds a sprite for a hardware cursor • The Adapter Interface driver is moved to a
.SYS file instead of
TSR program • Provisions made for
multitasking environment • XGA can act as
bus master and access system memory directly • Hardware level documentation has been provided by IBM
XGA-2 XGA-2 added support for non-interlaced and made 1MB VRAM standard. It had a programmable
PLL circuit and pixel clocks up to 90 MHz, enabling a 75 Hz refresh rate at . The resolution was added with 16 bit high color support. The
DAC was increased to 8 bits per channel, and the accelerated functions were enabled at 16 bit color depth. Faster VRAM also improved performance. ==Output capabilities==