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The biggest difference between accelerated and non-accelerated cards is that with accelerated video cards, the CPU no longer has to carry the bulk of the processing burden from graphics calculations. Today all new video cards are accelerated and are connected to the system’s CPU through high-speed buses such as PCI or AGP (which we’ll discuss later in this article). Systems began to slow down as the CPU was left trying to move large amounts of data from the system RAM to the video card.Īs always with technology, it didn’t take long for the bottle-neck to be sorted out.
#Netboard adapter onboard processor windows
Having the graphics handled by the processor didn’t become much of an issue until graphical user interfaces (like Windows for example) gained in popularity. In non-accelerated (unaccelerated) graphics adapters, the computer needed to change each pixel individually to change the image on the screen. Accelerated & Non-accelerated Graphics AdaptersĮarly graphics adapters received data from the processor and basically forwarded the signals to the monitor, leaving your system’s CPU to do all the work related to processing and calculating. These adapters are often called graphics accelerators.
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In addition, most adapters have their own graphics coprocessor for performing graphics calculations.
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Modern video adapters contain memory, so that the computer’s RAM is not used for storing displays. At lower resolutions, a monitor can display more colors. Within the text and graphics modes, some monitors also offer a choice of resolutions. In graphics mode, a monitor can display any bit-mapped image. In text mode, a monitor can display only ASCII characters. The two basic categories of video modes are text and graphics. The term video adapter applies to either integrated or separate video circuitry. A monochrome monitor, for example, can’t display colors no matter how powerful the video adapter. Those capabilities of a computer, however, depend on both the logical circuitry (provided in the video adapter) and the display monitor.
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It relays the information received from the programs and applications running on your system(computed by the processor) to the monitor that allows you to view the information and images on your screen.Ī video adapter is board that plugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities. It is the hardware that works between your system’s processor and monitor. Your computer’s video adapter is assigned the primary task of producing the visual output from your system. While the names to describe it are many ( video adapter, video card, video board, video display board, graphics card or graphics adapter) its job and function within a computer system remains the same, regardless of what you call it.
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