A video adapter
(alternate terms include graphics
card, display adapter, video card,
video board and almost any
combination of the words in these
terms) is an integrated circuit card
in a computer or, in some cases, a
monitor that provides digital to
analog conversion, video RAM, and a
video controller so that data can be
sent to a computer's display.
Today, almost all displays and video
adapters adhere to a common
denominator de facto standard, Video
Graphics Array (VGA). VGA describes
how data - essentially red, green,
blue data streams - is passed
between the computer and the
display. It also describes the frame
refresh rates in hertz.
It also specifies the number and
width of horizontal lines, which
essentially amounts to specifying
the resolution of the pixel s that
are created. VGA supports four
different resolution settings and
two related image refresh rates.
In addition to VGA, most displays
today adhere to one or more
standards set by the Video
Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
VESA defines how software can
determine what capabilities a
display has. It also identifies
resolutions setting beyond those of
VGA. These resolutions include 800
by 600, 1024 by 768, 1280 by 1024,
and 1600 by 1200 pixels.
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