PSR-0311 VIDEO-PC

1. NAME OR DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM:  VIDEO-PC

3. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM OR FUNCTION

These primitives are the lowest level routines needed to perform super VGA graphics on a PC. A sample main program is included that exercises the primitives.
Both Lahey and Microsoft FORTRAN's have graphics libraries. However, the libraries do not support 256 color graphics at resolutions greater than 320x200. The primitives bypass these libraries while still conforming to standard usage of BIOS. The supported graphics modes depend upon the PC graphics card and its memory. Super VGA resolutions of 640x480 and 800x600 have been tested on an ATI VGA Wonder card with 512K memory and on several 80486 PC's (unknown manufacturers) at retail stores.

4. METHOD OF SOLUTION

Both Lahey and Microsoft primitives depend upon sending the correct parameters to the PC BIOS (basic input output system) as discussed in the references.

5. RESTRICTIONS ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEM

The primitives were  developed for 256 color VGA applications. It is known, for instance, that some CGA and 16 color VGA video modes will not operate correctly using these primitives. Potential users should try the test program on their PC/video card combination to determine applicability.

6. TYPICAL RUNNING TIME

Running times depend upon the high level application using the primitives. The test program distributed with  the primitives generates 18 full screens to show color maps. This test problem requires about a minute on a 20 MHz 80386 in the Microsoft version and about 5 minutes in the Lahey version (one of the rare times when the Lahey version is slower than the Microsoft version).

Run time for the complete test on a 66-MHz PC/80486 was 2 minutes 15 seconds.

7. UNUSUAL FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM:

8. RELATED AND AUXILIARY PROGRAMS:

10. REFERENCES

- The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC
  Microsoft Press (1985), (Information on BIOS calls).
- Richard Wilton:
  Programmer's Guide to PC and PS/2 Video Systems
  Microsoft Press (1987), (Setting colors).
- Microsoft FORTRAN Advanced Topics, Version 5.1
  Microsoft Corporation (1991), (Assembly Examples and Interfaces).
- F77L-EM/32 Programmer's Reference
  Revision B, Lahey Computer Systems Incorporated (1990), Use of
  INTRUP Subroutine to pass BIOS calls).

- Tom Jordan:
  Graphics Primitives for PC VGA Graphics
  (December 17, 1991).

11. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS

Use of the Microsoft primitives requires the  following hardware: any PC (including 8086 and 80286), a VGA graphics card, and a monitor.
The Lahey primitives require: an 80386/387 or 80486 PC, a VGA graphics card, and a monitor.

NEA-DB ran the test cases on a 80486-based 66-MHz DELL 466/L PC with 8 MBytes of RAM.

13. OPERATING SYSTEM UNDER WHICH PROGRAM IS EXECUTED

Utilization of the primitives in a high level application requires a Microsoft or Lahey FORTRAN compiler. The Microsoft primitives have been used with compilers from 3.30 through 5.1. The Lahey primitives have been used with the F77L-EM/32 compilers 4.0 through 4.01 (3.0 had some problems).
NOTE: The assembly language routines for the Microsoft primitives were compiled using the Microsoft Macro Assembler 5.1. Compatibility between other FORTRAN/Assembler combinations requires  careful examination of their interface requirements. For instance, Lahey and Microsoft pass FORTRAN arguments in opposite order, and Lahey FORTRAN pops arguments off the stack after a call while Microsoft requires that the assembly language routine remove the arguments from the stack.

NEA-DB ran the test cases under MS-DOS 6.0 with the Lahey F77L-EM/32 FORTRAN-77 compiler version 5.11.

14. OTHER PROGRAMMING OR OPERATING INFORMATION OR RESTRICTIONS

The
primitives were developed to implement super VGA graphics in FORTRAN on personal computers under DOS.
The Lahey F77L-EM/32 primitives are written in FORTRAN and use the INTRUP routine for accessing the PC BIOS. This compiler requires an 80486 or an 80386/387 personal computer.
The Microsoft primitives are written in FORTRAN and Assembler (Microsoft macro Assembler 5.1 used). Object code is included for the assembly language routines.

15. NAME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS

Contributed by: Radiation Safety Information Computational Center
                Oak Ridge National Laboratory
                Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U. S. A.

Developed by:   Experimental and Mathematical Physics Consultants
                Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

File name	File description	Records
PSR0311_01.001	Information file	86
PSR0311_01.002	Author's notes about Video-PC	61
PSR0311_01.003	Sets video mode and resolution	269
PSR0311_01.004	Input data, e.g. testms	4
PSR0311_01.005	Demo program for all versions	87
PSR0311_01.006	To compile, link and go for Microsoft	10
PSR0311_01.007	Source file Microsoft (calls asm routines)	79
PSR0311_01.008	Link directives for Microsoft	5
PSR0311_01.009	Assembler for mode set (Microsoft)	25
PSR0311_01.010	Assembler for vdac set (Microsoft)	33
PSR0311_01.011	Assembler for pixel write (Microsoft)	33
PSR0311_01.012	Assembler for pixel read (Microsoft)	35
PSR0311_01.013	Object for mode set (Microsoft)	0
PSR0311_01.014	Object for vdac set (Microsoft)	0
PSR0311_01.015	Object for pixel write (Microsoft)	0
PSR0311_01.016	Object for pixel read (Microsoft)	0
PSR0311_01.017	Executable for Microsoft	0
PSR0311_01.018	Compile, link and go for Lahey V4.01	14
PSR0311_01.019	Source file Lahay V4.01 (calls intrup rtne)	113
PSR0311_01.020	Link directives for Lahay V4.01	4
PSR0311_01.021	Executable for Lahay V4.01	0
PSR0311_01.022	Run time error message file	0
PSR0311_01.023	Setups executable for executation	0
PSR0311_01.024	Finishes setup of executable	0
PSR0311_01.025	Compile, link and go for Lahey V5.11	10
PSR0311_01.026	Executable for Lahey V5.11	0
PSR0311_01.027	Link directives for Lahey V5.11	2
PSR0311_01.028	DOS file-names	27