Dell 4100 User Manual page 130

VGA
Abbreviation for video graphics array. VGA and SVGA
are video standards for video adapters with greater resolu-
tion and color display capabilities than EGA and CGA, the
previous standards.
To display a program at a specific resolution, you must
install the appropriate video drivers and your monitor must
support the resolution. Similarly, the number of colors that
a program can display depends on the capabilities of the
monitor, the video driver, and the amount of memory in-
stalled for the video adapter.
VGA feature connector
On some systems with a built-in VGA video adapter, a
VGA feature connector allows you to add an enhancement
adapter, such as a video accelerator, to your computer. A
VGA feature connector can also be called a VGA pass-
through connector.
video adapter
The logical circuitry that provides—in combination with
the monitor or display—your computer's video capabili-
ties. A video adapter may support more or fewer features
than a specific monitor offers. Typically, a video adapter
comes with video drivers for displaying popular applica-
tion programs and operating environments in a variety of
video modes.
On most current Dell computers, a video adapter is inte-
grated into the system board. Also available are many
video adapter cards that plug into an expansion-card
connector.
Video adapters can include memory separate from RAM
on the system board. The amount of video memory, along
with the adapter's video drivers, may affect the number of
colors that can be simultaneously displayed. Video adapt-
ers can also include their own coprocessor chip for faster
graphics rendering.
video driver
Graphics-mode application programs and operating envi-
ronments, such as Windows, often require video drivers in
order to display at a chosen resolution with the desired
number of colors. A program may include some "generic"
video drivers. Any additional video drivers may need to
match the video adapter; you can find these drivers on a
separate diskette with your computer or video adapter.
video memory
Most VGA and SVGA video adapters include VRAM or
DRAM memory chips in addition to your computer's
RAM. The amount of video memory installed primarily
influences the number of colors that a program can display
(with the appropriate video drivers and monitor
capability).
video mode
Video adapters normally support multiple text and graph-
ics display modes. Character-based software (such as
MS-DOS) displays in text modes that can be defined as x
columns by y rows of characters. Graphics-based software
(such as Windows) displays in graphics modes that can be
defined as x horizontal by y vertical pixels by z colors.
video resolution
Video resolution—640 x 480, for example—is expressed
as the number of pixels across by the number of pixels up
and down. To display a program at a specific graphics res-
olution, you must install the appropriate video drivers and
your monitor must support the resolution.
virtual 8086 mode
An operating mode supported by Intel386 or higher
microprocessors, virtual 8086 mode allows operating en-
vironments—such as Windows—to run multiple programs
in separate 1-MB sections of memory. Each 1-MB section
is called a virtual machine.
virtual memory
A method for increasing addressable RAM by using the
hard-disk drive. (MS-DOS does not support true virtual
memory, which must be implemented at the operating sys-
tem level.) For example, in a computer with 8 MB of RAM
and 16 MB of virtual memory set up on the hard-disk drive,
the operating system would manage the system as though
it had 24 MB of physical RAM.
virus
A self-starting program designed to inconvenience you.
Virus programs have been known to corrupt the files stored
on a hard-disk drive or to replicate themselves until a sys-
tem or network runs out of memory.
Glossary 13