RPCEmu A real card in a real slot
It sits in an EASI slot with its own GraphicsV driver in its ROM, which is how RISC OS expects a display device to arrive. Nothing about it is a special case in the guest.
Display
Screen modes a Risc PC could not reach
What a Risc PC can display is decided by how much video memory is fitted, and 2MB runs out at 800 by 600 in full colour. Fit the emulated graphics card and its own 15MB takes you to 2560 by 1440 instead.
What it buys you
Memory is the limit, so the card brings its own
| Display memory | Largest mode in 16M colours |
|---|---|
| 2MB of VRAM, which is what a Risc PC or a Kinetic has | 800 x 600 |
| 8MB of VRAM | 1920 x 1080 |
| The card's own 15MB | 2560 x 1440 |
Verified on a Kinetic with 2MB of VRAM: 1920 by 1080 in 16 million colours needs 8.3MB of screen memory, which VIDC20 refuses and the card displays.
How it works
An ordinary expansion card, doing an ordinary thing
Off until you want it
RISC OS carries on using the motherboard's VIDC20 until the card is switched on, so fitting it changes nothing until you ask.
The modes offered are the modes that work
The resolution list is filtered to what this machine's display memory can actually hold and what RISC OS has been found to accept, rather than offering everything and letting you discover which fail.
Its own utility in Apps
A front end for turning it on, choosing a mode and reading the card's state, so none of it has to be typed at a command line.
Choosing a mode
The monitor decides what you are offered
RISC OS works out which modes it will show from the monitor type it has been told about, so that setting decides the list before the card does. It is the first place to look when a resolution you expect is missing.
Two settings, not a dialogue full
One list of resolutions, filtered to what will actually work on this machine, and one choice of whether the window is actual size or a whole multiple of it.
The window stays put
It is the size you set, centred once. It used to follow the guest through every mode RISC OS passes on the way up, which meant watching it jump through three sizes at every startup.
Readable from a program
The card's state can be read by software running in the guest, so a program can find out what it is drawing on rather than assuming.
Read more
The graphics card and ADFFS cannot both be used on one machine, and the package manager warns you rather than letting you find out. Give a machine one or the other.