Texas Instruments Graphics Architecture
The Texas Instruments Graphics Architecture ( TIGA ) is a standard for graphics cards that was developed by Texas Instruments since the mid-1980s .
TIGA graphics cards are based on a universal digital signal processor . Well-known processors of this standard were the TMS34010 and the TMS34020. Originally only used in special CAD systems, products for IBM-compatible personal computers also came onto the market in the early 1990s .
These cards were additional cards that were mainly used in the CAD area. Since they were not supported by the BIOS of IBM-compatible computers, a normal graphics card was always required for operation. Some versions therefore integrated an additional VGA controller (frame buffer) on the graphics board. For cost-effective CAD two -screen solutions, TIGA cards were often combined with an inexpensive Hercules graphics card and a corresponding black and white monitor.
The high-end standard was unable to establish itself on the mass market due to the high prices. The cards designed for CAD applications under DOS and for Microsoft Windows enabled an image resolution of 1280 × 1024 points with a color depth of 24 bits.
Example data of a TIGA graphics card:
Hercules Superstation XP
- Slot: 16 bit ISA
- CPU: TMS 34020
- CPU clock: 40 MHz
- Video RAM: up to 4 MB
- Program memory : up to 16 MB (including TrueType font cache)
- Resolution: max. 1600 × 1280 (interlaced), max. 1024 × 768 with Truecolor and virtually up to 4096 × 2040 pixels
- Card type: Add-on or extra VGA part on the card, not VGA-compatible
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- DOS International 1/1993, p. 44
- Data sheet TMS34010 (PDF; 1.5 MB)