IBM 8514/A

IBM 8514/A
The IBM 8514/A Micro Channel adapter, with memory add-on.
Release date1987 (1987)
Cards
Entry-levelIBM Image Adapter/A
History
PredecessorEGA, PGC
SuccessorXGA
IBM 8514/A 1024 × 768 x 256 color image

The IBM 8514/A is a graphics card manufactured by IBM and introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of personal computers in 1987. It supports a display resolution of 1024 × 768 pixels with 256 colors at 43.5 Hz (interlaced), or 640 × 480 at 60 Hz (non-interlaced). IBM sold the companion CRT monitor (for use with the 8514/A) which carries the designation, 8514.

The 8514/A uses a standardised API called the "Adapter Interface" or AI. This interface is also used by XGA, IBM Image Adapter/A, and clones of the 8514/A and XGA such as the ATI Technologies Mach series and IIT AGX. The interface allows computer software to offload common 2D-drawing operations (line-draw, color-fill, and block copies via a blitter) onto the 8514/A hardware. This frees the host CPU for other tasks, and greatly improves the speed of redrawing a graphics visual (such as a pie-chart or CAD-illustration).

The 8514/A initially sold for $1290 for the adapter and $270 for the 512 KB memory expansion (equivalent to $3700 and $770, respectively, in 2025). The 8514/A required a Micro Channel architecture bus at a time when ISA systems were standard.

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