Users Guide

Abbreviation for volt(s) direct current.
VDE
Abbreviation for Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker.
VESA
Acronym for Video Electronics Standards Association.
VGA
Abbreviation for video graphics array. VGA and SVGA are video standards for video adapters with greater resolution
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 installed 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 capabilities. 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 application programs and operating environments in a variety of video modes.
On most current Dell computers, a video adapter is integrated 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 adapters can
also include their own coprocessor chip for faster graphics rendering.
video driver
Graphics-mode application programs and operating environments, such as Windows, often require video drivers 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 graphics 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.