Hercules
Hercules Monochrome / Hercules Graphics Card
- Overview
- Games
Hercules is part of the category Display Hardware Supported.
Hercules Monochrome, also known as the Hercules Graphics Card (HGC), was introduced in 1984 by Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. The card provided an IBM MDA compatible 80 column text mode along with a 720x348 graphics mode. Additional graphics modes (including 640x300, 720x352, and other similar graphics resolutions) were possible by programming the card's CRTC controller. Due to the competitive price, high quality 80-column text, and high resolution graphics, the Hercules Monochrome card became a popular alternative to IBM's MDA and CGA adapters. There were also TSR's available that would emulate the CGA card (though only in monochrome of course) on the Hercules card. Games with this attribute include a native Hercules mode so they could be run with a Hercules card without a CGA emulator/TSR.
The Hercules card could also be used to drive a second monitor when installed along with another type of graphics such as CGA or VGA. While this feature was most commonly utilized by productivity software, a very small handful of games took advantage of this as well.
The Hercules card featured the following video modes:resolution | colors | notes |
---|---|---|
80x25 Text | monochrome | Compatible with IBM MDA |
720x348 graphics | monochrome |
Pictures
Click on a picture below to view a larger version.Hercules Graphics Card |
Hercules Graphics Card Plus |
Marketing
Product catalogs, magazines, flyers, or other documentation Hercules has appeared in.*Note: If you are unable to see any images in this section, you may have an ad blocker installed that is blocking the thumbnails and/or images.
Magazine Advertisements |