sqpat
Experienced Member
This is a question that gets asked from time to time, and I've been researching this in the past day or so, and there is a lot of conflicting information out there about this. The original IBM EGA card I believe wired its two RCA ports to the feature connector pins 4 and 5. Around late 1986 and early 1987 a few cards began to output composite signals through one or both of the RCA jacks. I compiled a small list down below, based off reading through some PC Mag and Info World magazines from those years as well as some posts in recent years here and on VOGONS. I do think the default behavior is that they do not output a composite signal as it would require additional circuitry and chips in general. It's also worth nothing that a composite output is probably a very poor quality display option for these cards, but it is really convenient.
I'm also not sure which of these cards only support composite output in CGA modes, and which ones do it in EGA or Hercules modes.
RCA Jack Does Support Composite:
ATI EGA Wonder (There were a few variants of this card. Some cost-reduced versions might remove support for this?)
Juko G7-A
Vutek EGA
IDEAssociates Overboard
VTech Auto EGA4+
TSENG EVA/480 ET-2000 EGA (Through Feature Connector adapter)
RCA Jack Does NOT Support Composite:
IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter
Paradise PEGA1/Autoswitch cards
Quadram QuadEGA
Orchid TurboEGA
AST 3G, 3G Plus
Not Sure:
Genoa SuperEGA+
Video7 EGA Boards
Heath EGA Boards
Boca Research Multi EGA
Everex Micro Enhancers
DTK EGA Cards
I would love to expand the list if anyone else knows cards that support the feature.
I'm also not sure which of these cards only support composite output in CGA modes, and which ones do it in EGA or Hercules modes.
RCA Jack Does Support Composite:
ATI EGA Wonder (There were a few variants of this card. Some cost-reduced versions might remove support for this?)
Juko G7-A
Vutek EGA
IDEAssociates Overboard
VTech Auto EGA4+
TSENG EVA/480 ET-2000 EGA (Through Feature Connector adapter)
RCA Jack Does NOT Support Composite:
IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter
Paradise PEGA1/Autoswitch cards
Quadram QuadEGA
Orchid TurboEGA
AST 3G, 3G Plus
Not Sure:
Genoa SuperEGA+
Video7 EGA Boards
Heath EGA Boards
Boca Research Multi EGA
Everex Micro Enhancers
DTK EGA Cards
I would love to expand the list if anyone else knows cards that support the feature.