VGA Adapter Basics

The VGA Adapter module makes it easier for you to generate the VGA signals required to drive a VGA display. The adapter uses internal memory to store the picture, and indeed the VGA Adapter works rather like a digital memory. However, if it were to provide all of the resolution (accuracy) possible with a VGA display, the amount of memory required would use all the memory available on the Cyclone FPGA. Instead we use fewer total number of pixels and make the pixels bigger (and “blockier” looking); we will call them “Super Pixels.” The only difference between these "Super Pixels" and regular pixels is the size. These Super Pixels are 4 regular pixels wide and 4 regular pixels high. Because of this difference, the total resolution the adaptor provides is 160x120 instead of usual VGA resolution of 640x480.

The figure below demonstrates how these Super Pixels are represented on the monitor. The coordinates given below are the coordinates your circuit must use when communicating with the VGA Adapter module.

Interface

The "VGA Adapter Interface" page outlines all of the details involved with the VGA Adapter module and explains how you can interface with the module.