One of the quirks of retro hardware is that what you see on paper doesn’t always line up with what you get in practice.
Take the Amstrad PC1640 for example: although the built-in Paradise graphics chip is fully capable of both CGA and EGA colour modes, the bundled PC-MD monochrome monitor limits you to text and Hercules-style monochrome graphics.
That’s fine for productivity, but what about games? The vast majority of them need to run in CGA or EGA graphics mode.
I wanted to enjoy some classic games on the Amstrad without swapping the whole monitor setup, and the solution came in the form of an ATI Graphics Solution SR graphics card — a clever piece of hardware with a unique trick: it can emulate CGA output on an MDA monitor. Perfect!
Disabling the Built-In Graphics
Before installing the ATI card, the PC1640 needs to be told to expect an add-on CGA card instead of its built-in graphics chip. That’s done via DIP switches on the motherboard:
- SW10 = On (disable on-board graphics)
- SW6, SW7 = Off, On (select add-on CGA, 80-column mode)
👉 Reference: Amstrad PC1640 DIP switch settings
Configuring the Graphics Solution SR
With the machine ready, it’s time to configure the Graphics Solution SR for CGA emulation:
- SW1, SW2 = Off, Off (CGA emulation mode)
- SW3, SW4, SW5 = On, Off, Off (mono monitor selected)
👉 Reference: ATI Graphics Solution SR documentation (The Retro Web)
The Results
After powering up — success! The system booted with the ATI card handling video, and I was able to play a selection of classic CGA games on the monochrome Amstrad monitor.
Even better, the card displayed grayscale tones, which look much richer than standard black or white Hercules graphics. The downside is a noticeable flicker, caused by the interlaced screen mode the card uses to display CGA emulation on an MDA display. Still, for the novelty of playing colour games on a mono display, it’s a pretty neat trick.
Switching Back to Hercules
Want to return to Hercules mode? No problem — it just takes a quick switch configuration:
On the PC1640 motherboard:
- SW10 = On (disable on-board graphics)
- SW6, SW7 = On, On (select add-on MDA)
👉 Reference: Amstrad PC1640 DIP switch settings
On the Graphics Solution SR:
- SW1, SW2 = On, Off (monochrome mode)
- SW3, SW4, SW5 = On, Off, Off (mono monitor)
👉 Reference: ATI Graphics Solution SR documentation (The Retro Web)
And just like that, you’re back in Hercules mode.
Final Thoughts
The ATI Graphics Solution SR is a very interesting card that bridges the gap between productivity-oriented mono PCs and the world of CGA gaming — and it adds a whole new dimension to what’s possible on the Amstrad PC1640’s PC-MD monochrome monitor.
So far as I can tell, this is a truly unique feature.
As a next step, I’m trying to buy an ATI EGA Wonder. This should achieve the same graphics emulation support as the Graphics Solution SR — but this time with EGA colour mode. Wish me luck!
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