Japanese Display Adapters

for High-Quality Kanji Characters

@EFFF.ADF IBM Video Adapter-J (original DA for 5570-S; missing)
@EFFE.ADF Japanese Display Adapter (DA II and later, no ADP, English)
@EFFE.ADF Japanese Display Adapter (DA II and later, requires ADP, Japanese)
CEFFE.ADF Description Program for Japanese @EFFE.ADF

Display adapter (by Hiroshi Yamashita; Japanese)
About the IBM PS/55 Display Adapter II (by Akamaki; Japanese)
PS/55 display adapter screen modes and resolutions (by Akamaki; Japanese)
Unique text mode of the first generation display adapter (by Akamaki; Japanese)

Introduction
AVEC Series (16-bit w/ AVE)
   Display Adapter
   Display Adapter II Old
   Display Adapter II New
   Display Adapter III
   Display Adapter IV
     Display Adapter IV Daughter Card
   Display Adapter V
   Font ROM Cards
BVEC Series (16-bit w/ BVE)
   Display Adapter B-II Old
   Display Adapter B-II New
DBCS Series (16-bit w/ 32-bit ext & BVE)
   DBCS Display Adapter/J
   DBCS Display Adapter/NI-J
Display Modes
Video Connector
   Video Connector Pinout
Japanese Display Adapters and Win95
Japanese Display Adapters and PS/2s
Japanese Display Units

Content created by Sandy and Major Tom.


Introduction

High quality Japanese Fonts, that's what IBM Japan pursued from the very beginning.

The original IBM PC was introduced together with MDA - Monochrome Display Adapter (720x350 text only) and CGA - Color Graphics Array (640x200 2 colors) in 1981. In order to handle Japanese Kanji characters, Japanese PC manufacturers developed their own video systems. Most of the manufacturers used 640x400 dots resolution using 16x16-dot Kanji fonts, but these video systems were company-specific and were not compatible with each other. As a result of this incompatibility, every company shipped its machines with a manufacturer-specific version of MS-DOS.

IBM Japan decided to use high quality 24x24-dot fonts for their Multistation computer line that required 1024x768 resolution. (IBM Japan also used 16x16 dots fonts for entry-level models and these were designed for a resolution of 720x512 pixels.)

The full (non-abbreviated) Kanji fonts with 24x24 dot characters were really beautiful and the basic concepts about the treatment of Japanese characters and the video system of the Multistation series had been carried over to PS/55 Display Adapter II and the video mode was known as PS/55 High-resolution mode. IBM DOS J4.0 (usually referred to as JDOS) was one of the previously mentioned company-specific versions of MS-DOS. In this case, modified by IBM Japan to be used solely for the PS/55 line and its PS/55 Display Adapters.

1981 1982 1983 1984 1987 1990
 
IBM
US
MDA &
CGA
EGA VGA 8514/A XGA
640x200
2C, 4C
640x350
6C
640x480
16C
1024x768
256C
1024x768
256C
 
IBM
JP
Multistation
5550
PS/55 D/A XGA
VGA DOS/V
1024x768
16C
1024x768
16C, 256C
1024x768
640x480
16C/256C
 
NEC
&
NEC PC9801 AX JEGA VGA DOS/V
Others 640x400
16C
640x480
16C
640x480
256C

AVEC Series (16-bit w/ AVE)

The AVEC series of Japanese Display Adapters was developed for the 1st-gen PS/55s such as the 5570 and 5550 386 machines that had a VGA subsystem on the planar.

The adapters come with 1 MB video RAM on board in the stock configuration (except for DA IV) and 256 KB of RAM for user-defined characters.

Type P/N EC# Shipped with EC# → alt. parts
DA 94X0968 ? 5570-S C13008 → 38F4650
DA II 79F0114 C13008A - C13008C 5570-S C64642H → C13008F
DA III 79F0116 C13008A - C13008E 5570-S C64642H → C13008F
DA III 79F0116 C13008F 5570-S
DA II 94X1649 341648A - 341648E 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V C64642E → C27285C
DA II 38F4650 341964A - 341964C 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V C64642E → C27285C
DA III 64F8907 C27285A - C27285B 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V C64642E → C27285C
DA III 64F8907 C27285C 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V
DA IV 38F7016 C13500A - C13500B 5530-S/T C64642G → C13500C
DA IV 38F7016 C13500C 5530-S/T
DA V 56F7520 ? 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V

The table has been borrowed from HERE (modified).

Display Adapter / Video Adapter-J P/N 94X0968?, codename "LEO"? (adapter ID EFFFh)

The original Display Adapter occupies two slots and consists of the following tree boards:

  • Display Adapter Base Card (P/N 94X0970)
  • Display Adapter Sub Card (P/N 94X0971)
  • Display Adapter Font Card (P/N 94X0972)

According to the 11-87 system guide, the price of the Display Adapter was 320,000 yen. It came standard with the first PS/55 - the 5570-S (S0A), but was also available as an option.

Supports JDOS only up to version J3.0.

Please Contact Us if you have this card.

Display Adapter II Old P/N 38F4650 [P] [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1? 60-pin VRAM module connector?
J2? 40-pin Font ROM module connector?
J18 Video connector (see HERE)
U2-7,9,10 65X2554 (41465) (user char?)
U11,13 65X1194 PG TC110G38AF
U12,14 65X1195 PV TC110G38CG
U15 94X1320 FONT
U16-47 65X2554 (41465)
U48 94X5608 PC TC110G17AF
U51 65X1193 PD TC110G38AF
U52 Bt453KPJ66 RAMDAC
Y1 58.000 MHz osc

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Stock video adapter for model 5550-S/T.

Display Adapter II New P/N 94X1649? [P] [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 60-pin VRAM module connector?
J2 40-pin Font ROM module connector?
J3 Video connector (see HERE)
U1 94X1320 FONT
U2,4 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U3,5 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U6-13 65X2554 (41465) (user char?)
U17-48 65X2554 (41465)
U14 56F7477 PD TC110G38HS
U15 56F7479 PC TC110G17HS
U16 83X3208 RAMDAC

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Display Adapter III P/N 56F7520 [P] [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 60-pin VRAM module connector?
J2 40-pin Font ROM module connector?
J3 Video connector (see HERE)
U1 94X1320 FONT
U2,4 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U3,5 38F4781 PV TC110G38CG
U6-13 65X2554? (41465) (user char?)
U14 56F7477 PD TC110G38AF
U15 56F7479 PC TC110G17AF
U16 83X3208 RAMDAC
U17-48 65X2554? (41465)

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Display Adapter IV P/N 38F7016, my log says P/N 79F5417 [P] [P] [P] | [P]

J1 40-pin Font ROM module connector?
J2 80-pin VRAM module connector
J3 Video connector (see HERE)
U1-14 65X2554? (41465)
U15,19,22,25,28,31,32,34
   M5M4464AL-12 VRAM VGA
U16 90X8941 VGA
U17-18 65X2554 (41465?)
U20,21,23,24,26,27,29,30
   65X2554 (41465?) (user char?)
U33 83X3208 RAMDAC
U35 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U36 38F4781 PV TC110G38CG
   or 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U37 38F4780 PD TC110G38AF
U38 38F4783 PC TC110G17AF
U39 94X1320 FONT
Y1 28.322 MHz osc
Y2 39.272 MHz osc
Y3 25.175 MHz osc

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Stock Video Adapter for 5530-Z (and probably for 5530-T). It fits into a shortened 2/3-length slot right underneath the CRT. Two types of this adapter exist.
512 KB video RAM on the PCB, additional 512 KB can be added through connector J1.

This adapter comes with a VGA chip on board (90X8941) but has the AVE connector, rather than BVE as one would expect (5530-T/S doesn't have a VGA subsystem on the planar; Ed. Tom: maybe IBM wanted to make this adapter easy to use in other models with on-planar video?).

Display Adapter IV Daughter Card P/N 38F7075?, 38F7076, 64F9668 [P] [P]

J1 80-pin connector
U2 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U3 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U4-19 65X2554? (41465)

Display Adapter V P/N 56F7520 [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 60-pin VRAM module connector?
J2 40-pin Font ROM module connector?
J3 Video connector (see HERE)
U1 94X1320 FONT
U2,4 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U3,5 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U6-13 65X2554 (41465) (user char?)
U14 56F7477 PD TC110G38AF
U15 54F7479 PC TC110G17AF
U16 83X3208 RAMDAC
U17-48 65X2554 (41465)

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Stock video adapter for 5551-S1/T1/V1 and 5571-V1.
Supports the low-cost display model 5574-C05. In addition to 5574-C05/06/07, 5574-C19 (PN 64F8475) is listed as a compatible monitor for Display Adapter V in the "5550-S/T Stage-II Service Summary".

Font ROM Cards

The J1 (and J2?) header are thought to be connectors for additional Font ROM cards. The following font options are listed in the PC Guidebook:

  • #6113276 Kanji Font Card (for Font 24)
  • #6342422 Hangul Font Card (for Font 24)
  • #6342425 Chinese Kanji Font Card (for Font 24)
  • #6342429 Chinese Font Card (for Taiwan Region Font 24)

BVEC Series (16-bit w/ BVE)

Display Adapter B

No information about this adapter. Please Contact Us if you have this card.

Display Adapter B-II Old ZIP RAM, P/N 79F2159 [P] [P] | [P] [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 40-pin connector (pads only)
J2 Video connector (see HERE)
U1 90X8941 VGA
U2-25 Toshiba 65X2554 (41465)
U26,35,38,41,44,47,49,50
   M5M4464AL-12 VRAM (VGA)
U27-34 Toshiba 65X2554 (41465)
U36,37,39,40,42,43,45,46
   Toshiba 65X2554 (41465) (user char?)
U48 83X3208 RAMDAC
U51,53 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U52,54 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U55 56F7477 PD TC110G38AF
U56 56F7479 PC TC110G17AF
U57 94X1320 FONT-ROS
Y1 25.175 MHz osc
Y2 28.322 MHz osc
Y3 58.000 MHz osc
Y4 45.570 MHz osc
Y5 47.424 MHz osc

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G CMOS gate arrays.

Stock video adapter for 5541-T (386-20), 5561-W (486-33), 5580-Y (and probably for 5551-Vxx).

Display Adapter B-II New P/N 79F5413 [P] [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 40-pin connector (pads only)
J2 Video connector (see HERE)
U1-7,18 HM511665JP8 64Kx16 DRAM
U8,9 TC511664J-10 64Kx16 DRAM
U10 90X8941 VGA
U12 ROS 79F5421 HN62408FPD55 8M ROM
U14,15 HM511664JP8 64Kx16 DRAM
U19,21 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U20,22 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U23 79F5427 PD7 TC140G37AF
U24 56F7479 PC TC110G17AF
U25 INMOS IMSG176-J66 RAMDAC
Y1 25.175 MHz osc
Y2 28.322 MHz osc
Y3 58.000 MHz osc
Y4 45.570 MHz osc
Y5 47.424 MHz osc

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G and TC140G CMOS gate arrays.

Important: The original electrolytic SMD capacitors are prone to leaking! If your board is affected by this problem, you should replace the capacitors and clean the board as soon as possible. Otherwise, the leaking electrolyte will inevitably destroy the board!
The SMD capacitors are of the following types:
   33 µF 25 V (d = 6.3 mm) - 6× (C1-5,8)
   47 µF 16 V (d = 6.3 mm) - 2× (C6,7)


DBCS Series (16-bit w/ 32-bit ext & BVE)

The DBCS (Double Byte Character Set) adapters were sold with the newer 486 desktops such as 5551-N/Y/R/L, 5530-L, 5521-Y.

Type Shipped with Notes
DA-J/DBCS 5530-L0C/V04/V08/V28/VAB/Wxx
5551-Wxx/Y0A/YAB/N0A/NAB/NAE
5561-Nxx
8595-Jxx
PS/2 compatibility
Possible issues w/ older PS/55 BIOS versions
DA-J/NI 5521-Y1B,5551-L1C/R1D Used by some PC720 models
Non-interlaced display modes

DBCS Display Adapter/J FRU P/N 07G0446, P/N 49G2000 [P] [P] | [P] [P] | [P]

F1 Fuse (see HERE)
J1 Video connector (see HERE)
U1-7,17 1M W/B HM511665JP8 64Kx16 DRAM
U8,9,12,15 1M BW HM511664JP8 64Kx16 DRAM
U10 Video 34G3196
U11 79F5427 PD7 TC140G37AF
U13 8M ROS 79F5421 HN62408FPD55 8M ROM
U14 4M ROS (pads only)
U16 89F5832 RAMDAC
U18,20 38F4782 PG TC110G38AF
U19,21 56F7478 PV TC110G38CG
U22 "BUSCON" 06G6722
Y1 45.570 MHz osc
Y2 58.000 MHz osc
Y3 47.424 MHz osc
Y4 25.175 MHz osc
Y5 28.322 MHz osc
Y6 41.5390 MHz osc

Custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC110G and TC140G CMOS gate arrays.

Important: The original electrolytic SMD capacitors are prone to leaking! If your board is affected by this problem, you should replace the capacitors and clean the board as soon as possible. Otherwise the leaking electrolyte will inevitably destroy the board!
The SMD capacitors are of the following types:
   33 µF 25 V (d = 6.3 mm) - 7× (C1-6,8)
   47 µF 16 V (d = 6.3 mm) - 1× (C7)

Stock video card for 5551-N/Y.

DBCS Display Adapter/NI-J P/N 54G1464, FRU P/N 54G1463 [P] [P]

J1 Video connector (see HERE)
U1,2,4,5 HM511664JP8 64Kx16 DRAM
U3 662G8275 HN62418FZ10 8M ROM
U6,7,9,10 76G9119
U8 66G9060PGV2 TC6217TF
U11 ICS 9412 9128-42CW16
U12 34G3155
U13 54G1466
U14 79F5427 TC140G37AF
U15 "BUSCON" 06G6722
U16 INMOS IMSG176J-80 RAMDAC
U18 85G7137 ROM
Y1 14.318 MHz xtal

Some of the custom logic implemented using Toshiba TC140G CMOS gate array.

Important: The original electrolytic SMD capacitors are prone to leaking! If your board is affected by this problem, you should replace the capacitors and clean the board as soon as possible. Otherwise the leaking electrolyte will inevitably destroy the board!

Not a real 32-bit adapter. The 32-bit portion of the MCA card edge connector is used only to supply power to the card.

The last Japanese Display Adapter shipped with models 5551-R/L and 5521-Y1B.

The NI suffix stands for Non-Interlaced.


Display Modes (sourced from HERE; modified)

BIOS Modes

Mode # Description Resolution
08h Single color text mode 80x25 characters
0Ah Monochrome graphics mode 1024x768 dots
0Eh color text mode 80x25 characters
0Dh 16 color graphic mode 1024x768 dots
0Fh 256 color graphics mode 1024x768 dots

When the system is reset, the operating mode is set to 03h (VGA 80x25 text mode), and when Japanese DOS is started, the operating mode is set to 08h. At this time, the video signal output will be switched from VGA to Display Adapter. In character mode, simply by writing a JIS code to a specific memory address location (code buffer), the character pattern is read from the Kanji ROM and characters including Japanese can be displayed. The font size is half-width 12x24, full-width 24x24, but because there is a space on the display, the character box size is half-width 13x29, full-width 26x29, and the text screen resolution is 13x80 horizontally = 1040 dots and vertical 29x25 = 725 dots.

256-color display is an option on some PS/55 models (supported by installing a display memory expansion kit). All 5550-S/T models are fully equipped with 1MB of VRAM. The reason for displaying 256 colors out of 262,144 is that 6x3 (RGB) = 18 bits are assigned to one palette color in the DAC's palette register, which corresponds to 8 planes x 1 bit on VRAM.

Monitor Modes

Resolution Horizontal Vertical Pixel Clock Mode
Description
Frequency Polarity Frequency Polarity
1024x768i 46.08 kHz Positive 116.2 Hz Positive 58.000 MHz PS/55 text mode
1024x768i 46.51 kHz Positive 114.9 Hz Positive 58.000 MHz PS/55 graphic mode

Please note that since the display modes are interlaced (except for the J-NI adapter) they may not be supported by newer monitors (especially LCDs).


Video Connector

All Japanese PS/55 display adapters described here feature the normal HD15 female connector used by most VGA adapters. The pinout and signals are mostly compatible with the standard analog VGA interface as well, with two notable differences:

  • The PS/55 adapters don't implement the Display ID feature that normally uses pins 4, 11, 12, and 15 to identify the connected display unit. This alone however shouldn't cause any compatibility issues.

  • More important difference is the presence of 12 volts on pin 9 (similar to Image Adapter/A). This voltage is used by some IBM monitors as a "power on" signal (for example the IBM 5574-C05/06/07 and M06/W06 monitors where it closes a normally opened power supply relay). Pin 9 is used as a "key" by most other period-correct monitors, so the voltage won't even reach the display unit, which means there's nothing to worry about in this case. However if your monitor does have this pin populated, be careful, as this could cause problems.

    Most PS/55 display adapters have a small fuse (typically marked "F1") that protects the 12 V supply from an overcurrent situation. So if the connected monitor overloads the 12 V line (i.e. by shorting it to ground), the fuse will blow. If this happens the adapter and the rest of the system should still operate normally, but the 12 V supply will be missing from the video connector (not really an issue, unless you intend to use one of the IBM monitors that use it as a "power on" signal). However with some of the newer monitors that expect 5 V on this pin, you could be less lucky and the higher voltage could damage the monitor! (even if the empirical evidence suggests otherwise...) To avoid any such issues use an extension cable that doesn't have pin 9 populated, or carefully remove it with a pair of nose pliers (carefully!).

Video Connector Pinout

Pin I/O Signal
1 O Red Video
2 O Green Video
3 O Blue Video
4 N/A Reserved
5 N/A Reserved
6 N/A Red Ground
7 N/A Green Ground
8 N/A Blue Ground
9 O +12 V (fused)
10 N/A Digital Ground
11 N/A Reserved
12 N/A Reserved
13 O H Sync
14 O V Sync
15 N/A Reserved

Japanese Display Adapters and Win95

The PS/55 display adapter driver for Win 3.1J can be used with Win95 to get resolution of 1024x768 and 16 colors, but it's SLOW (these adapters are really intended to be used with DOS and Win 3.1). Japanese Readers, please see THIS if you want to known how to use the PS/55 Display Adapter family under Win95.


Japanese Display Adapters and PS/2s

The Japanese Display Adapters were designed to be used with IBM Japan's specialized JDOS. It has been said that the AVEC display adapters can't be used with the PS/2 line, but the BVEC and DA-J adapters supposedly can. I'm not sure about these claims but I've once used one of the Japanese display adapters with the 8570 25 MHz planar. I don't remember exactly which card have I used. Anyway, in order to get color signal from one of the "PS/2 compatible" display adapters you will have to use the following trick.

To get color image you have to add CHKMON.EXE to your AUTOEXEC.BAT (the utility can be also found on the Reference Diskette). This may be necessary only for adapters predating the DA B-II card, the later DBCS adapters may work out of the box, but I'm not sure. I've confirmed this using PS/2 Model 8570 with the 25 MHz planar and D/A-III.


Japanese Display Units (by akm, Japanese original HERE)

Model Ann.
Date
Compat.
System
Adapter Description
8503-001 Apr 1987 PS/2 (VGA) VGA only 640x480 NI, 12" mono
8513-001 Apr 1987 PS/2 (VGA) VGA only 640x480 NI, 12" color
5574-C02 May 1987 PS/55 Original DA 1024x768 I, 16" color
5574-C06 Apr 1988 PS/55 DA-II or later 1024x768 I, 14" color
5574-M06 Apr 1988 PS/55 DA-II or later 1024x768 I, 15" mono, green/yellow (64 sh.)
5574-W06 Apr 1988 PS/55 DA-II or later 1024x768 I, 15" mono, white (64 sh.)
5574-C07 Sep 1988 PS/55 DA-II or later 1024x768 I, 16" color
5574-C09 Sep 1988 PS/55 DA-II or later 1024x768 I, 20" color,
environmentally resistant model
5574-C05 May 1990 PS/55 DA-V or later 1024x768 I, 14" color,
low-price version of C06
8515-A01 May 1990 PS/2 (8514/A) DA-V or later 1024x768 I, 14" color
2414-A07 Feb 1993 PS/V (SVGA) XGA-2 1024x768 NI, 17" color
5574-S15 May 1994 PS/V (SVGA) XGA-2, DA-J/NI 1024x768 NI, 15" color, built-in speaker
5574-N17 May 1994 PS/V (SVGA) XGA-2, DA-J/NI 1024x768 NI, 17" color
5574-S17 May 1994 PS/V (SVGA) XGA-2, DA-J/NI 1024x768 NI, 17" color, built-in speaker
5574-C19 ? PS/55 DA-II or later? 20" color
8516-002 ? ? ? 14" color
8518-002 ? ? ? 14" color
9515-002 ? ? ? 14" color
9517-002 ? ? ? 17" color

The 5574-C02 was the first PS/55 CRT announced for the Model 5570-S, and it seems that it was able to take power from the system unit itself. But at least on the Model 5550-S/T Stage-II I can't find a matching connector.

The 5574-C06 is a standard monitor for the early PS/55 models. This model is equipped with a mechanism that turns the monitor on in conjunction with the power supply in the main unit. Since this uses a unique signal pin instead of the more standard video signal detection method, the monitor will not turn on when connected to a generic PC-clone. It's necessary to provide +12V on pin 9 of the VGA connector or to modify the power supply circuit on the CRT side.

The 8515-A01 is a standard monitor for the late PS/55 models. This model is not compatible with systems equipped with Display Adapter II/III/IV. The signal timing seems to be slightly different, but I'm not sure.

The 2414-A07 probably is a multi-sync monitor but it only supports non-interlaced signals. Therefore, it's not compatible with the early and even some later PS/55 models.

The last monitor that is officially compatible with the PS/55 line is the 5574-S15/N17/S17. Support has ended at the end of 2001.

I have an EIZO Flexscan T566 connected to the 5550-T (Display Adapter II), and I can use it normally after adjusting the position and size. Since it is an interlaced signal, the liquid crystal display was completely NG (?). Of course, it appears in DOS/V mode.

List of known compatible LCD monitors HERE (Japanese, Google Docs).

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

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