(Image credit: Salam32 , public domain image)

A retro hardware enthusiast has demonstrated a fix that eliminates the washed-out appearance people can have with 1990s graphics cards from S3. In a recent video, Bits und Bolts (BuB) worked on an S3 Virge DX 4MB graphics card (1985-6) to investigate and neuter the ‘pedestal bit.’ This feature of the card’s VBIOS makes the darkest blacks more like charcoal, a highly undesirable feature if used to drive a good-quality monitor .

Finally BLACKGROUND! Fixing the S3 ViRGE "Pedestal" Bug with Assembly - YouTube

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Before we go on, here’s a refresher regarding the pedestal bit, which was a bug/feature of S3 cards such as the headlining Virge, Trio, and some early Savage family models.

In its wisdom, S3 decided to raise the black levels to a dark gray in VBIOS so imagery wouldn’t be too dark for old CRTs , particularly those that adhered to the NTSC standard. So, this raising of black to dark gray is the so-called pedestal.…