(n.) A specialized circuit board that provides a monitor with all the information it needs to display graphics. Some graphics adapters are built into the computer circuitry, but a third-party graphics card is more commonly inserted in an expansion slot. The peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus is frequently used for this type of adapter. An advanced type of adapter for IBM compatibles is the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). The graphics adapter determines the resolution and refresh rate, or frequency, of the signal sent to the monitor.
Graphics Adapter Resolutions
| Adapter | Resolution | Simultaneous Colors/Mode |
| EGA | 640 x 350 | 16/text |
| 720 x 350 | 4/text | |
| 320 x 200 | 16/graphics | |
| 640 x 200 | 16/graphics | |
| 640 x 350 | 16/graphics | |
| VGA | 720 x 400 | 16/text |
| 360 x 400 | 16/text | |
| 640 x 480 | 16/graphics | |
| 320 x 200 | 256/text | |
| Super VGA (Macintosh) |
800 x 600 | 16 777 216/graphics |
| 832 x 624 | 16 777 216/graphics | |
| XGA (IBM 8514/A) |
1024 x 768 | 16 777 216/graphics |
| 1024 x 768 | 256/graphics | |
| 1152 x 864 | 16 777 216/graphics | |
| Super XGA | 1280 x 1024 | 16 777 216/graphics |
| Ultra XGA | 1600 x 1200 | 16 777 216/graphics |
| 1800 x 1440 | 16 777 216/graphics | |
| 1920 x 1200 | 16 777 216/graphics | |
| 2040 x 1664 | 16 777 216/graphics |