AX architecture

AX (Architecture eXtended) was a Japanese computing initiative starting in around 1986 to allow PCs to handle double-byte (DBCS) Japanese text via special hardware chips, whilst allowing compatibility with software written for foreign IBM PCs.

Advert of an AX machine

History

The idea was conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi before he resigned his position as vice president of Microsoft.[1] Microsoft Japan took over the project, and in July 1987 the Preparatory Committee of the AX Consortium started developing its specification.

The AX Consortium officially started in October 1987, including ASCII Corporation, Sony, Hitachi, Sharp, Oki, Casio, Canon, Kyocera, Sanyo, Mitsubishi Electric, etc., but notably excluding Toshiba and Fujitsu (who were hence the 'opposition').[1][2]

At that time, NEC PC-9801 was the dominant PC architecture in the Japanese PC market because IBM PC/AT and its clone PCs could not display Japanese text.[3] However, NEC did not tolerate PC-9801 compatible machines and was fighting court battles with Epson which was the only PC-9801 compatible machine vendor. Therefore, other vendors desperately needed a standard specification for Japanese capable PCs.

Eventually two standards were developed: JEGA and AX-VGA.

Due to less available software and its higher cost compared to the PC-9801 series, AX failed and was not able to break into the market in Japan. The Nikkei Personal Computing journal reported in 1989 that only 18 out of 36,165 PCs used in 937 companies were AX machines, and 90% of companies had no plan to purchase the AX machine.[4]

In 1990, IBM Japan unveiled DOS/V which enabled IBM PC/AT and its clones to display Japanese text without any additional hardware using a standard VGA card.[5] Soon after, AX disappeared and the decline of NEC PC-9801 began.[6]

AX architecture machines

Several companies released AX computers:

JEGA
JEGA
Release date1987 (1987)
Designed byASCII, Chips & Technologies
ArchitectureP82C435 and V6367
History
PredecessorEGA

To display Kanji characters with sufficient clarity, AX machines had JEGA screens with a resolution of 640 x 480 rather than the 640 x 350 standard EGA resolution prevalent elsewhere at the time.[7][8][9] JEGA was developed jointly by ASCII and Chips & Technologies, combining the P82C435 and V6367 video chips.[10] Users could typically switch between Japanese and English modes by typing JP and US, which would also invoke the AX-BIOS and an IME enabling the input of Japanese characters.

In addition to the modes provided by EGA, JEGA supports the following display modes as standard:

  • 80 x 25 character text display, effective resolution 640 x 480 pixels, 8 pages: overwrites modes 2h (graphic screen and overlaid display) and 3h of EGA;
  • 640 x 480 pixels graphics: 1 page or 1 page overlaid with text screen.

AX-VGA

IBM released the VGA standard soon after AX was introduced. Since the AX architecture was not compatible with the new standard, the AX consortium had to design a VGA compatible chipset .

This was called AX-VGA and could be implemented in two ways:

  • AX-VGA/H, a hardware implementation based on the AX-BIOS;
  • AX-VGA/S, a software emulation. [11]

Development of the AX-VGA chipset was delayed, and its first implementation came out in 1991.[12][13][14] By that time, DOS/V was already available, allowing standard IBM PC compatibles to display Japanese text using a VGA card.[5] The need for AX was gone and further developments were discontinued.[6]

See also

References
  1. コンピュータ・ニュース社, ed. (1988). "「パソコン産業史」年表". 100万人の謎を解く ザ・PCの系譜 (in Japanese). コンピュータ・ニュース社. pp. 40–57. ISBN 4-8061-0316-0.
  2. Methe; Miyabe; Toyama; Mitchell (January 1998). Methe, David & Miyabe, J. & Toyama, R. & Mitchell, Will. (1998). Overcoming a Standard Bearer: Challenges to NEC's Personal Computer in Japan. Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
  3. Schilke, Steffen (1992). Japanization (PDF). p. 140.
  4. 松岡, 資明; 中川, 貴雄; 礒田, 温之; 西村, 裕 (1989-04-10). "調査：パソコン・シェア 企業はPS/55、家庭はPC-9800". 日経パソコン (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications: 280–281. ISSN 0287-9506.
  5. West; Dedrick (November 30, 1996). Competing through Standards: DOS/V and Japan's PC Market (PDF). Center for Research on Information Technologies and Organizations, University of California, Irvine.
  6. West, Joel; Dedrick, Jason (2000). "Innovation and Control in Standards Architectures: The Rise and Fall of Japan's PC-98". Information Systems Research. 11 (2): 197–216. doi:10.1287/isre.11.2.197.11778. ISSN 1047-7047. JSTOR 23015882.
  7. Auckerman (February 1996). "Overcoming the Obstacles to Business Success in Japan". Computing Japan Magazine.
  8. "Insider's Computer Dictionary：JEGA とは？ - ＠IT". atmarkit.itmedia.co.jp. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  9. Sandy. "Video/Japanese Display Adapter For High Quality Japanese Fonts". PS/55, Japanese PS/2. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  10. "ASCII EXPRESS: IBM PC/AT compatible unified Japanese standard "AX" solidifies. It will be released by each company next spring”. ASCII 1987.10 .
  11. Krusher (2018-09-04). "Graphics cards of the IBM era". Nobody comes after the last. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  12. "新製品ニュース HARD". 事務と経営 (in Japanese). 43 (542): 90. July 1991 – via National Diet Library Digital Collections.
  13. CBR Staff Writer (June 3, 1991). "HITACHI DELAY IN AX SPEC PC DELIVERY". Tech Monitor.
  14. "FLORA 3020/3010 Series". Information Processing Society of Japan Computer Museum. Retrieved 2023-02-28.

Further reading
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