Hercules Computer Technology
More info
- Creator
- Van Suwannukul, Kevin Jenkins
- Released
- 1982
- Type
- Graphics card maker
The company behind the Hercules Graphics Card, which taught the IBM PC's crisp monochrome monitor to draw graphics.
In 1981 IBM offered a choice: sharp black-and-white text, or chunky colour graphics. Van Suwannukul wanted to write his native Thai on screen and built a card that did both, more or less: fully compatible with IBM's monochrome text mode, but with a 720×348 graphics mode on top. Hercules was founded in Berkeley in 1982 to sell it.
The breakthrough came when Lotus 1-2-3 supported the card, and high-resolution spreadsheet charts sold it to offices everywhere. HGC became a de facto standard that other makers cloned. Colour and 3D proved harder going, and the brand was bought by France's Guillemot in 1999.