Your monitor allows you to interact with your Amiga. Many different monitors are compatible with the Amiga, which offers a variety of display options to suit your monitor's capabilities. Through the ScreenMode Preferences editor provided by the Workbench software, you can choose how your monitor's display appears.
Not all monitors are compatible with your Amiga when it is powered on (booted) for the first time. All Amigas, except those quipped with a hardware display enhancer, require that the monitor used for the first boot be able to display 15 kHz scan modes. If you are using a multiscan monitor or other monitor that can display 15 kHz modes, you should have no problem seeing and using your display after the initial boot. If you are not sure if your monitor syncs to 16 kHz, consult the documentation that came with it or contact your dealer.
If you do not have the hardware display enhancer and your monitor is VGA-only or does not sync to 15 kHz, your display will be distorted until an appropriate ScreenMode Preferences editor setting is made. Since you cannot reach this editor the first time you power on your Amiga using a VGA-only monitor, we recommend that you make and save your initial settings using a monitor that displays 15 kHz modes. We also recommend that you make at least one backup floppy disk copy of your Workbench software containing these initial ScreenMode editor settings in case you ever need to recover your display. If you have a problem doing this, consult your dealer or request that your dealer makes your initial settings for you.
You should be able to use your VGA-only monitor with the Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) chip set; however, there may be limitations on the screen display modes that you can use. Most games do not work with VGA-only monitors. See Chapter 7 for more information on scan rates and screen display modes.
