What is a Super Video Graphics Array? Short for Super Video Graphics Array, SVGA is a set of video standards introduced by IBM in 1987 as an extension of the VGA standard. In 1989, Super VGA was adopted and defined by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), an open consortium set up to promote interoperability and define standards. In the first version, SVGA defined a resolution of 800 × 600 pixels where each pixel could be any of 16 colors selected from a color palette. The SVGA standard was soon expanded to 1024 × 768 8-bit pixels and beyond in the following years. When used as a resolution specification, the term SVGA mow most commonly refers to the original resolution of 800 × 600 pixels.