(1) (
Expert
Imaging and
Sound
Association) An association of more than 50 special interest magazines from 29 countries, founded in 1989. EISA began in 1982 when the editors from five European photo magazines met to select "The Camera of the Year." Audio and video were later added.
(2) (
Extended
ISA) Pronounced "
ee-suh." An earlier PC bus that extended the 16-bit ISA bus (AT bus) to 32 bits and provided bus mastering. ISA cards could plug into an EISA slot. EISA was announced in 1988 as a 32-bit alternative to the Micro Channel that would preserve investment in existing boards. However, EISA ran at the slow 8 MHz speed of the ISA bus in order to accommodate any ISA cards that may be plugged into it. EISA was superseded by PCI. See
PC data buses.
Types of Expansion Cards
EISA was superseded by the PCI bus.