Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!van-bc! From: lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: How about Sliced EHB ?? Message-ID: <876@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca> Date: 6 Dec 89 00:06:16 GMT Lines: 80 Return-Path: To: van-bc!rnews In <1247@corpane.UUCP>, sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) writes: >In article <8912030118.AA15320@en.ecn.purdue.edu> bevis@EE.ECN.PURDUE.EDU (Jeff >Bevis) writes: > >> [ commennts about sliced and diced HAM deleted ] > >I think I know what you mean. You're not complaining about the new modes, but >about all the software hassle we have to go through to *get* these new modes, >right? I agree. It seems to me that this is a sign that the Amiga is lagging a >bit in it's graphics technology. When the Amiga came out in '84 it's graphics >was astounding, but geez that was almost 6 years ago. Now most everyone else is >catching up and surpassing us. Well, that wasn't 6 years ago. It came out in late '85, or about 4 years ago. You may think of the CPU intensive display modes as 'a sign that the Amiga is lagging in graphics technology, but I think of it as an attempt at displaying HAM properly by those who can't see any other way to do it. I have yet to see as good a picture using SHAM as I have seen with an ordinary SHOW program (uShow, to be precise), when that picture has had some care put into its bitmap by an intelligent program at generation time. > IBM has new extended VGA cards that do 640 x 480 >with 256 colors (not interlaced either) and the Mac has the same resolution >with what? 16 million colors? Last I looked, 256 was considerably less than 4096, and lack of interlace is pretty poor for displaying pictures on standard TV. Worse? Better? Just different? Food for thought. Sure, I'd LIKE to have more video modes, who wouldn't? But the ones we have are still unsurpassed in their particular niche. Sort of like saying that a Ferarri is better than a pickup truck... they are different enough that you can't say that with authority unless you are willing to qualify the statements with discussions about the purpose of each. I'd like a Ferarri that could also be used to haul lumber. :-) >I really appreciate the new software that let's you have sliced ham and >superhires ham, but to me these are interesting hacks. It reminds me of the >latter days of my Atari 800 days (just before the Amiga came out). There were >all sorts of hacks coming out to let you have more colors, etc. Yes... interesting hacks.. and all done at the wrong end of the process. Others have managed to make GREAT HAM pictures without eating your cycles when you look at it. When we have exhausted all the techniques for enhancing HAM pics at generation time, I might agree that the viewing hacks are a last ditch attempt to squeeze the last drops out of the machine. >I take it all as a sign that we need to improve the graphics in the hardware. >I think the new productivity modes in 1.4 are a step in the right direction, >but how about giving us a super hi-res ham mode in hardware? It's time Amiga >took the lead again. Heck, forget the hires ham and give us 24bit graphics like >the Mac. 16 million colors in 640 x 400 would be great. Last I looked, Mac did not have that, except via addon cards. >Of course if you change the graphics technology you run into the problem of >backwards compatibility. It's hard to change once something has been >established, isn't it? so keep the old modes and add some new 16 or 24 bit >modes. it would be a good thing to have for release 2.0 of workbench, eh? Now yer talking pardner! Let's have additional modes, by all means. The ones we have are awesome in comparison to other low cost machines. How soon we get jaded. >(anybody ever notice how CBM conveniently names their Amiga's by approximate >retail price? ;-) Yeah.. good thing they don't do that with their peripherals. No way I could afford their disk controllers or external drives. :-) -larry -- " All I ask of my body is that it carry around my head." - Thomas Alva Edison - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | // Larry Phillips | | \X/ lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca -or- uunet!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | | COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 -or- 76703.4322@compuserve.com | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+