Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!bcm.tmc.edu!dale
From: dale@bcm.tmc.edu (Dale A. Samuelsen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Where does video on the Mac II get its memory?
Message-ID: <367@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>
Date: 26 Mar 90 17:29:41 GMT
References: <1990Mar26.100104.552@eng.umd.edu>
Sender: usenet@bcm.tmc.edu
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine
Lines: 25

In article <1990Mar26.100104.552@eng.umd.edu> allon@eng.umd.edu (Allon 
Stern) writes:
> The other day, a friend and I were debating where the mac's video memory
> (screen buffer?) resides.  I always thought that the memory is on the
> video card, but my friend maintains that it gets taken from the main 
memory,
> and that you can save memory by switching to 2-color mode.  So, which is 
it?

The answer is "It Depends".  If the Mac II is a Mac IIci, then the video 
interface is built into the mother board and "borrows" some of the RAM to 
use as the video memory.   In this case your friend is accurate in his 
assertion that you can save RAM memory by switching to 2 color mode.

In the case of any other Mac II products, the video memory is on the video 
interface card and RAM memory will not be effected by a switch to 2 color 
(Black & White) mode.

Dale

Dale A. Samuelsen
Baylor College of Medicine
dale@bcm.tmc.edu
--Any opinions expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily represent 
those of Baylor College of Medicine.