Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!mmdf From: BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Cheesy Amiga Video Message-ID: <29435@nigel.ee.udel.edu> Date: 5 Sep 90 04:15:29 GMT Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu Lines: 91 In message <9714@scorn.sco.COM> Bob Howdy writes: >...So I was pawing through the June 1990 issue of AmigaWorld, trying to >find out what the A3000's built-in video capabilities are, when I >happened upon this quote on page 22: > > "The Super Denise provides four new screen-display modes: > Productivity (640x480), Interlaced Productivity (640x960), > SuperHi-res (1280x200), and Interlaced SuperHi-res (1280x400). All > have severe color limitations, however, supporting a maximum of four > colors (two bitplanes)." > >And, later on page 32: > > "The new higher-resolution ECS modes actually have fewer colors than > standard modes. Because only a limited amount of display information > can be sent out the video port, a noninterlaced screen can be > achieved only by dropping the maximum number of colors to four from a > palette of 64. Even at four colors, these modes put such a large > burden on system resources that they may cause problems for some > programs. For everyday use, you will probably want to run the > 640x480 noninterlaced mode on a black-and-white screen." > >So if I understand this correctly, this means that the A3000--which >otherwise sounds like a wonderful machine, 16- or 25-Mhz 68030 and >all--can't do something even the most basic PS/1 or PC with a cheap VGA >card can do: decent, high-resolution noninterlaced video with a real >selection of colors. (Since when does 640x480x16 colors constitute >"a large burden on system resources" for a 68030?) > >No, I don't consider NTSC- or PAL-compatible video to be "decent video," >nor is 1280x400 _interlaced_, non-square-pixel video "decent." Come >on, folks--not everybody's a video or multimedia producer. > >I'm not saying that an Amiga should have workstation-quality video out >of the box, nor am I saying that the Amiga should become "IBM- >compatible," but something as expensive and as powerful as an A3000 >_should_ come with video that's at least as good as what's standard in >the IBM and Macintosh worlds. I believe that the weird video modes are >what's really keeping the Amiga out of the mainstream. Interlaced NTSC >(hell, interlaced _anything_) is fine for video games, but it won't cut >the mustard when an engineer wants a cheap X-Windows machine or when a >DTP person needs to do serious prepress work. > >In fact, I'd bet that if Commodore were to introduce a new A3000 that >was identical to the original _except that Super Denise was replaced >with VGA and Super-VGA-like capabilities_, the new one would easily >outsell the original, simply because of the better standard video. Such >a machine would appeal to the mainstream crowd, a crowd that doesn't >have software that uses weird video and that wants a cheap '030 box. >Hell, I'd buy one over a Mac any day. >-- >Allan J. Heim / ...!uunet!sco!allanh / allanh@sco.COM >voice: +1 408 425 7222 x6343 / fax: +1 408 429 1887 I had to echo this message. I've been saying EXACTLY the same thing about the Amiga 3000, since before it was even available, and have been getting nothing but flames for it. The first time I pointed out that the Amiga 3000 had inferior color capability, people started saying "Color? Who needs color? Most applications don't need much color, anyway." I swear, I will never let the Amiga community forget this, as what people said to me then was exactly what IBM and Apple owners said about color capability when the Amiga 1000 first came out. My, how the tables have turned!! IMHO, Commodore will NEVER recover from this rut. It has been over four years since the ECS started being developed, and it isn't even fully available yet. If the 32-bit chip set takes half as long to develop (and I doubt it will) then it will be at least two years before we see anything. If so, then that chipset had better be incredibly powerful indeed! The state-of-the-art in computer video right now is 1024x768 with 8 bitplanes (256 colors). Apple is selling a video card RIGHT NOW for under $2000 that has the same resolution, with 24 bitplanes and a RISC graphics accelerator. In two years, the state-of-the-art will probably be TIGA boards with a resolution of 1280x1024, 24-bitplanes, and a TMS34030 graphics accelerator. So, even if Commodore comes up with a chipset with a resolution of 1024x768 and 24 bitplanes, they will be right back where they started, with inferior video. Recovering from this rut will take a lot of time and a lot more money. Unfortunately, Commodore has neither. -MB-