Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!unmvax!nmt.edu!jcksnsr
From: jcksnsr@nmt.edu (Jeffrey C. King)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Purchase decision, to STe or not?
Message-ID: <1990Sep26.050938.3441@nmt.edu>
Date: 26 Sep 90 05:09:38 GMT
References: <1990Sep24.054555.624@ecst.csuchico.edu> <1990Sep25.021056.1425@nmt.edu> <1990Sep25.182510.6246@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Organization: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Lines: 27

In article <1990Sep25.182510.6246@ecst.csuchico.edu> ekrimen@cscihp.UUCP (Ed Krimen) writes:
>- Current Notes stated that the STe and TT were to have remarkably
>- similar graphics..)
> 
>Hmm, this is the first I'm hearing about the new modes for the STe, 
>and, here, I have one!  I know that the TT had these modes, but 
>didn't know that the STe had them.  I thought it was kinda weird that 
>the JRI 4096 color utilities (which work on the STe) included a 
>program to convert 32-color IFF pics to 32 gray-scale NEO pics.  Is
>that a result of the 320x200x32 mode?
> 
>Now all we need is software to use these modes!

  In order to  use more than 16 colors without a color map and funny routines
 (Spectrum!)  you have to have more than 3 bit planes.. (2^3)= 16 thus only
sixteen colors... but with four bit planes (2^4) one would have 32 colors.
  One side effect would be larger files... As simple way to check the converted
files is to check files size if they are about 32K then they probably only
have 16 colors (more obtained by clever dithering).. but if they are noticably
larger they probably include more bit planes...  (This is a side effect of
the .NEO format.. it is essentially pallete data followed by a straight screen
dump....  obviously this wouldn't work to tell with a compressed file 
 (TNY or PC?).
 
  JEff