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From: minich@d.cs.okstate.edu (Robert Minich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Why no CLUTs?
Message-ID: <1990Sep25.060147.6502@d.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 06:01:47 GMT
References: <50958@brunix.UUCP>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Oklahoma State University
Lines: 31

by rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony):
| (Izumi Ohzawa) writes:
|>How about LUTs (Color lookup tables)?  Do they exists on NeXTdimension
|>boards?
| 
| Can you tell me what colors you want to look up that 24-bit color does
| not bring to a screen directly without a look-up?

  Believe it or not, there are plenty of legit reasons for CLUTs. The most
interesting is probably CLUT animation. I 'spose you might be able to
do something similar with the NeXTdimension and LOTS of computation, but it's a
whole lot easier to just twiddle a 256x24 bit table. Seeing as visualization is
an up and coming area, I am surprised CLUTs aren't available.
  Also, having 4096 colors is great, but you can get very good results with 256
colors that YOU get to choose. Perhaps I want to do grey scale with more than 16
shades without dithering. If you want to argue that sharing a CLUT can't be
done, just look at the Mac. This is one thing Apple has done very well. If you
don't care about CLUTs, you don't have to. But those who really need them can
have them and still share with other programs. (Of course, total hogs in the
foreground can affect background windows adversely, but at least they have the
chance.)

BTW, anyone have a phone # or something where I can get some info/brochures,
etc. from NeXT? The people in charge of student discounts here hardly know what
their pushing and I doubt they'll know anything. (ie, how can I get a student
discount w/out my school acting as middleman?)
-- 
|_    /| | Robert Minich            |
|\'o.O'  | Oklahoma State University| A fanatic is one who sticks to 
|=(___)= | minich@d.cs.okstate.edu  | his guns -- whether they are 
|   U    | - Ackphtth               | loaded or not.