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From: jcksnsr@nmt.edu (Jeffrey C. King)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Purchase decision, to STe or not?
Summary: Oooooppss math boffo....
Message-ID: <1990Sep27.013920.5110@nmt.edu>
Date: 27 Sep 90 01:39:20 GMT
References: <1990Sep25.182510.6246@ecst.csuchico.edu> <1990Sep26.050938.3441@nmt.edu> <1990Sep26.073626.9347@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Organization: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Lines: 34

In article <1990Sep26.073626.9347@ecst.csuchico.edu> ekrimen@cscihp.UUCP (Ed Krimen) writes:
> 
>The "4096-color-compatible" NEO pics I have are 32768 bytes long.  
>They have supposedly 32 colors.

   Actually... I just punched some numbers into my calculator...
  (320*200*3)= 192000/8 = 24000 = 24K
    Which is how long a 320x200x3bit plane screen dump should be...
  32K is how long a four bit plane dump should be...
   
    I know for a fact that atari uses 32K for its screen dump...  I wonder what
that means ... did atari intend to include 4 bit planes (like the amiga) on
the original ST and then kludge it?  (or am I missing something big..)

    I guess this means that you can't tell by file size...though it also means
that the Ste might still have only three modes... but be able to display
more colors in each mode.. (If one bit plane is unused then using it would
allow compatibility between STe and Non-Ste modes..)  ^in the ST.

   Hm...  I wish I had an Ste... then I could test this... though it seems kind
of stupid for atari to have included and extra bit for the color pallette but
not for the display.. waste of time if you ask me...)

   If someone out there is a programmer .. write a short program in
low rez to try and put 32 colors on screen... 
   (Though this will only tell if it is possible... not neccessarily if it is
impossible..)
 
   Just a thought.. high rez in color would probably take a special monitor..
since the SM124 doesn't have any colored phosphor...

JEff
 
  (Oh 2^3 = 8... 8+4+2+1 = 15  0-15 equals sixteen colors...)