Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!psuvax1!wuarchive!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!att!pacbell.com!ucsd!sdcc6!rblewitt From: rblewitt@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Richard Blewitt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: videomaster 32 (was Re: 24 bit color output) Message-ID: <14917@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> Date: 12 Dec 90 19:53:59 GMT References: <1990Dec10.082400.16227@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <14873@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> <1990Dec11.053730.17869@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Distribution: usa Organization: University of California, San Diego Lines: 58 In article <1990Dec11.053730.17869@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: >rblewitt@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Richard Blewitt) writes: >> I called PP&S this morning for some information on the videomaster 32 >> board, and got this information: > >> True 32 bit double buffering system, with its own vram (80ns) 2 or 8 >> MB configurations > >Hmm. That makes the previous "you only get one buffer with 1 MB" datum >even more muddled. When I talked to them, It seemed like they didn't want to deal with low end configurations, the 8 meg sys was the standard, and they would prpbably offer something like a 2 meg system. Besides, 1k x 1k x 24 == 3 meg. They also desided not to bother with a 32 Mhz version. >> TI graphics processor and math coprocessor 40Mhz, 0 wait Maximum >> output 1024x1024 (up from previous estimates) > >So perhaps with a compatible monitor, one could actually _view_ the whole >buffer? A shame they didn't go for 1280x1024, then, to be a little closer >to usual screen form factors. Yes, the whole buffer is visable, as for the 1280x1024, they did not think at first that they could even get the full 1024x1024. They may add this improvement, but I think it would only cause more delays, which is not acceptable. >> The bad news, not available until march, and the price will be about >> 2500 - 3000 for an 8 meg configuration. > >Ouch! That's going to have a lot of trouble competing with the Toaster >at half the price, which will have quite an installed base by then >(whatever the relative merits of the two systems). Amiga slots are still I really don't see the market as being the same for both boards. Although videomaster has a number of video features to it, it is a graphics accelerator, not a video studio board. The best chance for it in the marketplace is in competition with a personal Iris. You could put together an 040 Amiga, 32 bit graphics 18 meg ram and a large HD for about 1/2 to 1/3 the Iris price. Also, the licence for many software packages for the Iris is ungodly (I was using a molecular modeling package that cost 30,000 and still had a lot of bugs!) I did mention all of this to PP&S, and I hope they will capitalize on it. >Thanks for taking the trouble to learn and share the additional >information. Did you get any clarification on the question of whether >the video memory and the local program memory are separate or shared? I did not ask this directly, but my understanding is that the programs for the TI chips run in the VRAM, and with 8 meg, there should be more than enough room for everything. Rick Blewitt rblewitt@ucsd.edu