Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!brolga!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!marlin.jcu.edu.au!glmwc
From: glmwc@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Matt Crowd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: MegaSTe info
Message-ID: <1991Feb7.021148.3227@marlin.jcu.edu.au>
Date: 7 Feb 91 02:11:48 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.100645.23401@qut.edu.au> <1991Feb4.014940.14419@marlin.jcu.edu.au> <1991Feb5.123429.1716@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Organization: James Cook University of North Queensland
Lines: 88

In article <1991Feb5.123429.1716@informatik.uni-erlangen.de> csbrod@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Claus Brod ) writes:
>glmwc@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Matt Crowd) writes:
>
>>>> What's the story with 640x400x2 ? An amiga can do 640x400x16 AND even
>>>> 640x400x4096, without any additional hardware.
>>>
>>>640*400 only in flicker mode (Interlaced)
>
>>Anyone who uses an Amiga in 640x400 or greater has a de-interlcing card
>>or runs in productivity mode, 640x400x4.
>
>Productivity mode only comes with the A3000 which means a rather hefty
>price tag for a standard 640x400 resolution.

You are wrong. I have an Amiga 2000 running productivity mode, it is
possible on a 500/2000/2500 amiga as well, all it requires is the new
Denise chip which costs $30, and Workbench 2.0.
>
>>Try doing 1280x512x2 on an ST with NO extra hardware, it's not possible,
>>it is on an amiga.
>
>Again, this is only possible on an A3000. You're comparing apples and
>oranges, i.e. Commo's top line product against Atari's new base level
>product. This is not fair. (And again, 1280x512 is interlaced, isn't
>it?)

You are wrong again. It is interlaced, but this display can be used on
about the cheapest monitor you can find. By the way, we can do
1280x256x4, WITHOUT flicker.

>>The Amiga's graphics are far superior to the ST for speed and it's a well
>>known fact.
>
>I talked to a Amiga games programmer about the Amiga blitter and he told
>me a different story. You're right when it comes to raster tricks:
>Doing this via the Copper chip is much faster than anything comparable
>on an ST. Comparing the basic resolutions, however, especially the
>ones that you need for every-day work (like 640x400) it shows that
>the ST's video design eats up less processor cycles than the A2000's
>video chips in comparable resolutions.
>

Rubbish.  The only graphical operation that is faster (very very
marginally) on the ST is polygon filling as the blitter is not suited to
it.  The blitter can draw thousands of lines per frame and move
pixels/data much faster than an ST.  The Amiga does not take any
processor cycles to do 640*400 with a flicker fixer, only using
productivity in 4 colours takes chip bus time, but does not slow down
fast mem access.  You can always switch to 2 colour prod. (same as
ST) and have no bus contention again.  The Amiga video design is far  
superior to the ST, due to the dual access ram which allows parallel
processing in different ram areas (gee I wonder why the Cray uses 
dual ram porting....?). 

I think your Amiga games programmer mustn't have even read the
hardware manual yet. (BTW, I know it backwards)

>>One look at Gem on an IBM turned me off the ST for life.
>
>You don't give up, eh? You're still comparing apples and oranges.
>GEM on an ST is much faster than on any PC I've seen it running yet,
>and the GEM desktop is much more functional. (And it really shines
>if compared to the Workbench.)
>

Have you seen Workbench 2.0?  GEM is total shit compared to 1.3, and
compared to 2.0 well it isn't even in the running.  GEM looks like
it was written by some back yard lamer with Dr Dobbs guide to Operating
systems as his only reference.

>>ps. How about multi-tasking on an ST ?? Impossible.
>
>Nonsense. We've had cooperative multitasking since the ST saw the light
>of day. I'm sure ATARI will give us something like a MultiFinder soon;
>I bet we will see such a beastie this year.
>

Yeah well Multifinder sucks too, so if you eventually get something
like it and can stop using PD hacks then you'll still be behind.  So
when is the ST getting virtual memory?

>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Claus Brod, Am Felsenkeller 2,			Things. Take. Time.
>D-8772 Marktheidenfeld, West Germany		(Piet Hein)
>csbrod@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de
>----------------------------------------------------------------------

matt crowd.