Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!easy!lron
From: easy!lron@uunet.uu.net (Dwight Hubbard)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: OS Graphic Card Support: Part II!
Keywords: Graphics, OS
Message-ID: <18ab56cd.ARN0d40@easy.hiam>
Date: 12 Feb 91 16:14:21 GMT
References: <28532.27b759c9@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Reply-To: easy!lron@uunet.uu.net
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Organization: You must be talking about someone else.
Lines: 34

In article <28532.27b759c9@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>, 2fmlhiccup@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:

> I want to clarify some of my opinions on the OS Graphic Card Suport I sent
> recently...
>
> Why isn't the OS being improved to handle higher resolutions/ more bitplanes,
> etc?!?!

It isn't?  You mean all the neat new functions for handling things like the
A2024 monitor, PAL, NTSC, Superhires and Productivity  formats, ect don't exist
under 2.0?  If you have SAS 5.10 take a look at the include file
graphics/displayinfo.h in the 2.0 includes.

> Solution (IMHO)
>    Have all graphic card developers include a STANDARDIZED method of
> communicating to the OS what resolutions the card supports, how it is stored in
> memory(the image, hopefully in a rasterport compatable format), and how to
> modify the pallette, etc.

Why not just have them write a version of the graphics library for the card?
Of course the routines for handling the Copper wouldn't need to be supported
since the Card may not have that capability and the blitter and sprite routines
may need to be emulated depending on the card.  But it wouldn't require new
software to make use of the board either.

> NOTE:  The program does not directly communicate with the card to find the
> modes available, etc.  This is done by THE OS...  Therefore, one can put any
> kind of graphic card in the machine, the OS can determine what it is...and any
> program can use it because the program does not have to know how it works...

Sounds a lot like the AddMonitor command under 2.0 works.  It would just need
to be extended to allow the specification of the graphics.library name.

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-Dwight Hubbard                   | USENET  : easy!lron@uunet.uu.net          -
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