Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!mcnc!taco!hobbes!kdarling From: kdarling@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) Newsgroups: comp.graphics Subject: Re: IFF, 24-bit color, displays, Amiga Message-ID: <1991Mar11.223827.21988@ncsu.edu> Date: 11 Mar 91 22:38:27 GMT References: <1119.tnews@templar.actrix.gen.nz> <15@goblin.ntg.uucp> <39983@cup.portal.com> Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System) Organization: North Carolina State University Lines: 49 In <39983@cup.portal.com> Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com Writes: >> 1. As you might know, the Amiga is not able to display more than >> 32 colors at a time in FULL MULTICOLOR. >Your information is way out of date. Without ANY hardware modifications, >on a standard Amiga monitor, Macro Paint lets you display all 4096 >colors in high resolution overscan (704 x 440) on any Amiga with 1 I don't know the context of the first message (been offline for a week), but it seems to me that the writer meant having a full color choice per pixel. Changing the palette register contents each line will give more color choices over the entire screen, sure, but that's hardly the same thing as being able to choose any color for any pixel _anywhere_. >"By taking full advantage of the Amiga's graphics co-processor (the >copper), Macro Paint makes it possible to draw with all 4096 colors >in the Amiga's high resolution graphics mode .... it is possible to >change which 16 colors out of the 4096 are available on a line by line Again, changing palette contents per line is nothing extraordinary. The important diff on the Amiga is that the display list Copper can be programmed to do those palette data writes faster than a cpu could. But even if you changed all 16 palettes/line, it would take 256 totally differently-colored lines to show all 4096 colors in this hires mode. > [...] it records the true 12-bit color of each pixel in fast memory > and is able to read and modify 32, 64, and 4096 color [and 24-bit] Okay, Micro Paint stores lots of data, and can read files which contain more res than a stock Amiga can display. Nice; but not amazing. > [ list of Amiga addon video products ...] all let you work with >256,000 and/or 16.7 million colors. You'd better research products that >have been released in the last 8 months. The 24-bit wars on the Amiga >started a long time ago. Most of those products have large palettes, yes. But few are true 24-bit per pixel displays. A 24-bit palette doesn't = 24-bit display, any more than an 18-bit palette on an IBM video card = 18-bits display. >> The problem is: There is no standard for 24-bitplane-pics. >Strike 3. It was defined about a year ago for the Amiga. But several companies had defined their own before CBM jumped in. Those other formats still float around in use. >Item #2. A previous poster mentioned that Amiga IFF standards were >kept under wraps, available only to developers. NOT AT ALL. That's true, they are available. - kev