Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!hellgate.utah.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!ucsd!mvb.saic.com!ncr-sd!serene!cbmami!jason From: jason@cbmami.UUCP (Jason Goldberg) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics Subject: Re: DCTV Message-ID: <18c9c32c.ARN0ee9@cbmami.UUCP> Date: 7 Mar 91 08:04:44 GMT References: <27019@netcom.COM> <13749@life.ai.mit.edu> Reply-To: jason@cbmami.UUCP Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.graphics Lines: 48 In article <13749@life.ai.mit.edu>, Chris Hillery writes: > First and foremost, this box uses the Amiga's CHIP mem for picture storage, > correct? So can you really use the full features and so forth with only > 512K of chip mem? > > Secondly, how exactly does this equipment? I assume you plug it into the > parallel port, and then what do you do to show a picture? I'm really trying > to decide between going for this or a ColorBurst and could really use any > info on either... > I can't remember the exact memory requirement, I think that in order to run the Paint program you need to 1 MEG (of which only 512K need be chip RAM). As for the ports: 1. It plugs into the Parallel port to send the picures it digitizes. 2. It plugs into the RGB port to get its graphics info (provides a pass-through) 3. Has a composite input for its digitizer. 4. Has a composite output for its output. The software comes with the digitizer (an 8 second slow scan, 24 bit digitizer), which allows quite a bit of image manipulation. A very full featured paint program. A conversion module for handling various IFF 24-bit, DCTV-24bit, and all the normal Amiga modes. The Paint module can load and save both IFF 24-BIT and DCTV format pictures with out the need for a conversion utility. The way that DCTV works is that it compresses the 24bit composit image into a compressed format which is stored as a 640x400 16 color IFF image. So when it is stored in DCTV format, any IFF picture view can display the image, on your RGB screen it will look like a 16 color greyscale abstract picture, but through the magic of DCTV it shows up as 16 million colors. What this means is that I am able to take a series of 24 bit IFF frames from Imagine or ProVista, convert them to DCTV format and then use CombineAnim to create a 24 bit animation, that can display as fast as a 16 color Anim. Another side benifit of these system is that a typical IFF 24-BIT image can take 500,000 bytes while the DCTV format of the same image can often be smaller than 100,000 bytes. -Jason- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jason Goldberg UUCP: ucsd!serene!cbmami!jason Del Mar, CA