Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!cunixb.cc.columbia.edu!es1 From: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) Subject: Re: DCTV + CDTV = A SMASH HIT! Message-ID: <1991Apr7.023811.5758@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Sender: usenet@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Network News) Nntp-Posting-Host: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu Reply-To: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) Organization: Columbia University References: <10000026@hpmwmat.HP.COM> <1991Apr7.003336.3219@ncsu.edu> Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1991 02:38:11 GMT In article <1991Apr7.003336.3219@ncsu.edu> kdarling@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes: >mikep@hpmwtd.HP.COM (Mike Powell) writes: > >> As CDTV is pointed primarily as a NTSC device, DCTV would be right >> at home in the CDTV, and would give it an AMAZING jump on the >> competetion... HAM is ok. but 16 million NTSC colors is FANTASTIC! > >A good idea, but I'm afraid that it would hardly "give it an amazing jump" >on CD-I, which is CDTV's competition. In fact, not even close. > >... > >To be blunt, CD-I gfx is what the basic Amiga gfx should've been by now. >Perhaps CBM should use CD-I chips. best - kevin Kevin, you should take a look at the CDTV before being so judgemental. Yes, the graphics modes are better. But Gail Wellington made a good point: Who's going to buy a home machine that can't play games? Where the blitter? The advantage that CDTV has is that it is an Amiga. It has the whole library of Amiga software if you add a diskdrive. There were 7 different titles being sold at the show, a list of 50 titles which will be shipping by the end of June, and 150 titles promised to Commodore. The applications were excellent. There was the World Atlas, which had a full digitized atlas you could scroll around in. It had digitized voices and music from different countries. It had digitized pictures from all around the world as well. Those 600MB were well used. The best thing was how easy it was to use. There was no keyboard, just the IR control, and it was still easy. It is basically just very well thought out. I've also seen the American Heritage Dictionary, which was very well laid out, easy to use, had digitized pictures and a hypertext style to it (every word in a definition could be jumped to). Basically, it is shipping. There are titles. It is selling for about $800. Commodore has excellent distribution for it. To make it even better, without any additional hardware they were doing 1/4 screen (1/2 x 1/2) animation in HAM in 12fps. Loading was done directly off the CD. And although you may be saying "1/4 screen", you have to realize that most applications will be supplementing their normal program with the animation, and for those 1/4 screen is fine. And of course if you slow down the frame rate you can get larger area. And we all know what can be done in a 512K Amiga 500 with animation and these come standard with 1MB. The big-names are developing for it, including Grolier's, Sieera On-Line and Psygnosis. I really don't see how CD-I can possibly succeed. The Amiga operating system has had 4-5 years of thorough in-use testing and there are already lots of programmers familiar with programming it. CD-I isn't shipping. It seems like it keeps getting new and new screen resolutions and nothing ships. Also, Commodore can cut prices a lot better than the CD-I people can, the CDTV is made of already mass-produced contents. CD-I was delayed too long. I'd recommend you look at CDTV and its applications before condemning them. -- Ethan Q: How many Comp Sci majors does it take to change a lightbulb A: None. It's a hardware problem.