Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!sdd.hp.com!caen!news.cs.indiana.edu!msi.umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!mac.cc.macalstr.edu!sdfusc From: sdfusc@mac.cc.macalstr.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Amiga Color Capabilities Message-ID: <1991Apr30.224552.371@mac.cc.macalstr.edu> Date: 1 May 91 04:45:52 GMT References: Organization: Macalester College Lines: 85 In article , roger_earl@icecave.wimsey.bc.ca (Roger Earl) writes: > alec_vondjidis@icecave.wimsey.bc.ca (Alec Vondjidis) writes... >>A friend of mine owns an Amiga and claims that it gives him 4096 simultaneous >>colors. i then read messages that imply that the Amiga is only capable of >>showing 32 of these colors when outputing to a VCR. Then I am told that >>Workbench can only show 4 colors at a time. Then someone says text looks >>"lousy" on an Amiga because it is 320X200 non interlaced or 320X400 >>interlaced, and then someone says the Amiga is a wonderful DTP machine >>because it is capable of resolutions of 2,000X2,000 (on what monitor BTW?) >>Could someone from Commodore, or some of you Amiga advocated, PLEASE post a >>message explaining resolutions and colors that the Amiga is capable of, >>under both Workbenches. > > Hmmm, I'm that friend, and since you have posted this message I have explained > a little about the Amiga's HAM mode. HAM is a graphics mode and not a > Workbench productivity display. > The text that 'looks lousy' is on 640x200 non-interlaced, with a flicker in I don't think it looks THAT bad...take a look at CGA or EGA...also, methinks it looks just fine with an A2320. > 640x400 interlaced. As far as WB2.0 and the Expanded Chip Sets go, with a 1 I know its a given, but this mode does look pretty with a flicker fixer. > meg Agnus, 640x480 non-interlaced will be the norm (or so I am told) as long > as you have the monitor to show it (A VGA will do). With a 2 meg Agnus > (A3000) productivity screens up to 1240x1240 are possible. 1240 x 1240? Check again. I could be wrong, as I don't know final specs of the chip set, but I'm almost positive the new productivity-interlaced mode is 1240x400, with 4 colors onscreen of 64. I also think the 2 meg agnus has little/nothing to do with it; its the new Denise thats responsible for enhanced display modes. Ditto for the A3000 part; the ECS should do the same thing on any other machine. > As far as colors go, there is no further limitations when outputting to a VCR > thru composite than using a monitor (the colors may bleed due to the nature > of composite, but the Amiga composite output is actually quite good). > > I don't know the full details of what resolutions are possible with the ECS > and WB2.0, but I can imagine possibilities of a 1 meg Agnus. I guess I'll > just have to wait for WB2.0 to be sure. > > __________ > | ______ | > ________ | | | | > | ______ | 'But that isn't a fair | | | | > || || comparison. People | |______| | > ||______|| like the Etch-A-Sketch.' | | > | o o | | _ _ _ _ _| > |________| (|__________|\ > | ________)_ > Roger Earl [^] | | > roger_earl@icecave.wimsey.bc.ca [_] |__________| A few other things I feel deserve mention: o Overscan capabilities in all resolutions; these push hi-res, for example, up to a maximum of 768 x 480. o Dynamic hi-res mode which allows all 4096 colors (16 per/scan line) to be displayed at up to 768 x 480. (Useless for animation because of the power needed to maintain the display, but it works for static images) o The flexibility of the copper/custom chip set, allowing for multiple custom screens of different resolutions to appear on the same screen (divided vertically) at the same time. This gives the Amiga tremendous flexibility; many games and applications (titling programs, or DVIII) use this capability to boost the number of flexibly displayed and animated onscreen colors beyond 16, 32, or 64. This is how games like Shadow of the Beast manage 128 colors+ on screen. o Halfbrite mode, allowing (in 320 x 400 and 320 x 200) 64 total colors on screen simultaneously; the first 32 are user-definable, and the second 32 are half as brite as the first set. If anyone has anything else to add (bitplanes, specifics about HAM, etc.) fell free... Doug SDFUSC@MACALSTR.EDU