Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!munnari.oz.au!labtam!graeme
From: graeme@labtam.labtam.oz (Graeme Gill)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: 64K colors?
Message-ID: <10497@labtam.labtam.oz>
Date: 5 May 91 04:38:38 GMT
References: <1991May2.001518.30298@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Organization: Labtam Australia Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
Lines: 26

In article <1991May2.001518.30298@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>, bbb@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
> Dear Net-ers:
> 
> ... and just today got my  
> Tseng Lab Inc. (TLI)  ET-4000 controller 
> data book.
> 
> While checking out the specs on the 
> 4000-chip, my eyes bugged as I saw that 
> it is (in theory anyway)  capable of 
> producing 65535 colors on screen using 2 
> bytes to produce a  pixel.

	As I understand it, this is some sort of HAM (Hold And Modify) scheme
where the chip is put in a special mode, and certain colour values are reserved
as "instructions" to interpolation hardware to generate colours between two
of the available palette colours. This basically means that it is great for
specially written CAD packages that know how to use it for ant-aliased lines
etc., but it is not much good for general purpose use. (ie. If you want to
be able to set any pixel to any one of 65535 colours). It also has a dynamic
palette feature, that allows the palette to be re-programmed on the fly. One
only has to look at the difficulty people have had in using the Amiga HAM mode
to wonder how usefull all this stuff is. 

	Graeme Gill
	Labtam Australia