Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!gatech!taco!hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu!kdarling From: kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: AMIGA Message-ID: <1991May9.045528.27364@ncsu.edu> Date: 9 May 91 04:55:28 GMT References: <4851@orbit.cts.com> Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System) Organization: North Carolina State University Lines: 28 chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Erik Funkenbusch) writes: > kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes: >> Playback from memory? Since personals (including the Amiga) ordinarily >> only use the cpu for this, the playback rates are a function of cpu >> speed, video ram access, resolution, delta encoding method and the >> amount of data actually changing between frames. > > Huh? where do you get this? Animation on the amiga is 99% blitter. Yah, it can be; but the current topic was standard _playback_ of animations. > the blitter is a fast BLock Image Transfer chip. BLITter. it can > achieve MUCH higher rates of animation than the stock cpu as well as Kudos for being able to quote the stock response, and it's often correct; but I'm afraid it's a little more involved than that in this case. Most animations have relatively tiny (and non-rectangular) delta changes scattered all over the screen. It is nearly always more efficient in time, memory and disk space to encode each small delta, rather than to deal with large BLOCK transfer areas. Additionally, the blitter works only on data within chip RAM... and with cpu/blitter access restricted by some video modes, it's again simply more efficient to instead bring the delta info into fast RAM for cpu decoding. I'm sure even I could think of exceptions, but that's what they would be. Other systems can certainly animate without a blitter... so can the Amiga! Really Erik, give it some credit :-) kevin