Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken!taco!hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu!kdarling From: kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics Subject: Re: Graphics Standard Keywords: Graphics Message-ID: <1991May23.055800.23561@ncsu.edu> Date: 23 May 91 05:58:00 GMT Article-I.D.: ncsu.1991May23.055800.23561 References: <129158@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System) Organization: North Carolina State University Lines: 33 > [...] What we need is a standard way for the Amiga to send info to > the display. Not hard at all. The mac does...you can use any graphics > board with any program. The IBM doesn't...it's a graphics standard hell! > Which way do we want the Amiga to go? Towards device-independence, naturally. It would be _great_ to be able to say that all 3td party gfx boards could be used with standard software. But there will be a performance penalty, and so: 1. One of the more common current arguments people use to praise the Amiga (and _very_ stupidly, to slam systems which already use device-independent gfx) is based on animation and drawing speed. The irony is palpable, yet interesting to point out anyway :-/. 2. It's likely that whatever solution is worked up, would be called "unfair" by one or more gfx board makers, since it probably wouldn't show off _their_ board's animation capabilities to the fullest extent. 3. Because of 2, there will no doubt always be some software which is hardware-dependent, if for no other reason than to gain sales because of "speed", just as has happened with games for years. > All that has to happen is for Commodore to say, "This is how your board > needs to recieve data, `cause this is how DPaintXX :-)is gonna send it!" Almost every current application would have to be rewritten to use DIG, of course (I only know of a few major apps which don't do direct video ram access... I believe CanDo is one... any others?). Personally, I think that a good bet would be to define a PostScript-style animation language, and then future boards with their own cpu could fly! But that's a huge topic. - kevin