Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: The Amiga's Future Message-ID: <22552@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 18 Jun 91 20:20:37 GMT References: <1991Jun15.112510.17324@news.iastate.edu> <1991Jun15.121453.5511@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <22516@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1991Jun18.124836.28792@news.iastate.edu> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 46 In article <1991Jun18.124836.28792@news.iastate.edu> taab5@isuvax.iastate.edu writes: >In article <22516@cbmvax.commodore.com>, daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >>Regardless of what Commodore does or does not do in the way of new Amiga chip >>sets, RTG (Re-Targetable Graphics, what everyone really wants, the "Workbench >>on a ULowell card" level of graphics support) is more important. > I do not agree at all. Every day, I grow increasingly convinced that >DIG/RTG is *NOT* the answer, and that a new, powerful chipset is needed >instead. Well, keep in mind that I'm the high-end hardware guy around here. In any case, the problem with a new, powerful chipset is that one single chip set does not necessarily perform the miracles that everyone thinks they "need". The high end CAD people want 1024x768x8 or better. High end DTP people might rather have 1280x1024x4. The Video people want the full NTSC color range, which comes out around 24 bits if you convert it to RBG (NTSC is actually around 12 bits/pixel of information). The A3000 people don't care all that much about the price, while the CDTV and A500 people scream for a better solution that costs less. You can see that it's likely any answer is not going to make everyone happy. >Commodore already is in the position of having a low-end computer with >color capabilities inferior to the less-expensive Super Nintendo, and >this is going to get drastically worse if this 24-bit game machine is for >real. Of course, you have to consider that for games, real time graphics are essential. A Nintendo with 1/4 the CPU power of an A500 has a hard enough time dealing with manipulating the Mario sprite, much less real sophisticated animation. Any game-only machine that sells for $650 could be in trouble, no matter what kind of display it has (I would suspect, if it's really a games machine, that it'll generate 12 bit NTSC rather than 24 bit RGB, they're indistinguishable from one another on a TV, and the former has half the information to manipulate than the latter). On the other hand, throw a CD in for that $650 and you'd have something indeed. >I predict that within three years, there will be CD-I players available for >less than $1000 with 32-bit processors, CD-I players use a special CPU32 based processor as it is. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "This is my mistake. Let me make it good." -R.E.M.