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From: wolfe@mprvaxa
Newsgroups: net.graphics
Subject: Re: Request for standards info
Message-ID: <412@mprvaxa.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Dec-83 17:50:55 EST
Article-I.D.: mprvaxa.412
Posted: Fri Dec  2 17:50:55 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Dec-83 07:40:38 EST
References: <1437@rlgvax.UUCP>
Organization: Microtel Pacific Research, Burnaby BC
Lines: 69

The recently adopted NAPLPS is in fact a graphic data transmission standard.

It is both a Canadian and American standard:

    CSA T500-198x in Canada
or
    ANSI BSR X3.110-198x in USA

Addresses :

    Canadian Standards Association
    Standard Divisions
    178 Rexdale Boulevard
    Rexdale, Ontario
    Canada
    M9W 1R3

    X3 Secretariat/CBEMA
    Suite 500
    311 First Street
    N. W. Washington D.C. 20001

My Opinion :

    NAPLPS is an 8/7-bit graphics standard that implements the following
    kinds of graphics

    - Scalable ASCII text characters
    - Scalable set of accents, diacritical marks, and special symbols
    - Scalable MOSAIC (block graphics) text characters
    - Scalable user definable characters

    - resolution independent graphics shapes
	- arcs - filled or outlined
	- lines
	- rectangles - filled or outlined
	- polygons - filled or outlined
	- points

	    - can define the patterns to be used for filled figures

    - color!!
	- any of the above can be in any color
	- defines a "color map" whereby you select a subset of
	  colors to draw in out of the possible range
	  - max number of color map entries is 16777216 (24bits)
    	  - max size of a color map entry is 16 bits per Red, Green, Blue
	   (48 bits total!!)

    - macros
	- allows you to predefine often used sequences
	- 96 maximum
    
    This standard is written assuming the data will be decoded
    using a NAPLPS terminal but that is not strictly necessary.
    It is possible to interpret this standard on a host and
    drive any kind of graphics terminal to any reasonable resolution
    (ie. upto 8388608 x 8388608 pixels (24 bits in x and in y) if you want!)

    I am not aware of any UNIX implementation but I have seen a rather poor
    subset implemented for the IBM PC (sorry I can't remenber name of company)
    There might be others - place to look - BYTE magazine.

    There was an extensive series of articles on this standard in this
    years (1983) issues of BYTE magazine.  Those articles are informative
    but I think biased toward using the standard in a "videotex" application
    which while the main reason behind the standard certainky shouldn't
    be the only use for.  It does define a way of transmitting graphics
    imformation.