Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ucbvax!sdcsvax!jww
From: jww@sdcsvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Mac II
Message-ID: <2802@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU>
Date: Wed, 4-Mar-87 10:27:49 EST
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.2802
Posted: Wed Mar  4 10:27:49 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 6-Mar-87 04:34:10 EST
References: <10231@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Organization: Western Software Technology, Vista, CA
Lines: 33


According to a 4/87 Byte article posted to Bix, the Mac II software
architecture supports 1,2,4,8,16 or 32 bits per pixel.  It can
be used with bitplanes , and supports the three bitplanes of the
original QuickDraw (if you have a program that prints in color,
it uses this feature).

Apple prefers what they call 'chunky', contiguous bits.  They
also support a hybrid.  Without seeing the QD calls, I'm not
sure what they support in principle, and what they support
in the current implementation (ie, could you design a 16-bit
bit plane graphics display.)

The colors are defined by a 48-bit color, 16 each for RGB.

The current (and only) video card is 640x480, 24-bit color.
By default, it allows 4 bits (16 colors) in chunky mode;
buy the optional upgrade kit and you get 8 bits (256) from
256k RAM.  These index into a Color LookUp Table (CLUT) 24-bit
values.

There's no bias towards the current card, and they seem to imply
third-party cards almost immediately.  Unlike the IBM CGA/EGA
fiasco, there's no bias or software concern about the display;
the Color Manager provides a virtual interface, no matter
what colors you can produce.  For example, you ask for a 48-bit
color from the Color Manager, say a brillant orange. If no more 
colors can be added, you may get the red already in the CLUT.
to the CLUT, you and y
-- 
	Joel West
	{ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww	(ihnp4!gould9!joel once I fix news)
	jww@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu	if you must