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From: mo@seismo.CSS.GOV (Mike O'Dell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Bit Blitters
Message-ID: <43140@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: Mon, 9-Mar-87 17:00:38 EST
Article-I.D.: beno.43140
Posted: Mon Mar  9 17:00:38 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Mar-87 06:23:19 EST
Sender: rick@seismo.CSS.GOV
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 23

The only problem with bit blitters is that none of 
the chips available actually do what you want in
all the cases.  Tom Duff tried to use the
old SUN blackk/white hardware assist to do the
equivalent of a Blit and discovered it took
over 30 times as much code and ran much slower
to really try and use the beast.  A vanilla 68K
can blit faster than any currently known hardware
chip.  Now that Apple has a Cray, maybe they
will design some hardware which actually does what
the software types need, but for now, it doesn't
exist.  Besides, around Bell Labs there are stories
of a new Son-of-Blit based on a 68020 which 
can blit in color (something almost noone understands,
much less implements in a useful, intuitive way)
and greyscale at a speed which any custom chip
in any technology could envy.

So, who keeps
perpetuaing this myth that you gotta have
hardware or it ain't chic??

	-Mike O'Dell