Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!mordor!sri-spam!sri-unix!quintus!pds
From: pds@quintus.UUCP (Peter Schachte)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Video displays.
Message-ID: <904@sandino.quintus.UUCP>
Date: 26 Apr 88 21:18:42 GMT
References: <549@zehntel.UUCP> <3467@gryphon.CTS.COM> <6210@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <6247@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 75

In article <6247@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>, flaig@cit-vlsi.Caltech.Edu (Charles M. Flaig) writes:
> >Color allows the presentation of more information in
> >the same space.  For example, wouldn't it sometimes be nice, when you
> >edit C code, to see which things are macros and which are procedures? ...
> 
> Now, I agree with you that it is often usefull to have things highlighted,
> but that is what flashing, underlining, and shading do very well too, and
> all of these work just as well on the high resolution monochrome monitor I
> mentioned.

True.  But color allows the presentation of MORE of these.  How many
different ways can you "mark" a character in monochrome?  You mention a
few.  Let me suggest these:  boldface, italics, underline, different
point sizes.  Flashing if you insist.  Not bad.  But color offers a lot
more (remember that color can be used IN ADDITION to these).  Color can
be used to show multistate properties, and degrees, more readily than
can monochrome.

> I personally dislike colored text (flashing too :-), and suspect
> that most people agree with me since we don't have such things now even with
> a color monitor for an Amiga.  If they were usefull, someone would have done
> them, and if someone does them and they catch on, I'll update my views.

I certainly agree about flashing.  But I suspect that if you used a
system that used color subtly, you might change your mind.

As to your argument that if it was useful, it would have been done, I
can give you several explainations of why it hasn't been done.
Firstly, it's hard to do.  You have to have the information you want to
present, and most of the kinds of information I suggested in my posting
is not readily obtainable from the text of a C program.  The editor
would have to maintain much extra information besides the text.  I
don't think such an editor exists for C on the Amiga.  I believe such
editors are available for IBMs and Macs now, but I don't think they use
color.  In the case of the Mac, that's probably because they haven't HAD
color until recently.  On the IBM, the older video cards don't support
any subtlety of color.  Highlighting with color would look gaudy.  And
it might be a mistake to target such a program editor to only color
IBMs, especially since the older color standards sport pretty unreadable
text.

Anyway, I'd much sooner have a high resolution monochrome (or
grayshade) display than a low-resolution, color display.  I don't do
much color graphics, but mostly program development.


> >And besides, color is prettier to look at!
> 
> Again, I think colored text is garish.  But color pictures are wonderful.

If all we were talking about was a terminal, I might agree with you.
But we're talking about a workstation.  With windows, icons, etc.
Color makes these things much richer.  Even if you don't have colored
text, it would still be nice to, e.g., have the active window have a
different background shade or different color title bar.  Much nicer
than graying over title bars, or darkening the outline around the
active window (a la Sunview).

> 
> >Now, should I start arguing for high resolution, or do you see how
> >useful that is?
> 
> It was actually the combination of *high resolution* and *color* that I
> was discussing.  I agree that each is necessary *separately* but we don't
> have the CPU to make good use of them *together* (except for some CAD) so
> why waste the money and memory?

Wait a minute.  If each is necessary, then both are necessary.  Or are
you suggesting having separate monitors?  I'd still rather have a
single 3x4 foot 100dpi (i.e. 3600x4800 pixel) 24 bit/pixel monitor
18-24 inches from my eyes :-), or separate, high-resolution color
monitors for each eye :-), but I could settle for that.
-- 
-Peter Schachte
pds@quintus.uucp
...!sun!quintus!pds