Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!rutgers!mcnc!rti!sas!walker
From: walker@sas.UUCP (Doug Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: new chips questions
Message-ID: <614@sas.UUCP>
Date: 29 Aug 88 15:49:57 GMT
References: <8X635hd38k-041lzFc@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: walker@sas.UUCP (Doug Walker)
Organization: SAS Institute Inc, Cary NC
Lines: 18

In article <8X635hd38k-041lzFc@andrew.cmu.edu> bader+@andrew.cmu.edu (Miles Bader) writes:
>Is it true that in the new graphic chips, the 400-line non-interlaced
>output will only be able to use colors from a total palette of 64?
>If so, is there a good reason? 

Of course there's no good reason.  As everybody who reads this group knows,
Commodore screws up decisions like this on purpose just to piss Amiga owners
off.

No, seriously, the reasons are quite good.  The display chips have a set
throughput - that is, they can put out just so much information in the small
set period of time they are allotted.  To put out a 640x400 non-interlaced
display, you are in effect doubling the speed the chips must match, which
in turn means halving the number of bitplanes.  Thus, your 16-color hi-res
display turns into a 4-color.  As far as I'm concerned, this is a huge win
for the simple reason that the workbench is 4-color, and I do all my editing
in editors on the workbench screen.  Commodore has done a good redesign job
to get the new performance without completely starting over.