Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekig5!wayneck
From: wayneck@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Next Amiga system
Message-ID: <3320@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Date: 4 Oct 88 18:38:10 GMT
References: <8810030229.AA19219@cory.Berkeley.EDU> <2745@sugar.uu.net>
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.
Lines: 37

In article <2745@sugar.uu.net>, peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
> In article <8810030229.AA19219@cory.Berkeley.EDU>, dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) writes:
> > Peter da Silva  peter@sugar.uu.net Writes:
> 
> It may be a competitive minimum, but is it a real requirement after all? Can
> people really distinguish 256 levels of red, green, and blue? Just because
> the 8-bit DACs are cheap doesn't mean they're really necessary.

Most people can only distinguish about 30 shades of a given color, this tends
to lead people to think that only 5 or 6 bits of each color in enough.  This
isn't really correct since the eye is very non-linear and DAC output tends
to be linear.  This means that while there may be plenty of shades at high
intensities there is often too few at low intensities.  Another problem 
comes in with the mixing of red, blue, and green to make other colors.  The
eye's response to each color is different, so this requires yet more color
control to get the exact shades.  Finally, the graphics world as a whole
accepts 8 bits per color as a reasonable standard.  There I say if the
Next Amiga really is a true graphics computer, is should allow 8 bits per
color.
 
> > 	The need for one or more blitters is quite obvious.
> 
> Maybe not a given. Did you follow the blitter wars in comp.arch? Though a
> blitter that talks over the video bus and lets you run another task might
> be a different matter.

Here! Here!  A lot of people (including myself) believe that things like
bus bandwidth are more useful than blitters.  Blitters seem great in a 2D
world, but hey we live in a 3D visual world.  Has anyone used a blitter to
aid in 3D graphics yet?

                                   Wayne Knapp 


P.S. The reason why 8-bit DACs are getting cheap is because there is a large
demand for then.  Haven't you guys wondered why there are so many 8-bit triple
DACs out there?