Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!imagen!atari!portal!cup.portal.com!Sullivan
From: Sullivan@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Next Amiga system
Message-ID: <9742@cup.portal.com>
Date: 5 Oct 88 02:53:17 GMT
References: <8810030229.AA19219@cory.Berkeley.EDU> <2745@sugar.uu.net>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 29
XPortal-User-Id: 1.1001.5165

>> 	6 would be an improvment, but not a great enough leap to be meaningful.
>> 8 is the bare competitive minimum for today's market (8 bits per gun that is).
>
>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.
>
>
YES, it is neccessary.  The difference between 256 steps and 64 steps per
gun is dramatic.  It is most noticeable when you are trying to do smooth
shading.  64 step smooth shading has to be dithered to end up looking very
good at all.  A DAC is acceptably wide when you can fill the screen with
two colors, each to half of the screen, which are different by one bit at
any intensity, in any gun, and you can't tell exactly where the division
line is.  

                           -Sullivan Segall
                            (still looking for a 68881 that
                             can be piggy-backed on a 68000)
_____________________________________________________________

/V\  My opinions are guaranteed to be worth at least what you
 '   paid for them.   If you are dissatisfied,  please return
     them to the nearest vendor for a full and prompt refund.
To Quote the immortal Socrates: "I drank what?" -Sullivan
_____________________________________________________________

Mail to: ...sun!portal!cup.portal.com!Sullivan or
         Sullivan@cup.portal.com