Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ames!amdcad!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!unido!laura!trillian.irb!cgw From: cgw%trillian.irb@unido.uucp (Natuerlich!) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: ST Resolution vs. Amiga Resolution Summary: Not True Message-ID: <968@laura.UUCP> Date: 27 Jan 89 11:06:19 GMT References: <8901261651.AA12611@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Sender: root@laura.UUCP Reply-To: cgw%trillian.irb@unido.UUCP (Natuerlich!) Organization: Natuerlich!'s Software Vault #7 - Location UNI-DO Lines: 54 In article <8901261651.AA12611@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> WILLIAMS@UCF1VM.BITNET (Erik Williams) writes: >Peter da Silva writes: > >>This is not possible. The Atari has a maximum possible resolution, using every >>trick in the book, of something like 262 by 704 by 512 colors. The Amiga has >>a maximum resolution, again using every trick in the book, of 525 by 704 by >>4096 colors. You can't get a non-interlaced image with 3-bit DACs to equal >>an interlaced image with 4-bit DACs. > >>Either will, of course, beat up on machines like the Apple-IIGS. >>-- >>Peter "Have you hugged your wolf today" da Silva `-_-' Hackercorp. >>...texbell!sugar!peter, or peter@sugar.uu.net 'U` > >Sorry Peter, but my ST would love to have a talk with you. The ST's maximum >resolution in color is 640x320 with a maximum color pallette of 4096 colors in >Medium res and 16 million colors in low resolution (mind you, you have to do >some major tweaking with TOS to do this). High resolution monochrome is Yeah, right, tweak that TOS. C`mon 4096 colors is just not possible w/o (what old 800'ers used to call) pageflipping, and that (then and now) looks terrible. 16 million colors, that's a WHOLE LOTTA pageflipping. Even the SPECTRUM screen 320*200*512 isn't a true 320*200*512 screen since you can't place those colors (*) whereever you like. And that is for anything put ~100% static picture programs a real inconvenience. >640x480, and is paper white with black. However, any one of these resolutions >can scroll (with the famous LineA command) up to 32,767x32,767 pixels in ANY >resolution using a program called BIGSCRN.PRG (it is on many of the BBSs here >in Orlando, FL). However, to do 32kx32k, you must have about six megs in the Oh, since when does scrolling have anything to do with resolution and therefore with the discussion ? What we have with the ST is 16 color registers each with 3 Bits for RED 3 for BLUE and 3 for GREEN. (512 colors max.) So in order to get more than 16 colors on the screen per frame, we have to use CPU time. Same with those fabled extra resolution lines. That's not some- thing 'built-in' the hardware, but more software interacting w/hardware for some special effects. Fastmoving graphics (games yeah!), you can't do on the ST with more than 16 colors + (what we used to call DLIs) HBL/TIMERB color register changes. On the Amiga (I as far as I know, and I don't really know anything about it) you get in lorez something like 320x200x32, and that's twice as many colors. So if you want to/have to look down on Amigas, you have to say: "look, 640x400 monochrome crystalclear 70Hz flickerfree, har har" BTW. in the TT spec puplished by ST-Magazin, there is a little box between the video chip and memory called 'Funnel'. What is that ? A cache ? (*) As far as I know, correct me if I am wrong. Georg Wallmann (Natuerlich!) cgw@trillian.irb.informatik.uni-dortmund.de Besitzer des letzten Moschus-Spaniels ...uunet!mcvax!unido!trillian!cgw (?) --------------[ cgw[%trillian]@[ex]unido. ]-------------------