Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!dahlia!rsingh1
From: rsingh1@dahlia.waterloo.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: MY THOUGHTS (ones that count :-) (Was: How about Sliced EHB)
Message-ID: <19331@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 16 Dec 89 01:09:12 GMT
References: <857@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca> <1337@xyzzy.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: rsingh1@dahlia.waterloo.edu ()
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 88

MERRY CHIRSTMAS LINE-EATER!!!

I aggree with most of the thoughts that appeared in this thread.

Yet, I wonder if all these new display modes are a blessing or a curse.
 Take for example, the following:

Lo-Res 32 colour or less
Lo-Res Interlace 32 colour or less
Lo-Res Overscan 32 colour or less
Lo-Res Interlace Overscan 32 colour or less
Above with 64 colours (half bright)
High-Res 16 colour or less
High-Res Interlace 16 colour or less
High-Res Interlace Overscan 16 colour or less
Ham mode 256 colours (who bothers with this wretched thing?)
And, Ham mode normal that can be interlaced, and overscanned.
 
This is the 'stock' basic mode choice for the amiga.  Everything but
HAM is quite easy to use.  Now, we have the additional modes commodore
says will be around:
 
PRODUCTIVITY (multisync required) 4 out of 64 colours at 640x400
PRODUCTIVITY INTERLACED (multisync required) apparently 800 or so lines.
Super-Wide (I haven't heard much on this, so I'm guessing) 1280x200
Super-Wide Interlaced at 1280x400
The commodore Viking/A2024 monochrome monitor (silly if you ask me, but
needed.  Response seems queer due to the way it 'buffers' so many separate
screens.)

These are neat, and about the same to support (no funny business)
And then come the weird modes.  To use these 'effectively' you have to have
significant IP algorithms (slow), and they all take up processor time,
and can not easily be used in a working enviornment (only for display):

SHAM Ham.  Basicly an IFF type of thing to display HAM images with few
           jaggies.  Now supports interlace.  Conversion programs usualy
           included to convert GIF -> SHAM with good results.
           Stands for 'Sliced Ham' and easy enough to display.

Dynamic HAM/hires/lores...etc:
 
These interesting modes are done by Newtek.  The viewer I have for them
does a forbid() (stops multitasking).  They suck processor time, and
get shakey when multitasking works.  This probably only happens with the
most demanding mode (768x480 with 4096 colours).  Apparently, they say that
they have a SHAM type thing too.  The modes are interesting, but again, they
eat processor time more than I'd like them to.
 
These last 2 modes are GREAT for display (slide show's).  Recently, I did
a job where I converted 640x480 HAM's to GIF (reduced to 256 colours) for
display on an IBM VGA.  The results were nice, but I realized that now I
could display BETTER images with these dynamic modes.
 
My request is that these new modes be RESERVED for 'DISPLAY ONLY' and that
no one ever comes out with a paint system (more than a small re-touching prg),
that lets you edit these.  I have no trouble in working in a quick 'realistic'
mode and then converting to a an enhanced 'display' mode.  I downloaded a
small file once, that was an 'advertizement' for a 4096 colour high-res
paint program.  Please, if you hear this, don't do it.
 
IFF is getting complicated enough without now developing complex new modes,
each tailored to different display attributes specific to the amiga.
 
Instead, we should aim our sights to cards and expansion devices like this
UofL card.  Cards that GIVE us decent resolutions (1k by 1k) with DECENT
#'s of colours on screeen (MIN of 256! MIN MIN MIN!).

The amiga is seriously beginning to LAG behind in the graphics area.
The base hardware needs to be updated.  And updated in a way that future
updates can be possible (update before we invent 20 new 'hack' modes).

We need more than toasters and 'display' cards.  We need graphic cards
that we can 'workbench' on.

These 'rumors' of those new atari TTx'z (?) and their new graphic modes
and cheap unix implementations and cheap 68030 based systems seem like
a load of hot-air, but what if they aren't?  I know little about the systems,
but if ATARI is catching up to the amiga, then we better do some serious
running.
 
One last thing:  CHANGE THE GAWD AWFUL DEFAULT WORKBENCH COLOURS!!!
 (it probably lost commodore a million machines in sales so far :-)

               /Paul Anton Sop (Esquire?).  rsingh1@dahila.waterloo.edu/
              /Graphic Designer 4 Spaghetti Western Words and Images  /
             /100 Kinzie Ave, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2A 2J5    /
            /(519) 578-8525/742-0372 (if seriously really desparate)/