Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle
From: Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: A better GIF viewer
Message-ID: <26944@cup.portal.com>
Date: 15 Feb 90 07:26:59 GMT
References: <9002090802.AA05425@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 29

John Jung asked about a "better" GIF viewer...
 
There's one written in GFA BASIC called GIFNEO which does exactly as John
suggested...  if the original picture is larger than the ST lo-res screen,
it lets you scroll around the picture, with the ST screen as a "window" onto
the full GIF picture...
 
Unfortunately, it's VERY slow to convert the GIF pic, and once converted, the
scrolling is EXTREMELY slow.
 
It  DOES  do a very good job of converting the colors though, and allows savi
the ST screen window as a NEO format file.
 
GIFNEO is available on CompuServe, and BBSs all over the world...
 
However, as Mickey Boyd suggested, probably the best GIF converter I've
used is the DIGISPEC program from Trio Engineering.  It does compress a
larger GIF file down to fit the ST screen, and can cut off the top and
bottom (although it does let you choose where to center the final picture),
and will only save the final picture in SPECTRUM format (which can be a waste
if the picture is only 320x200x16colors, as a regular ST lo-res picture is),
but again as Mickey mentioned, it allows you to control the Brightnes
Contrast and Color Balance of the picture.  You can then convert the SPC
picture into a regular DEGAS format for the smaller filesize, if you wish.
 
It's fast, can be run as an ACCessory, and is available as a separate
program package from your local Atari software dealer...
 
BobR