jrodrig%mitre-gateway@sri-unix.UUCP (12/22/83)
From: jose rodriguez <jrodrig@mitre-gateway> Netland: As part of a proposal for a project I have to find out some information on peripherals (software, etc.) used in graphics applications. I know this sounds too general and therefore let me phrase the following questions: 1- What graphics peripherals have you used in a workstation environment and what is your opinion on them? 2- We got Suns 1.0 and we are not impressed with their graphics capabilities. Does the Sun 2.0 and its dedicated graphics hardware perform better? 3- Has anyone used Scion's graphics cards (and displays (?)), particularly for the IBM PC? 4- Has anyone got any experience with BBN's Bitgraph? How programable are they? Isn't the RS232 interface a bottleneck when displaying bitmaps? 5- Has anyone seen in operation the new Teletype multi-window terminal? I read a review in Unix Review and it sounded somewhat bizarre. I guess that's enough. If any of the above has been discussed before just give me pointers such discussion. If there is enough interest I will post whatever replies I get. Thanks for your time. Jose M. Rodriguez (jrodrig@mitre-gateway) Information Systems Dept. The Mitre Corp.
gwyn%brl-vld@sri-unix.UUCP (12/23/83)
From: Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn@brl-vld> 1- What graphics peripherals have you used in a workstation environment and what is your opinion on them? I've used all types of input and output peripherals. In game theory parlance, some peripherals are dominated by others (and should not be purchased): light pens are inferior to data tablets, for example. However, most peripherals have an application area where they are the right choice. Some implementations of each are worse than others; this is especially true of data tablets, several of which are designed for point take-off, rather than cursor tracking. A more complete answer would be lengthy; what specific application do you have? 4- Has anyone got any experience with BBN's Bitgraph? How programable are they? Isn't the RS232 interface a bottleneck when displaying bitmaps? I have heard, but do not know for certain, that the BitGraph is no longer manufactured. In any case, it is dominated by the Teletype 5620. The RS232 interface could be a bottleneck for raster graphics, but if the terminal is allowed to do most of the rasterizing, very little information needs to be sent down the communication line. For this type of terminal, therefore, one must be able to download programs (or else it needs to have lots of smarts built-in). 5- Has anyone seen in operation the new Teletype multi-window terminal? I read a review in Unix Review and it sounded somewhat bizarre. I have seen the Teletype 5620 in operation and have talked with people who have either this or the Blit prototype. It would be an amazing terminal to own if they would deliver sufficient software with it. I wonder what the hold-up is.