gts@axiom.UUCP (Guy Schafer) (08/27/86)
I called AT&T for some information about their TrueVision High Color
Resolution Imaging products. For anyone interested, here is the info
taken mostly verbatim from the AT&T brochure. It is probably biased
but at least it's not copyrighted.
All of these boards are for the IBM (PC, XT, AT) and compatibles.
Has anyone out there tried any of these boards with or without AT&T's
software? I'm looking for a review.
Image Capture Board (ICB):
Grabs an image from a video camera or VCR (composite video) in 1/60 second,
digitizes it, and can display it on analog RGB or composite video (NTSC).
Resolution: 256 pixels x 256 pixels x 32768 colors;
All colors displayable simultaneously.
Display: 128K bit-mapped.
Programable: Odd or even feild capture (1/60s is only one pass).
Interlaced or non-interlaced video output.
Application interrupt on vertical blanking or specified pixel.
Settable: Color (output), hue, saturation and contrast (input).
Price: $1295.
Video Display Adapter with Digital Enhancement (VDA/D):
Displays a digital image on analog or digital RBG or composite video (NTSC).
Resolution: 256 x 256 x 32768 colors; 256 colors simultaneously.
OR 512 x 256 x 16 colors (8 colors x 2 intensity levels).
Display: 64K bit-mapped.
Programmable: 8 Color look-up tables; each with 256 of 32768 colors;
(displays up to 4 images in different screen areas--
1008 colors on screen simultaneously but not blended.)
Interlaced or non-interlaced video output.
Application interrupt on vertical blanking or specified pixel.
Price: $695.
Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA):
There are several versions of this board. They all capture in 1/30s from
camera or VCR. Hardware zoom (2X, 4X, and 8X). Smooth independent vertical
and horizontal scrolling. Bit-pane masking. "Robust" gen-lock capability.
Up to 512 x 420 pixel resolution depending on color depth and model.
TARGA 8 TARGA 16 TARGA 24 TARGA 32
Resolution: 256 grey 32768 colors 16777216 16777216
levels colors colors
Input and -RS 170 (B&W) -RS 170A Analog RBG Analog RBG
Output: video (color) vid.
-Analog RBG
Overlay none Overlay live none Overlay live
Capability: input (1 bit) input (1 bit)
128 levels of
mix for blend-
ing (7 bits)
Bits/pixel: 8 16 24 32
Memory: 256K 512K 768K 1M
Price: $1595. $2995. $3995. $4995.
Truevision Image Processing Software (TIPS):
Airbrush defects. Change colors. Copy screen portions and blend. Move,
add, and remove. Superimpose text and graphics. Drawing functions:
lines, polygons, brushes, patterns and fonts.
For VDA/D $250; ICB $695; TARGA 16, 24 or 32 $1250.
I have no affiliation with AT&T (don't even own stock)--just wanted to pass
on some information that I got first-hand.
>< ...{ decvax!linus | seismo!harvard }!axiom!gts
"No hoary falsehood shall be a truth to me;
no stifling dogma shall encramp my pen!"
--The Book of Satan. I:7.steve@bambi.UUCP (Steve Miller) (08/29/86)
> Has anyone out there tried any of these boards with or without AT&T's > software? I'm looking for a review. > > Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA): > There are several versions of this board. They all capture in 1/30s from > camera or VCR. Hardware zoom (2X, 4X, and 8X). Smooth independent vertical > and horizontal scrolling. Bit-pane masking. "Robust" gen-lock capability. > Up to 512 x 420 pixel resolution depending on color depth and model. ^^^ The vertical resolution is adjustable; mine works fine at 483. I have the TARGA 32 in my IBM PC, running my own software under the QNX operating system from Quantum in Canada. The TARGA is an excellent frame buffer for the PC. It only uses 64k of address space, partitioned into two banks of 32k (making screen to screen copies possible). In its standard configuration, the TARGA has a non-broadcast horizontal blanking interval; there are black bands to the left and right of the picture visible onscreen. However, an option is available to change the timing, making the signal broadcast compatible. The documentation is superb. Many helpful routines are shipped with the board (in Computer Innovations' dialect of C, though I've had little trouble rewriting them for QNX C). Between the two, it's been very easy to get full function from the TARGA. The frame grabber is very accurate, with no perceptible h-shift or field locking problems. The output signal is very clean; there are no transients at intensity boundaries, and the picture is quite stable. Two small problems: With the exander option installed (to adjust the blanking interval) the board is a little wider than one slot. Also, in my case, the genlock failed after several hours operation, due to heat I suspect. It works fine with the cover off the PC, and I expect that an expansion box with a fan will solve the problem. I have not found much use for the blend capability, and would have preferred a graphics overlay channel instead. I understand this is being considered. I have alot of software working with this board (z-buffer, utilities, etc.) and would be happy to correspond with others about it. -Steve Miller ihnp4!bellcore!bambi!steve Image Space Inc. Suite #3 125 Washington St. Hoboken NJ, 07030 (201) 798-0429
chapman@fornax.uucp (John Chapman) (08/30/86)
> I called AT&T for some information about their TrueVision High Color > Resolution Imaging products. For anyone interested, here is the info > taken mostly verbatim from the AT&T brochure. It is probably biased > but at least it's not copyrighted. > All of these boards are for the IBM (PC, XT, AT) and compatibles. > Has anyone out there tried any of these boards with or without AT&T's > software? I'm looking for a review. > <other interesting stuff> I too would really like to see a review as I'm seriously considering buying one of these boards - particularly since it will be with my own $$. One thing I'd like to know is whether or not the Targa-16 (or others) have colour lookup tables so you can do gamma correction - if not has ATT tried any kind of 'average' gamma compensation on the rgb outputs in the board design? Also I assume the 512k of the 16 is not mapped in one window into the pc's addressing space - so how big is the window and how do you switch it? What other parameters can you control on the board? Is it possible to upgrade a 16 to the other (24,32) versions? Thanks in advance for any info, john chapman ...{watmath,ihnp4,uw-beaver}!ubc-vision!sfucmpt!sfulccr!chapman
steve@bambi.UUCP (Steve Miller) (09/05/86)
> One thing I'd like to know is whether or not the Targa-16 (or others) > have colour lookup tables so you can do gamma correction - if not has > ATT tried any kind of 'average' gamma compensation on the rgb outputs > in the board design? At present, none of the TARGA boards has a color lookup table. EPICenter tells me that this is being considered, at least for the TARGA-8. > Also I assume the 512k of the 16 is not mapped in one window into the > pc's addressing space - so how big is the window and how do you switch > it? My TARGA-32 allows access to two different 32k blocks, in a contiguous 64k address space. The TARGA-24 is addressed identically, meaning that that one out of every four bytes has no memory. I don't know about the TARGA-16 in this regard. > What other parameters can you control on the board? Because the TARGA-16 has an integral RGB/NTSC decoder, it also has some registers that govern contrast and other video characteristics. There's also zoom and scroll, of course. > Is it possible to upgrade a 16 to the other (24,32) versions? There is no provision for upgrading the hardware. At present, I don't believe EPICenter accepts trade-ins. I think some gentle pressure is in order here. The software is another story. The C source shipped with the board is clearly intended to be independent of the particular TARGA you are using. I can't verify this by experiment, but the code looks very well written to me; I expect one could modify programs to work with various boards quite easily. On the other hand, I have been tempted to "go around" some of these routines, in the hopes of trading device independence for speed. I'll get back to you on this... In case readers of this group can't already tell, I LOVE THIS BOARD! It really is everything I need to create broadcast quality graphics. The people at EPICenter (Brad Pillow, in particular) are nothing but helpful, their advertising is accurate and the gadget does what they say. Another recent hardware discovery of mine is a board that allows exact frame-by-frame animation on some 3/4" and some 1/2" VCR's. Anyone want to hear about that? -Steve Miller Image Space Inc. Suite #3 125 Washington St. Hoboken NJ 07030 (201) 798-0429