drtiller@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Donald Richard Tillery Jr) (12/08/90)
OK, folks, I made a boo-boo last week when I mentioned the resolutions of
DCTV. As penance I've compiled as much information as I could about the 24
bit boards that are out there for the Amiga. The following is as much
info as I was able to obtain (long distance phonecalls included). If
anything is incorrect or you can fill in my blanks, let me know via e-mail
(and I'll update this post) or the net so everyone will see.
Commodore Amiga Extended Color Board Comparisons
------------------------------------------------
Toaster DCTV ColorBurst HAM-E A2140 Firecracker 24
------- ---- ---------- ----- ----- --------------
Vendor (NewTek) (Digital (M.A.S.T) (Black (Commodore) (Impulse)
Creations) Belt)
1 1 2 3 4
Highest Res. 768x480 736x480 768x560 384x480 1024x1024 1024x480
1 1 5 6
Onscreen colors 16.7 M 16.7 M 16.7 M 256/256K 256+3 16.7 M
Palette size 16.7 M 16.7 M 16.7 M 16.7 M 16.7 M 16.7 M
7 8,9 7 9
# of framebuffers 2 r 1 r ? 1
10
Compatible Amigas 2x000 All All All 2x00/3x00 2x00/3x00
NTSC/PAL NTSC NTSC NTSC NTSC/PAL ? NTSC
11 11
Output format comp. comp. RGB RGB ? RGB
Overlay Yes No Yes No ? Yes
Animation No Yes Yes Yes ? No
On-board effects Yes No Yes No ? No
Framegrabber Yes Yes No No ? No
Live Video Effects Yes No No No ? No
Software included 12
Paint Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No
Conversion Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
Effect control Yes N/A Yes N/A ? N/A
3-D render Yes No No No ? No
13 14
Shipping Yes No No Yes No Yes
Price $1495 $495 $495 $399 ? $1595
NOTES:
Commodore's A2410 info is preliminary and is not complete or official.
1. Subject to limitation of composite output resolutions and colors.
2. 768x480 in NTSC mode.
3. Including "Magic Cookie" code line above image.
4. Special monitor required for highest resolutions (above 800x600).
5. Normal/Extended HAM modes.
6. 256 colors plus 3 overlay colors.
7. Dependent on computer chip memory.
8. Expandable from 1.5 to 8 megs of on-board memory.
9. More frames in reduced resolutions/colors.
10. Will fit into 3000 with a blowtorch (not included).
11. Shipping to registered owners in January.
12. Composite video limits the palette to around 1/4 to 1/2 million
colors and horizontal resolution to around 350 pixels.
13. Shipping around December 7, 1990.
14. Shipping around first of January.
Rick Tillery
(drtiller@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu)jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John 'Vlad' Adams) (12/09/90)
Wrong! The Video Toaster from NewTek does animation. I saw forty minutes of INCREDIBLE demonstration of a Toaster last night. Included was the animation of a ship moving from a distant perspective to a close perspective. It was *really* nice compared to the amount of work I've watched friends put into VideoScape 3D and Promotion and a handful of other animation packages. -- John M. Adams --**-- Professional Student on the eight-year plan! /// Internet: jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu -or- vladimir@maple.circa.ufl.edu /// "We'll always be together, together in electric dreams" Moroder & Oakey \\V// Sysop of The Beachside. FIDOnet 1:3612/557. 904-492-2305 (Florida) \X/
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (12/09/90)
Sigh. So close and yet so far...It would have been wonderful if you'd asked and reported the number of bits of picture information _stored_ for each pixel in the resolution, so we'd have some idea how much information could be stored per image, which is the only way to differentiate the "cheap trick" implementations from the real frame buffer implementations. Maybe next time. On a side issue, if the folks posting for (from?) Black Belt Systems keep up their bullying tactics in this group, they aren't going to _have_ a customer base, no matter how good their product might be. They seem to be taking the company name to heart a little too much. Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>
kdarling@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (12/09/90)
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > On a side issue, if the folks posting for (from?) Black Belt Systems > keep up their bullying tactics in this group, they aren't going to > _have_ a customer base, no matter how good their product might be. > They seem to be taking the company name to heart a little too much. This seems (to me) quite a remarkably quick judgement, considering that (as far as I have read or heard mentioned) Black Belt has only had _one_ direct message reposted here so far (I forwarded it days ago). Personally I'd prefer that all Amiga manufacturers were online on all nets... it keeps the misinformation being spread to a dull roar ;-). Note, for example, how much CBM gets flamed on nets and BBSs where they aren't available to defend themselves. People are quick to post rumors and slams when they know they can't get caught... In any case, I do have three more messages to post from them, and that'll be that... cross-posting is a real pain. If you have something to say to Black Belt, why don't you email to him as suggested in the messages? Note that I have no connection with BB at all, except for having had a nice hacker's chat with Ben Williams once last year by phone (sidenote of interest to SF fans... his dad was James Blish). However, those of us with businesses (perhaps you also) do get upset when we see casual (and often just plain wrong) information being posted around.... especially if there's no quick way to respond. I'm sure you understand. Sincerely - kevin darling <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu> PS: I'm behind you all the way: that "24-bit" means the internal video data size, not the palette chip output. It's a shame that people get confused over ads.