planting@hobbes.cs.pittsburgh.edu (Dr. Harry Plantinga) (10/04/89)
I just received RasterOps' Colorboard 264, their 640x480x24-bit
display card, which I purchased from MacLand for $699.
Mini-review:
Construction: from all appearances, the board is well-designed,
with fewer chips than the Apple 8-bit board. There were no
visible modifications.
Speed: No difference that I could measure from the Apple board in
1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-bit modes. Tests included scrolling a
text-only document in Word and catting a file in VersaTerm
at 19200 bps. The speed in 24-bit mode was slightly better
than 1/3 the speed (24/67) of 8-bit mode. (The speed on my
Mac II reminded me of using a terminal at 1200 bps.)
Included software: A system folder (6.0.3), with color QD init and
two 32-bit picts in the scrapbook. Dated July 1989.
Cable: no video cable was included. I used the apple 13" color
monitor and Apple video cable. If you want to use the NTSC
output feature you have to get a special cable from RasterOps.
Compatibility: seems fine in all modes but 24-bit. In 24-bit mode,
most applications work except for painting, image processing,
etc. applications that depend on 8-bit mode. Some of these
say that they require 24-bit mode and some just crash.
Programs that seem to work even in 24-bit mode:
Word, VersaTerm, HyperCard, DiskFit, most others
Programs that don't work in 24-bit mode:
NIH Image 1.16, Giffer 1.03, MacVision 2.0, MacDraw II
These programs either state that they need 8-bit mode or just
crash. Note that these programs all work in 8-bit mode.
RGBView works in 24-bit mode, but just displays 8-bit images.
Question for those of you who have read this far: Do you know of
any painting, image processing, or just picture display
programs that are compatible with 32-bit QD? Where can I
find programming information for 32-bit QD? Does anyone
have necessary glue routines or whatever for Think C?
Wanted to buy: a 12" apple black and white monitor to use with my old
Apple 8-bit video card, preferrable in Pittsburgh area.
Harry Plantinga
planting@cs.pitt.edu