ef@tools.uucp (Edgar Fuss) (12/06/90)
Regarding a graphic card for the pc532, what about the ARM/VIDC/MEMC/IOC (Acorn Risc Machine, Video, Memory, I/O controller) set used in Acorn's Archimedes computers? The set is quite powerful (both CPU and VIDC), and semms to have been designed to be useful as a add-on graphic system.
maniac@vector.dallas.tx.us (Jon Buller) (12/10/90)
> From: texsun!tools!ef (Edgar Fuss) > Regarding a graphic card for the pc532, what about the ARM/VIDC/MEMC/IOC > (Acorn Risc Machine, Video, Memory, I/O controller) set used in Acorn's > Archimedes computers? The set is quite powerful (both CPU and VIDC), > and semms to have been designed to be useful as a add-on graphic system. I'm not sure I like this combination... the VIDC chip only has 4bit DACs and a 4bit palette. This gets you a whopping 16 colors out of 4096. I seem to remember hearing that the MEMC chip had some limit of only managing 4MB of RAM, the rest being allocated to video, IO, etc. I don't have my data book here, so I am not sure about the MEMC, but I am sure about the VIDC chip. I would rather see a VGA chip with 8bit DACs and a 256x24 bit palette. I saw that AMD has a chip (it was the nearest databook when I was curious) that will provide 256 colors for an Application, and another 15 as overlays, these extra 15 could be used for window borders, backgrounds, etc. giving the app a full palette. As for processor, I would like either a NS32K (no need for new tools) or a Moto 88K (Looks like a fun chip to play with, except for exceptions 8-( (I don't think I want to use an i860, looks way to hard to write code for, let alone use compilers with...) Of course then maybe I'm just spoiled, I have a Mac II with a video setup close to what I described for the VGA video chip. (Now if only the VGA chip had a 24 bit input to bypass the palette, and we had hundreds of MB of cheap 10nS VRAM... 8-) (I would like 1280x1024x24, but I doubt I will EVER be able to afford it, I can't even afford a hard disk for my pc532 at the moment...) With all this though, maybe a couple of serial ports would be a good idea, and an 8051. Use them as a diagnostic port, a mouse port, and a keyboard controller. Then, you can have a stand-alone system with a hard-disk, or a pc532 with a screaming video system. -- Jon Buller jonb@vector.dallas.tx.us ..!texsun!vector!jonb FROM Fortune IMPORT Quote; FROM Lawyers IMPORT Disclaimer;
ef@tools.uucp (Edgar Fuss) (12/13/90)
> I'm not sure I like this combination... the VIDC chip only has 4bit DACs > and a 4bit palette. This gets you a whopping 16 colors out of 4096. The VIDC goes up to 256 colours > I seem to remember hearing that the MEMC chip had some limit of only managing > 4MB of RAM, the rest being allocated to video, IO, etc. A single MEMC can handle up to 4MB, right. But you can cascade two of them, handling 8MB. Newer Acorn Machines have up to 16MB, maybe using newer MEMC's. How much Memory do you need for graphics? The main point is that the ARM's instruction set is really nice for graphic applications like bitblitting.