rpitt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Raymond Jeczen Pittman) (04/24/91)
I've been watching the news go back and forth lately on the ColorStation and have gathered the following: It looks as though the system is capable of the following: Displaying 4096 colors simultaneously Palette is 16.7 million colors Alpha Channel is NOT part of the 16 bits in the display capabilities Thus giving an effect of more than 4096 colors via dithering. Please comment on these as you see fit. The question I have is the following: Is the workspace capable of cool color backgrounds other than the described grey? Can we really go nuts with color stuff provided we supply enough memory? Do you think 24 megs would be sufficient for most practical color purposes? I've seen the Macintosh with very colorful workspace, seems as though the ColorStation should be able to top this, yes? -- R.J.
cnh5730@maraba.tamu.edu (04/24/91)
In article <1991Apr23.225929.25115@engin.umich.edu> rpitt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Raymond Jeczen Pittman) writes:
I've been watching the news go back and forth lately on the
ColorStation and have gathered the following:
It looks as though the system is capable of the following:
Displaying 4096 colors simultaneously
correct.
Palette is 16.7 million colors
nope. this is NeXTdimension. But then with the color-dithering of the
NeXTstation...
Alpha Channel is NOT part of the 16 bits in the display
capabilities
completely wrong. Alpha channel is 4 of the 16 bits. What's 12 bits
give you? 4096!
Thus giving an effect of more than 4096 colors via dithering.
This is profoundly true. The NeXTstation employs a color-dithering
algorithm. Dithering trades-off resolution for a gain in interim
colors through color-halftoning or mixing. Also, check out the
Crayola-chip: proprietary to NeXT, and shipping on the NeXTstation,
the chip reduces color-banding and enhances color shading from one
color to another. You can demonstrate this inside the app, Icon using
the "gradation panels". Very killer... and qualifies for the graphics
buzzword of the '90's: "Antialiasing" if you ask me.
Please comment on these as you see fit.
don't mind if I do.
The question I have is the following:
Is the workspace capable of cool color backgrounds other than the
described grey? Can we really go nuts with color stuff provided we
supply enough memory? Do you think 24 megs would be sufficient for
most practical color purposes?
I've seen the Macintosh with very colorful workspace, seems as though
the ColorStation should be able to top this, yes?
-- R.J.
--
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster,
and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzschezimmer@calvin.stanford.edu (Andrew Zimmerman) (04/24/91)
> Displaying 4096 colors simultaneously > >correct. > > Palette is 16.7 million colors > >nope. this is NeXTdimension. But then with the color-dithering of the >NeXTstation... > Don't the 12 bits go directly to the 3 color guns, 4 bits for each gun? This would mean that you can have 4096 different colors, but you can only have 16 colors of gray rather then 256 shades of gray for a number of other color machines (VGA cards, Macs, Suns, Decs, etc.) This can be quite important to people doing image processing types of applications. Andrew zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu
mitroo@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Varun Mitroo) (04/25/91)
In article <1991Apr23.225929.25115@engin.umich.edu> rpitt@caen.engin.umich.edu (Raymond Jeczen Pittman) writes: >The question I have is the following: > >Is the workspace capable of cool color backgrounds other than the >described grey? Can we really go nuts with color stuff provided we >supply enough memory? Do you think 24 megs would be sufficient for >most practical color purposes? > What I always wanted to be able to do was change the *window borders* from gray to a nice green marble texture or something else. I know this could make the displays nonstandard and possibly add to the graphics overhead, but it would really make the display look a lot more aesthetically pleasing. What's the use of having color if it's only in a few specks on a gray screen? -- You are young, they are old Control is all they've got to give Just live how you want to live Tiny things that make you slave Like a chain, an anchor to the bed of the sea