mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) (03/03/90)
Hi, I just got the new MacWorld, and lo and behold, there's an ad from Radius for a monitor called the Pivot. It's a greyscale portrait/landscape monitor. That's right, it's both. It rotates through 90 degrees, so it can be either one, and it's apparently self-configuring. Has anybody used/tried this monitor? How much does it cost? And lastly, why in heaven's name are greyscales like this one and Apple's only upgradable to 16 color????? Why not 256? How much memory can that take? --Mike
ALE101@psuvm.psu.edu (Allen Edmiston) (03/04/90)
i also noticed this article... i wonder if it's possible to make an init
and be able to take your apple color or mono monitor and set it on it's side
and tell this init/cdev to change the orientation... can it work?
Almjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) (03/05/90)
In article <90063.015002ALE101@psuvm.psu.edu> ALE101@psuvm.psu.edu (Allen Edmiston) writes: >i also noticed this article... i wonder if it's possible to make an init >and be able to take your apple color or mono monitor and set it on it's side >and tell this init/cdev to change the orientation... can it work? Considering the amount of heat that my AppleColor RGB monitor generates, I'd think that putting it on its side would be risking melting something from improper ventilation. Radius monitors have (or used to, anyway) a fan, and I'm sure that the Pivot is designed to cool properly in both orientations. Anybody familiar with the guts of the Apple monitors want to comment on alternative orientations? --Mike
Jenkins_RWA@admdev.cut.oz (03/05/90)
In article <1760@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>, mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) writes: > In article <90063.015002ALE101@psuvm.psu.edu> ALE101@psuvm.psu.edu > (Allen Edmiston) writes: >>i also noticed this article... i wonder if it's possible to make an init >>and be able to take your apple color or mono monitor and set it on it's side >>and tell this init/cdev to change the orientation... can it work? > > Considering the amount of heat that my AppleColor RGB monitor generates, I'd [etc on heat]> > > Anybody familiar with the guts of the Apple monitors want to comment on > alternative orientations? > > --Mike -- Well, I'm not an engineer's armpit, but I have actually been over this ground before. At the Apple christmas party last year (seriously!) we discussed the idea of putting the Apple portrait display on its side with an apple systems engineer, primarily because I was trying to design landscape-mode forms on an SE/30, and was having no fun. He suggested that twisting the signal through 90 degrees and changing the aspect ratio from one to the other was a damn sight more involved than knocking up a cdev in MPW Pascal. Apparently the hardware is rather intent on displaying in the tall orientation, and to make matters worse he even suggested that constructing a special video card would not make any difference. It appears to be all down to the monitor design, and it seems that the Pivot has it, and the Apple monitors don't. As far as heat goes, Mike is absolutely right. The way the boards are oriented in the Apple hardware is great as long as they're upright. _______________________________________________________________________________ Richard Jenkins Tel: (09) 351 7864 AppleLink:AUST0176 PC Support Group Fax: (09) 351 2673 ACSnet:cjenkinsr@mail.cut.oz Curtin University Perth, Western Australia psi%050529452300030::cjenkinsr
paul@taniwha.UUCP (Paul Campbell) (03/07/90)
I think that the monitor plays a part in this game ... after all it detects being turned around, I would guess that they change internally which of the x/y coils on the tube are driven when the tube moves (someone else already sells such a monitor, maybe this is the same one). When the system software detects that the tube has moved it must reprogram the video board for a different line count/line length and force an update for the whole screen. My guess is that it probably breaks any program which finds out how big the screen and stores it internally at startup time. I would hate to do a color version of this system, just think what the Earth's magnetic field would do to color alignment on such a system Paul -- Paul Campbell UUCP: ..!mtxinu!taniwha!paul AppleLink: CAMPBELL.P Remember 1990? that was the year the US government funded a Communist election victory in Nicaragua and claimed it a victory for Capitalism.
lemke@radius.UUCP (Steve Lemke) (03/07/90)
In article <1760@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> mjkobb@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Michael J Kobb) writes: }Considering the amount of heat that my AppleColor RGB monitor generates, I'd }think that putting it on its side would be risking melting something from }improper ventilation. Radius monitors have (or used to, anyway) a fan, and }I'm sure that the Pivot is designed to cool properly in both orientations. Only the Radius FPD has a fan in it. Pivot does not have a fan, but you are correct in assuming that it is designed to cool properly in both orientations. -- ----- Steve Lemke, Engineering Quality Assurance, Radius Inc., San Jose ----- ----- Reply to: radius!lemke@apple.com (Coming soon: radius.com ...) -----
lemke@radius.UUCP (Steve Lemke) (03/07/90)
In article <1745@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> mjkobb@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Michael J Kobb) writes: } I just got the new MacWorld, and lo and behold, there's an ad from Radius }for a monitor called the Pivot. It's a greyscale portrait/landscape monitor. }That's right, it's both. It rotates through 90 degrees, so it can be either }one, and it's apparently self-configuring. "On the fly," while the computer is running even... The screen fades out when you trip the mercury switch inside the unit (occurs at about 45 degrees of tilt, give or take a few degrees), and it fades back in after the system has been reconfigured. } Has anybody used/tried this monitor? Yes, extensively. (But I guess that was to be expected since I headed the quality assurance testing for the Pivot project.) } How much does it cost? The Pivot Display with tilt and swivel stand is $995. The Pivot-II Interface card is $695. The Pivot-SE/30 Interface card is also $695. The Gray Shades Memory Expansion Kit is $150. The system comes as a 2-bit (4 shades of gray) and the expansion kit brings it up to 4-bit (16 shades of gray). } And lastly, why in heaven's name are greyscales like this one and Apple's }only upgradable to 16 color????? Why not 256? How much memory can that take? Unfortunately, it's a bigger deal than just adding a few more memory chip sockets to the board. It takes extra circuitry to support the additional video modes (and twice that of a normal video card since this is two video cards in one - a portrait card and a landscape card). Disclaimer: This is not intended as a commercial for Pivot - I just figured that I was probably qualified to answer these particular questions. -- ----- Steve Lemke, Engineering Quality Assurance, Radius Inc., San Jose ----- ----- Reply to: radius!lemke@apple.com (Coming soon: radius.com ...) -----
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (03/08/90)
In article <1246@radius.UUCP>, lemke@radius (Steve Lemke) writes: >"On the fly," while the computer is running even... The screen fades out >when you trip the mercury switch inside the unit (occurs at about 45 degrees >of tilt, give or take a few degrees), and it fades back in after the system >has been reconfigured. Wow, it's even cooler than I thought! I figured it just turned itself off and then back on or went straight to black. >>[ Why only 2 and 4 bit gray scale? ] >Unfortunately, it's a bigger deal than just adding a few more memory chip >sockets to the board. It takes extra circuitry to support the additional >video modes (and twice that of a normal video card since this is two video >cards in one - a portrait card and a landscape card). That makes sense, but my impression was that it might be more a marketing decision (i.e., to keep prices competitive with Apple's). In fact, not being able to use 8 bit gray scales is about the only thing that's keeping me from getting one immediately. Is there any possibility that it might be added in the future? (But even limited to 4 bits, the Pivot is a remarkable achievement. You guys should be proud of yourselves.) -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." baumgart@esquire.dpw.com | cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Letterman
Jim.Grace@f947.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Grace) (03/09/90)
>i wonder if it's possible to make an init
and be able to take your apple color or mono monitor and set it on it's
side
and tell this init/cdev to change the orientation... can it work?<
Watch out! The Pivot solution takes into account proper cooling channels
in both orientations. There may be some difficulies here.
--
Jim Grace via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH
UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!107!947!Jim.Grace
INET: Jim.Grace@f947.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORGulall@pub.uwrl.usu.edu (02/13/91)
I have a radius pivot monitor that i use with my mac iifx i am using radiusware 1.5 is there a newer version of the radius utilities to drive this monitor, and if so where do i get it thanks for the help ulall@pub.uwrl.usu.edu
lemke@radius.com (Steve Lemke) (02/14/91)
ulall@pub.uwrl.usu.edu writes: >I have a radius pivot monitor that i use with my mac iifx >i am using radiusware 1.5 >is there a newer version of the radius utilities to drive >this monitor, and if so where do i get it The latest version of RadiusWare is 1.7, but I'm not sure if it's actually shipping yet or not. Once I get the "official release" disk, I can stuffit and binhex RadiusWare and email it to you. If there's enough interest, I might just post it to comp.binaries.mac. >thanks for the help No problem... Steve -- ----- Steve Lemke, KC6QDT - Software Engineering, Radius Inc., San Jose ----- ----- Reply to: lemke@radius.com -- U.C. Santa Barbara ECE Class of '89 ----- ----- "I'm not a UNIX wizard, but I play the Postmaster at radius.com." -----
mjkobb@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) (02/18/91)
Greetings! I have a Pivot, which I've been very pleased with. One thing, though. In the monitors CDEV, if I set the position of the Radius with respect to my Apple RGB, then rotate the Pivot, and change the position in the other orientation, only one of those settings "sticks". It seems that the software automatically adjusts the other position to make up for the difference in geometry of the Pivot in its two positions. The problem, though, is that I use the Pivot for different purposes in its two positions, and I would like very much for the allignment to be different in the two positions. Is there any way to override this automatic correction? Second, any word on a possible 8-bit Pivot? Please? BTW, I'd be interested in 1.7, if it's released... Thanks, --Mike
lnews@mbtex.rtp.dg.com (Lou Cordero-News Account) (06/11/91)
A couple of weeks ago I remember seeing reading a message in one of the newsgroups about the radius pivot not being compatible with System 7. I just purchased a pivot (for built-in video) and can't get it to work in system 7 but it works great for 6.0.7. Anyone figure out how to get it to work or know when/if radius will offer an upgrade of there software. -- Lou Cordero LAC Software lcordero@mbtex.webo.dg.com
pejacoby@mmm.serc.3m.com (Paul E. Jacoby) (06/12/91)
In article <1366@dg.dg.com> lnews@mbtex.rtp.dg.com (Lou Cordero-News Account) writes: >A couple of weeks ago I remember seeing reading a message in one of the newsgroups >about the radius pivot not being compatible with System 7. I just purchased >a pivot (for built-in video) and can't get it to work in system 7 but it works >great for 6.0.7. Anyone figure out how to get it to work or know when/if radius >will offer an upgrade of there software. MacWeek's 06.04.91 issue has a table of Radius products and the upgrades they need. Most fixes are supposed to be available at this point--a call to Radius would certainly be in order to check on availability. Note: the table shows "Pivot - Needs Upgrade - ROM/software" "Color Pivot - Needs Upgrade - ROM/software" The ROM upgrade is needed to work in 32-bit mode. Paul p.s. This is verbatim from MacWeek--I have no way of checking the validity of this information. -- | Paul E. Jacoby, 3M Company, 3M Center, 235-3F-27 | | Maplewood, MN 55144-1000 .-----------------------------------| | => pejacoby@3m.com | I'm afraid this is getting | | (612) 737-3211 | too silly! |
pierce@radius.com (Pierce T. Wetter III) (06/22/91)
>Note: the table shows "Pivot - Needs Upgrade - ROM/software" > "Color Pivot - Needs Upgrade - ROM/software" > The ROM upgrade is needed to work in 32-bit mode. Yeah, that's mostly true, though some roms already worked in 32-bit mode, but you might as well get the new roms anyway. Translation of the chart: For non Pivot stuff, the "needs software" means that RadiusWare 1.x doesn't work with System 7.0. RadiusWare 2.0 does and is on several online services. So if you have a non 32-bit clean mac, just throw away Radiusware, and you're set. If you have a Pivot, you need RadiusWare for the Dynamic Desktop stuff, but 2.0 is available on AppleLink and CompuServe, as well as here (soon). Basically, the hardware always works, the big menu bar and other RadiusWare stuff requires an upgrade. Pierce -- My postings are my opinions, and my opinions are my own not that of my employer. You can get me at radius!pierce@apple.com. (Wha'ja want? Some cute signature file? Hah! I have real work to do.