[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] image processing on a 486...

sahtirn@ipla01.hac.com (Walter and Bill) (03/26/91)

less than a car which will have throughput competitive with a (shared)
supermini.  So i'm gonna junk the old xt and buy a 25 MHz 486 machine loaded
w/memory etc.  I intend to run Windows, if it doesn't limit me in some way.
I intend to do image processing on 8-bit imagery using Neural Net algorithms
(i.e., lots 'o' flops - correlations, array operations, statistical analysis)
and i will need the CPU throughput and 256-grey-level display capability to
support it.
Since i have been out of touch with the PC world, i would like to solicit
some advice:

* I would like to get a Weitek coprocessor, but i would also like to stay with
Turbo C++ (i understand 2.0 does windows - any bugs?).  Can the new Tc++ gen-
erate Weitek code or is there some other compiler compatible w/ Tc++ with
which i can build a linkable library?

* I need to display 8-bit (256-level) grey scale with a minimum of 512x640 
resolution (and square pixels!).  I have been told that there is an enhanced 
VGA mode which supports this.  Which compilers and graphics cards are able
to work in this mode, if any?  I would like to stay as "mainstream" as 
possible, e.g. paradise card, turbo c.

* I will eventually need to build a user interface and would prefer to make
it portable.  Thus i'd like to hear reccommendations/experiences concerning
X-windows packages running under MS windows.  Any comments on mouse support
would also be helpful.

I think that there must be other NN/IP researchers like myself who would
find this info valuable.  Please respond to this by e-mail and i will
summarize on the appropriate topics.  this is especially important since
i will be posting this to several PC HW, PC SW, and ANN topics and might miss
your response if you just posted it.  I will credit all responses in my
summary.

Thank you all in advance!

Walter Alden Tackett
tackett@ipla01.hac.com
sahtirn@ipla01.hac.com

martin@saturn.uucp (Martin J. Schedlbauer) (03/31/91)

In article <14039@hacgate.UUCP> sahtirn@ipla01.hac.com (Walter and Bill) writes:
>w/memory etc.  I intend to run Windows, if it doesn't limit me in some way.
>I intend to do image processing on 8-bit imagery using Neural Net algorithms
>(i.e., lots 'o' flops - correlations, array operations, statistical analysis)
>and i will need the CPU throughput and 256-grey-level display capability to
>support it.

Since you'll be doing a lot of computation, a good math coprocessor is a must.
The 387 built into the 486 is significantly faster than the 387-33. I'm not
sure how much faster the Weitek is.

Doing such work under DOS in 16bit is a waste of CPU power. You should really
think of going to 32bit programming. A DOS extender and a good C compiler is
a must. 

Since you'd like to use X Windows and 32bit programming, why not look into
Unix? A good Unix for the PC (such as ESIX) can be had for around $550. If
you use GNU cc you will get decent 32bit performance (a lot faster than you
can get under DOS). Also, there is a lot of PD image processing software
under Unix and X.

	...Martin



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