CompuServe Messages

Andrew, I would like to add my 2 cents worth for your consideration while considering 24 bit boards. First off, it is not clear to me what you want to accomplish with your 24-bit board! I believe the products out there that fall into basically 2 camps — video related or "true color" high resolution display related (there are suppose to be some that cover both camps like the Merlin and the RetinaZ3 but I haven't heard/seen these products as being readily available). The video related products like OpalVision and IV24 have 24-bit displays that show about 750 something by 480 something (which roughly translates to a single video size image) where as the high-res products like PicassoII and Spectrum will easily provide 24-bit displays of 800×600 images non-interlaced and even larger image sizes at a somewhat reduced color count (assuming your monitor can handle it!). Grabbing frames and outputting to NTSC is not trival for the high-res devices since they were not designed with this in mind. On the other hand, the video related devices are naturally more suited for this. The IV24 has capture and output capabilities built-in, where as I am pretty certain you have to purchase extra modules (when/if available) to let the OpalVision board do this. The OpalVision, however, has more impressive animation playback, at least from what I have seen! Retargetable graphics (intertangled with device indepedant graphics) appears to relate more immediately to the high-res devices and the desire to transparently run all your software on high-color, high-resolution screens. This may or may not be important depending on how happy you are with the "native" software provided with your 24-bit board, or as you noted, how well the board is supported by third party software (especially those you want to use!). If price is the driving factor and all you want is a 75*x48* 24-bit interlaced display to view images (I'm ignoring paint programs because they all come with at least one and "good" is such a subjective thing), then I don't think you can go wrong with the current prices for the OpalVision. However, if you are looking for more than this (video in-out, non-interlaced display, higher resolution, etc…) I would recommend you prioritize your needs (and/or desires) and then examine your options! So that you know my bias, I own an IV24 and am very impressed with it (in fact, I'm surprised it is not more popular!) but I also have a little hands-on with both the OpalVision and Spectrum boards…. EdV