CompuServe Messages

Vic, Ummm… well, let's say you were reading in CD-I video files (that's what we're talking about, right?). The application program itself might not be a problem, as you could run a port of CD-RTOS (the CD-I OS). The video data is (usually) in native "chunky" pixel style… that is, one byte equals one pixel (or one byte = two pixels side by side in 640/720/768 mode). You'd have to break that out into separate bit planes on the current Amiga chips, yah? Throw in color RLE files, 16-bit/pixel files, dual 256-color/pixel playfields, DYUV files, and a few other CD-I modes, and the 68000 would be kept busy doing conversions. Having done the opposite (playing Amiga animations on the CD-I video chip) conversion myself, I can attest to that <grin>. Then there's hardware fades and realtime decompression of fullmotion video on the CD-I chips also. And an audio S/FX processor, DMA, non-volatile RAM, RTC, and other things you'd need to have standard. It's like an Amiga ** 2. Could a clone chipset be built? Sure. Will CBM do so? Doubtful. Hmmm… but what if they licensed the CD-I chips to go on video cards? Maybe. CD-I is a total hardware/software standard. You either have it or you don't. Kinda like trying to emulate an Amiga using an ST. best – kev