CompuServe Thread

#Retina Question?

4 messages in this thread
#197472From: Alex BakerMay 18, 1995 11:40 PM
Looking for a Retina Guru. (No, not the software crash kind. <grin>) Just installed a Retina ZII card. (2 meg of ram). Looks to be working Ok, if I can get WB to fill all of the Retina screen, I'd be even more thrilled. However, my big question right now, is what all supports the card in 24 bit? I'm running it an a A3000 WB 2.04 and 2 meg chip, 4 fast. The factory supplied software will not display Gifs, though supposedly will do so under Work Bench 3.x. According to the manual there is supposed to be an AGA emulation mode, but that doeasn't appear on the menu. Do I need WB 3.1 for that too? The software that came with it is version 2.3. Is there a program(s) that will display GIF's etc. on the Retina? So far, it seems really stable, and the speed looks pretty good.
#197477From: Paul IdolMay 19, 1995 12:59 AM
Well, what the heck, here goes a super-brief primer on the abominable Retina software. >>if I can get WB to fill all of the Retina screen, I'd be even more thrilled.<< This is simple enough… NOT! In RetinaScreenmode, you select your monitor and then the default screenmode/resolution, which I find has to be the same as the WorkBench RetinaEmu screenmode and C= ScreenMode resolution. Then, in RetinaEmu, set the promotion of WorkBench to that same mode. Then, in ScreenMode prefs, set your WB resolution to the resolution in RetinaScreenMode and RetinaEmu, and select autoscroll and the number of colors. The actual screenmode in ScreenMode doesn't matter whit. >>However, my big question right now, is what all supports the card in 24 bit?<< Well, AdPro. The included super-duper (NOT!) paint program xiPaint. TVPaint for the Retina, which actually is terrific. RetinaDisplay bites, I hardly ever get it to work. Viewtek_Retina works OK mostly, although it's not entirely compatible with my Z3. >>According to the manual there is supposed to be an AGA emulation mode, but that doeasn't appear on the menu.<< It's not something you set. You should have the option in ScreenMode of going up to 256 colors. You could also set your Workbench to be Deep–either 24bit or 16bit, I think–but in that event, set ScreenMode to no more than 4 colors. Mr. Zombie
#197708From: Alex BakerMay 21, 1995 4:42 PM
Thanks for the info. The distribution disk that came with the card, did not have Xi Paint on it,. Retina Display works ok for Jpegs, but doesn't recognize Gifs. (At least under 2.04.) The manual shows that there should be a selection for AA Emulation in Retina Emu, under the Global settings menu, as the first item. Evidently it is one of those "features" that hasn't been implemented yet. What is Viewtek_Retina? (Commercial, Shareware?) Defiently was not in the distribution diskette. RView, also mentioned in the manual, is also among the missing Additonally something called Screen Lister does not appear to be present, though from reading the manual, I doubt I'd sorely miss it. I wonder if either some of the above have been deleted from the distribution disks, due to the sate of Amiga affairs, or if I am missing a disk. (Only one came with the card, but the installation software never asked for a second disk, or files that it couldn't find.) In any event, thanks again for the info. Even as it is, it is a definite improvment over the stock display. (My Amber ship was flakey, which gave scrolling Red ghost images with deinterlace on, and a screen shifted to the right with deinterlace off.)
#197748From: Paul IdolMay 21, 1995 11:33 PM
You should probably contact NoahJi's for the missing stuff. Viewtek_Retina is the RetinaZ2 version of VT, aka Viewtek. It should be in the libs in AmigaArts. Mr. Zombie