#Online GIF
13 messages in this thread
There does not appear to be an Amiga terminal program that supports online
viewing of GIF pictures (weather maps, trends, .GIF files in forum
libraries, etc.).
Is there a need for this? If you say yes, don't say so because it would
be a "gee whiz" feature — would you use it?
-sja
Steve,
Very rarely. It would be slower than downloading and using the Amiga's
multi-tasking capabilities to view the image. So, it would be mainly a
convenience factor in the rare instances when I'd want to see something
online.
Bill, K3OZM
"Go CALFORUM"
Bill,
At 9600 baud, using an '030, doing a realtime GIF display will give you the
same thruput (approx 960) as a straight download. So, unless you're CPU bound,
there is no speed penalty.
Steve,
I'm probably way off base, but the way I understand it, a GIF file must
be decoded line by line (a variation of the LZ system.) The decoding
takes a discernable amount of time, hence it would be slower. Of course,
if you download the file and begin decoding while the download is in
progress, the download time wouldn't be affected, but the viewing time
would be longer than the download process. (Did I confuse myself yet?)
Shows how much techie stuff I know. 🙂
Bill, K3OZM
"Go CALFORUM"
Bill,
You are offbase — but, thru no fault of yours. Ya see, I've already written
the code and tested it extensively — so I know the numbers hold up (at least
on an A3000 and A4000). Using those machines, the decoding and display is fast
enough to not affect through-put at 9600 baud.
Bill,
Well, let me back off a bit on what I said before. Display speed depends
on a variety of things — the way a particular GIF picture was saved, the
width of the pic, and the number of bit planes in the pic. Typically, the
lower the res and fewer the bitplanes, the longer it will take to display.
(The following observation is based on a 9600 connect). If there are
multiple lines to be displayed per 1k block from the BPlus transfer, the
slower it will be. As an example, when viewing a 640 x 480 256 color pic,
that translates into about 1.5 scan lines of display per 1k block. For
that type of pic, I've been getting a thruput of about 960 cps (you can't
get the next block until the current block is displayed). However, if the
pic is a 1 bit plane (2 color) that could translate to 10 to 20 scan lines
of display to be done before the next block can be gotten, so you could
get an effective cps of 300-400. These pics are the exception and
relatively rare — the vast majority of online pics are 16 or 256 color.
It's interesting to note that the higher the color density the faster the
transfer/display.
-sja
Steve,
Online support for picture viewing is something that I use on only the
rarest occasions using WinCIM; I could not imagine using it all with
Autopilot.
Obviously, someone has suggested putting this in…perhaps if Autopilot
had more CIM-like features, it could be a good idea. As it stands, it
seems pretty useless to me.
//Jonathan,
\\//via AutoPilot
Steve,
I would use it, especially if it allows one to save the realtime displayed
image for later use. I use WINCIM or PROCOM PLUS for WINDOWS to download
realtime weather satellite images at work all the time.
Christopher
Steve,
I doubt that I, personally, would use the GIF feature even if it were
available. However, we seem to be constantly explaining to people that
"this feature is not available for the Amiga, but you can just download
the GIF and view it while the next one is downloading." The request for
the feature shows up here quite often.
—Betty
Steve,
yes. Now that FinalCopy II/Release II supports type 1 fonts, I intend
to "rape" the FontBank, but I find that actual mechanics of downloading
the .GIF file, viewing it, grab the next, and repeat process to be
tedious, at best. There are also certain other .GIF files that would be
best utilized in the view and dispose mode, such as weather maps.
Just a thought.
Brian
Steve,
I doubt I would use it much but, if you put it in AP then you wouldn't
have to tell all the people that want it that, 'No, it doesn't support
that feature." I think people see more features and regardless of whether
or not they use it, it becomes a selling point.
-Sean
I would use the weather map feature without a doubt.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Steve,
I would use the GIF feature, albeit rarely, wathermaps come to mind.
For me it would be kind of a "gee whiz" feature, but would see some
limited use. And I hate explaining to my dos friends something else the
amiga can't do.
…Steve
====>>> Motorola 68030 Inside <<<====