#AGA for A2000 and A3000?
21 messages in this thread
Dean,
Hi. Do you have any plans for a board that will provide AGA capability
for A2000s and A3000s?
Thanks.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Dom,
I'm sorry, but I cannot comment at this time.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
> I'm sorry, but I cannot comment at this time.
No problem, Dean. I understand. Thanks.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Sheesh – the only thing missing was the smiley face ;^]
wmc – via Autopilot!
Dom,
X-Pert in Germany are manufacturing (oh well, they have it manufactured in
Taiwan) a 24bit graphics board which will provide AGA compatibility (it's
not yet implemented in the system software but they had a program out even
back in March, just to prove that it can be done, which is 1200 bytes
large and emulates the AA chipset if only a bit slow…). The board is
called MERLIN comes in varieties of 1, 2, or 4 (later even 8 and 16) Megs
of Video RAM in 2 special SIMM holders, externally expandable to up to 1
Gigabyte, own BLITTER with up to 50 Megapixels/sec, RTG ready (socket),
Modular construction with Video converter module (RGB to Composite and
Y-C), Realtime 24bit video digitizer module, and 24bit Genlock module;
future developments will include Memory Expansion, MPEG
compression/decompression module, video effects generator module and more.
I already posted a more detailed description a week or two ago, but I
think maybe I'll write it all down and upload it here…
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
Do you know who the US distributor is for the Merlin and whether or not it
is currently available here in the US?
-Jonathan
-Jonathan
Jonathan,
their US distributor is called Microstep, if I remember correctly. As they
told me that about one third (!) of MERLIN orders came from US I should
think there must have been some kind of advertising? I shall ask them
again for name and address of their US distributor…
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
I have seen no advertising here in the US. I have heard plenty about the
board though… I would appreciate any additional information, especially
if you could confirm the US distributor and possibly get the phone number
and/or address of the company.
Thanks!
-Jonathan
Chris,
Thanks for all the info and I would be interested in hearing more about
the Merlin board. However, I'm going to wait awhile and see if DKB
releases a similar board, before I purchase anything.
Thanks.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Dom,
PMFJI……… what's the word about DKB bd? I have not heard this.
Also, have you looked at the Retina bd?
Chris—->on AP
Chris,
There is no word on a DKB board. Dean said he can't comment at this
time and I don't even know if DKB will ever make an AGA board at all. DKB
has never announced such a board and I have no information whatsoever if
they will make one. However, since I'm willing to wait, I figured I
wouldn't buy any board until I wait awhile and see if DKB ever does
release one.
No, I never looked at the Retina board.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
…And I'd sure like to hear more about the Picasso RTG board.
— Ron Legro, Milwaukee
via AUTOPILOT (the only way to fly)
Ron,
Yes, all the boards sound interesting, but I want to wait until the
smoke clears. At that time, if DKB does release a board, my first
inclination is to buy from them, based on their past performance and
commitment to the Amiga market.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Dom,
ok, I'll write the details down and upload it here and/or
AmigaTech/AmigaArts. Will take me one or two days though…
BTW, just read GVP ad for new board – sounds very similar to Merlin,
feature-wise – what do you think about it?
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
I guess I must be blind, but I haven't seen anything new from GVP either,
except for the 2.0 update to IV24. What have you seen?
-Jonathan
I had a closer look today, and, yes, that's what I had seen, too. It also
says '1.5 Megs of VRAM' so I suppose it's limited to video resolutions
only… so maybe no real challenge to the likes of MERLIN & Co. *;v)
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
Christian,
I don't know much about the GVP board. I'm hoping one of the magazines
does a comparative review of all the AGA boards at the appropriate time.
Let me know when you upload the file. Thanks.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Dom,
X-Pert will provide me with info about their USA distributor by this
weekend. I think I'll wait till then and upload the _complete_ info on
sunday or monday, if that's okay with you. The GVP board really IS the
IV24, Version 2.0, only video resolution (no 1024×768 etc.), but bundled
with paint program (also v2.0, said to be usable if not yet any
competition for OpalPaint), Caligary IV-24, and has an external video I/O
black box. There's a review in the new Amiga Computing (UK mag). I just
bought it so I haven't as yet read the review. Can tell you more later if
you want…
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
Thanks, Chris.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Ah, not quite sure I follow the thread, but we (GVP) intend to come out with a
card real soon that is definitely NOT an IV24. It will provide very high speed
graphics capabilities (up to 24 bit) for probably less than $600. This card
will work in A2000, A3000, and A4000. We will probably ship a completely new
and innovative paint program with it also.
Paul.
Paul,
Is this new graphics card going to display the AGA modes or will it
just provide better graphics modes, but be non-AGA compatible? That is,
will AGA software display properly using your card?
Thanks.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–