AutoDsk Animtr vs Amiga
2 messages in this thread
Rick, you're not asking for too much, and that's what's so frustrating to
me. Don't forget that the OS is limited to an 8-bit-plane display, and
there would have to be some serious changes to fix that without having
every game on the market break.
Plus, any mode that changes the video signal (like a 1280×1024 display)
would make it almost impossible to allow screen dragging. And possibly
even frontback gadgets would be disabled, or else the monitor would have to
sync to a new signal for each screen.
I just hope the very things that make the Amiga the great computer it is
don't become the limitations that hold it back. Of course, the biggest
limitation until now has been Commodore, and they seem to be moving in the
right direction.
We (Black Belt Systems) are going to be releasing a 256k color HAM system
for the AMiga with 64 pre-loadable color registers that is completely
compatible w/existing system software, and qill require a minimum of effort
from a vendor to get images displayed on it. It runs from chip ram,
attaches ONLY at the RGB port, and will be very low cost (less than a third
of comparable frame buffers)…. plus, it offers RGB output for better
video quality, and a 255 grey level display mode.
It utilizes an 8 bit HAM technique, providing 64 levels per color gun for a
total of 262,144 shades. The larger number of color registers means that
images will be MUCH sharper than possible on normal HAM screens, and of
course the contouring will be virtually eliminated.
We're looking at Jan/90 for the initial units to come out, and we expect
this to do a lot for the AMiga video/art marketplace.
It's going to make the manufacturers of the various frame buffers very
unhappy, too – the price is going to be well down around the 200-400$
mark. Progress. Such a deal! <grin>