CompuServe Thread

Andrew, Well, I don't want to go over information that is readily available but then people can skip messages easily enough I guess 🙂 The current DMI Resolver is an 8 bit graphics coprocessor using the TI 34010 GSP graphics chip and the Brooktree palette chip. It comes in 3 models, A, B and C that differ only in the amount of memory on the board. A and B can be upgraded to a higher model by a board exchange, DMIs preferred method (they would rather not have people soldering in chips themselves as the chips are not socketed). Configurations are 1 meg VRAM and 2 meg DRAM for $1295, 2 meg VRAM and 2 DRAM for $1749 and 4meg VRAM and DRAM for $2195 (these are all MSRP, your prices will be better). They were selling the B model at the recent AmiEXPO for $1295 and if you bought the $300 developers package, the board I bought was then $1050 (or the developer stuff was $50 depending on how you looked at it). My total was right at $1437 at the show for a B model. This also included my choice of either Art Department or Draw 4D, $250 and $350 list respectively. I think it was a generous deal all in all. Differences in models effect how big displays can be and whether you can have double buffering at higher resolutions. The B model is rated at 1024×768 NON-interlaced with double buffering available, 1280×1024 NON-interlaced WITHOUT double buffering and 2048×1024 interlaced without double buffering. The A and C differ predictably, I could post the actual numberrs if anyone cared to know. Oh, there is room for up to 8 megs of DRAM on the board, addable in 2 meg increments. The board is EXTREMELY configurable as to resolution with successful configurations as small as 64×64 and as large as 2048×2048. The largest non-interlaced screen is limited to 1280×1024. Vertical refresh rates are variable in 0.5 Hz increments up to 120 Hz. My Diamond Scan monitor is nominally rated at 800×600 non-interlace but I found that I could push it to 1024×512 (an included example mode) and as far as 1024×600 with some urging. The [ MORE ]

[ continuation ] A1950 is pretty equivalent, I think, to the Diamond Scan. Programming the board and configuring it to a particular monitor is accomplished with an included program, Tweek. Tweek is a bit intimidating initially but you get used to it and it has quite a nice Intuition interface (though the programmer must be a troll, the palette is SO DARK I really have to guess on some selections if working in indirect daylight [well shaded] though night-time is OK). Tweek puts up a test pattern for calibrating your monitor to the board at each resolution (7 example setups are provided). It also will load any Amiga IFF file up to 8 bit-planes (any higher and it tells you "Nope, more than 8 bit-planes"). The req.library file requester is used and provided. I am unhappy to report that DMI included NO large 8 bit-plane images with the package. I consider that an error on their part. Any IFF image loaded into Tweek may be enlarged to fill the display at the currently chosen screen resolution. This is a hardware function. Basically, if you have an Amiga flicker fixed display (however done) it will show the picture as well as the DMI pretty much. HAM is NOT SUPPORTED in this version but conversion facilities for various graphics formats is available commercially and a HAM pic can be transformed by such software to a form palatable to the Resolver. Also included is a simple Shell/CLI based program equivalent to a simple 'show' program available for viewing graphics in the native Amiga environment. This program analyzes an incoming file and sets the Resolver up in as high a resolution as is needed to display the image. It is not otherwise adjustable. There is a paint program provided which has an 8 bit-plane palette and many of the basic drawing functions we are used to. It is PRIMITIVE, make no mistake about that, it even lacks an UNDO function and is limited in what resolutions it supports. Upgrades are promised :-). There is also a directory of small demos provided that is apparently something traditionally provided by TI with 34010 products. Some of these [ MORE ]

[ continuation ] are fairly nice and do show a range of colors as well as many textures that MUST be built into the chip (the demos are too small, I think, to contain the descriptions of said texures and also, several clearly have TI specific promotional themes). Some of these demos are animated, including a tumbling Rubics cube-like object that adds subobjects while advancing from the distance until it almost pops out of the monitor before receding again. The demo is 9800 bytes. It is only very slightly jerky at the largest sizes of the object. This is at 800×600 res. – via Whap!