Re: Commodore 128's VDC graphics superior to GS VGC graphics?

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <1998032808424501.DAA10991@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
Supertimer <supertimer@aol.com> wrote:
>The GS sometimes uses tricks to get good looking video too.  It has
>a palette of 4096 colors, but it can only display 16 of these per line.
>In 3200 color pictures, the GS is loading a different 16 color palette
>for every scan line.  That's the trick behind many of the impressive
>looking screenshots.  A video memory upgrade would boost colors
>per line to 256.

   Do you have the faintest idea what the heck you're trying to
propose, where video memory is located on the GS in relation to system
globals, or what? All video memory accesses have to go thru the slow
1Mhz bus, and there's only 2 64K chunks of ram that fits the
bill. Large chunks of those banks are already in use by important OS
vectors and I/O space, so you're not likely to get more space in them
without rewriting the OS, building a new motherboard, and generally
getting in way over your head.

   Dreaming is nice, but you really should get back to reality and
answer these questions: (1) Whom will do this hardware work (be quite
specific-- name them), (2) Who will pay for such R&D and production
costs, (3) What software will need to be developed and by whom to
support such a project. When you actually propose a feasible plan and
bounce it off hardware experts, then go off on long public spiels.

   In short: ditch the vaporhardware and produce something already.

Nathan Mates

--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? -R.A. Heinlein