Re: Wondering About Apple II video digitizing

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article pubpc1@library.ucla.edu writes...

>Actually, with the Vision cards (Enhanced, AST, or Visionary), you
>capture a 12-bit image (4096 colors), which can be saved as raw data.
>This is a true color image and if anyone ever writes software to read
>the format on other computers, you will get excellent results.

    That is _not_ TrueColor, in fact it is not even HiColor. Images that 
qualify as either hold 24-bit or 16-bit color information. I suppose you 
could use an Amiga in HAM mode to display all those 4096 colors, or a PC 
or Mac of course (either way, custom software is required).

>When used on the GS, the only conversion program that can read it, other
>than its own software, is Prism.  Prism will read the 12-bit image and
>map it to 3200 color mode (200 16-color palettes for 16x200=3200 possible
>colors) giving pretty good results.

    Prism can also read ComputerEyes GS raw data images, which hold
6-bit color, although I never had any luck and usually got a strange
image made up in shades of green. In any case, it won't look very
pleasing on the GS as your limited to 16 colors per scanline; unless
of course that video video coincidentally happens to be more colorful
vertically. ;) Too display these raw data images, to their fullest
potential, you'd need to do it on another computer (or a IIgs with
a Second Sight, but no one supports that awful, overpriced card).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca