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Second Sight Features
Sequential Systems is pleased to announce that the Second Sight SVGA
card for Apple II computers is now shipping. It will take some time for
us to clear our backlog, so please be patient. However, rest assured
that cards are shipping.
Below is an updated feature list for Second Sight.
--
SecondSight� SVGA Board
Specifications & Features
SECOND SIGHT
A 24-bit video card for Apple II computers.
Monitors
--------
Works either with standard VGA/SVGA monitors, or with the standard IIGS RGB
("AppleColor RGB") monitor & compatibles.
Modes
-----
The following existing Apple II and IIGS video modes are emulated for display
on an SVGA monitor.
40 & 80 column text
Lores / double lores
Hires / double hires
320x200x16
640x200x4/16
The card is capable of the following SVGA video modes:
Graphics
320x200
640x200
640x400
640x480*
800x600*
1024x768*
Text
40x25
80x25
80x43*
80x50*
80x60*
132x25
132x60*
There are three basic graphics modes: indexed (palette), Hi-Color, and
True-Color.
In indexed mode, each pixel can be one of 256 colors that are specified
in a palette. Each of these 256 palette entries can be one of 16.7M
colors. (All modes)
In Hi-color mode, each pixel can be any of 32768 direct colors (no index
or palette lookup). (resolutions up to 800x600)
True-color mode is similar, but each pixel can be any of 16.7M (million)
colors. (resolutions up to 640x480)
(Note: existing software titles will not automatically use the high-
resolution modes).
(* indicates that the mode is not available when used with an AppleColor RGB
monitor.)
(Since the VGA chip is completely programmable, there are actually a
potential of millions of different text and graphics video modes - the
above list is just the most commonly used ones).
Software Support
----------------
SecondSight comes with an image viewer program that supports GIF and
8-bit TIFF images. A Photo-CD viewer will be forthcoming soon.
A programmer's library with on-disk documentation is also available, to
facilitate the development of third-party software for the card.
At the current time no QuickDraw II support is provided.
Cost
----
Pricing will be detailed in a future post; or feel free to call
Seuential *toll-free* at 800-759-4549 for prices.
Expected Third Party Software Support
-------------------------------------
Sequential Systems
discQuest(tm) and discQuest Encyclopedia(tm)
Procyon
GNO/ME (high resolution text drivers)
Todd Whitesel
Lord High Giffer (GIF image viewer)
Tim Meekins
imageQuant
Aurora Software
dungeonQuest
Digisoft Innovations
Twilight II
Common Questions and Answers
----------------------------
Q. How much video memory can the Second Sight support?
A. 1MB (megabyte). The card comes standard with 512K (IIe) or 1MB (IIGS),
enough to support up to 1024x768x256 resolution.
Q. Does the Second Sight have a "blitter" chip on it?
A. Yes and no. There is no dedicated hardware "blitter" chip, but the 20MHz
Zilog Z180 processor, in conjunction with the Oak VGA controller, can
quickly perform many blitter functions.
Q. How fast is the Second Sight blitter?
A. The Z180 can copy one byte of memory in 6 20MHz clock cycles. This works
out to around 3.3 MB/s. Using the help of the VGA controller to do
read/modify/write cycles, you can get about 5MB/s blitter action.
Q. What types of operations can the Z180 do?
A. The Z180 can scroll screen data, accept blocks of screen data from the
IIGS, clear the screen, perform and/or/xor operations on screen data, etc.
Q. What kind of developer information is available for Second Sight?
A. A System Tool set is provided, along with documentation on using it. The
tool set takes care of most common tasks programmers will do. Programmers
can upload their own Z180 code to the Second Sight card to completely
customize the card, or provide brand-new features (a sprite manager, for
example).
Q. How many colors can Second Sight display at one time?
A. VGA mode:
256 at a time (256 colors per pixel, or 8-bit pixels) from a
total of 16.7 million colors (up to 1024x768 resolution)
HighColor:
32768 direct colors (up to 800x600 resolution)
TrueColor:
16.7M direct colors (up to 640x480 resolution)
Q. Do existing applications, like Finder or AppleWorks GS, take advantage
of the higher resolutions, like 640x480 or 800x600?
A. No. There is no support for patching the IIGS' QuickDraw tool, which is
what would be required for current programs to automatically use the
Second Sight board's special features. Such a patch isn't impossible,
and we will work with programmers who would like to attempt it.
Q. What part did you have in the development of this card, Jawaid, and if
you worked on it, do you ever sleep?
A. I helped lay down the requirements for the card, and have been helping on
various bits of hardware and software for the card itself, and all IIGS
applications, of course. No, I never sleep. Andrew Vogan, designer of the
RamFAST, and Joe Yandrofski of Sequential, did most of the hardware design,
and I did the majority of the firmware.
Q. What kind of monitor do I need, if I want to buy a new one?
A. Any "VGA" or "SVGA" monitor will work fine. Any monitor sold for use
with an IBM PC clone (386/486) computer will work. You want a monitor
with a small dot-pitch; .39 dot pitch is not very good; .28 dot pitch
is better, and .23 dot pitch is best. Sequential Systems is selling a
very high quality Samsung 14" Multi-Sync monitor; call for details.
Q. Do I have to use two monitors with Second Sight, one for VGA graphics,
and one for regular IIGS graphics?
A. No. The Second Sight "shadows" existing IIGS video modes onto the card,
and emulates them through the VGA monitor. If you want to, you can run
two monitors off your GS, one from the built-in video, and one from the
Second Sight. There might be some interesting applications possible
with this setup. In short, all your existing IIGS applications and games
will work with Second Sight, and on a VGA monitor.
Q. How is existing software improved by the Second Sight?
A. Existing software is not generally improved automatically, except for one
thing: because the IIGS's super hires mode is simulated using a 640x400
mode in the VGA controller, there are no black lines running through
graphics or text.. pictures and text are solid on a VGA monitor.
Q. Can I use Second Sight on my Apple IIe?
A. Yes. The IIe's video modes are emulated just as they are on a IIGS. Second
Sight will allow IIe users to view quality pictures, such as GIF images,
for the first time. Die-hard AppleWorks users on IIe's will now be able
to use large paper-white monitors. This will also have applications in
large monitors for people with handicaps.
Q. I want better graphics, but I can't afford to buy the card and a new
monitor. Can I use the Second Sight on my current Apple RGB monitor?
A. Yes, although you are limited to 640x400x256 interlaced, in graphics mode,
and 80x25 in text mode.
Q. Does the Second Sight have a graphics "overlay" mode, like the Video
Overlay Card?
A. No.
Q. How will existing programs that directly access the IIGS video hardware
work with Second Sight?
A. Second Sight watches the IIGS I/O bus for writes to the IIGS video
memory, and when they occur, it copies the data onto the card. Software
on the card then updates the VGA memory periodically to correspond to
the IIGS screen information. This process is called "shadowing".
Q. What happens if I run a program that needs a high-res video mode on an
Apple RGB monitor?
A. The program will most likely return an error. The Second Sight card will
prevent any possibly damaging video modes from being sent to an Apple RGB
monitor (as long as you use the card's firmware to set the video mode).
Q. Does Second Sight have to go in a particular slot?
A. Yes. On a ROM 01 IIGS, the card must go in slot 3. On a ROM 03 IIGS, the
card may be in any of slots 1 through 6. In a IIe, the card can be in
any slot.
--
Jawaid Bazyar | Like UNIX? Like your Apple IIGS? Then ask
Procyon, Inc. | me about GNO/ME for the Apple IIgs!
bazyar@netcom.com | P.O Box 620334 (Sequential: 303-666-4549)
--Apple II Forever!-- | Littleton, CO 80162-0334 (303) 781-3273