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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:	AMIGA NOTES
Notice:	Join us in the NEW conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:	HYDRA::MOORE

Created:	Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:	Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5378
Total number of notes:	38326

1676.0. "New chips fix flicker" by JGO::CHAPMAN () Fri Sep 09 1988 07:21

I recently read in a UK magazine (I can't even remember the name, but it is the 
weekly rag devoted mainly to low-end machines/games, and that has a great 
questions page - half the space is usually devoted to correcting last weeks 
mistakes, ie. "it has been pointed out to us that if you make this modication,
your computer will go up in smoke" or "the algorithm we gave for calculating pi
converges after 3 zillion iterations to 4" etc) that Commodore has exhibited
a 2000 with:
	- a 80286 bridge (previously unseen)
	- more interestingly, a new chip set which addresses 1MEG instead of
	  512k, AND FIXES THE FLICKER! - ie produces 400 lines non-interlaced

It was shown working - I believe on a normal CBM monitor (it wasn't too clear 
and I don't have the mag still).

This was the front page headline news. Was I dreaming, could it work? Or is it
fiction of the same quality as the questions and answers?

Colin

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1676.1	...	LEDS::ACCIARDI	Heisenberg may have slept here	`Fri Sep 09 1988 08:24`	31
	You've read about the long awaited 'Enhanced Chip Set' which, as you noticed, offers a new 400 line non-interlaced mode. However, there are a few catches... The new 400 line mode will only support 2 bit planes, and a reduced color pallette of 64 colors. The new mode will also require a multisync monitor of at least a VGA or MacII compatible monitor, since the horizontal scan rate is doubled to 31.5 KHz. I strongly advise any prospective Amiga buyers to purchase a multisync monitor NOW to avoid being surprised later. The juicy item is the 1 meg of CHIP ram available with the Real Fat Agnus chip. That means even bigger and better animations and digitized scores. Unfortunately, the poor A1000 owners who went out on a limb and rescued Commodore won't be able to use the new chipset due to major differences in the VSLI chips in the A500/A2000 models. Unless some clever hack can figure out an adaptor scheme. On a related front, I was speaking to MicroWay in Cambridge MA, and was informed that the A500/A1000 FlickerFixer was being targeted for a January release. However, I did see a blurb in a UK Amiga/ST rag for a small de-interlacer card for the A500/A2000. The box was about the size of a pack of cigarettes and had a price of #230. Have you seen that ad? I'd be interested in finding out who the manufacturer was. I don't have access to the magazine that I originally saw it in. Ed.
1676.2	Price info ?	CAMONE::ARENDT	DDT - The first and still the best	`Fri Sep 09 1988 09:47`	7
	Any ideas on the prices for the new stuff ? ie multisync monitor = $XXXX and new chip set = $XXXX Thanks
1676.3	A1000 Flicker Fix ??	POLAR::GOSLING	Think KANATA INC.	`Fri Sep 09 1988 12:48`	11
	What would a flicker fix look like for an A1000? - a chip - a daughter board - a box connected to the video output jack - a slap on the side add-on - a card requiring an expansion chassis - etc. Art
1676.4		LEDS::ACCIARDI	Heisenberg may have slept here	`Fri Sep 09 1988 17:47`	10
	The photo I saw was a small, stylish box with an input cable and an output cable. Rather benign looking. You could actually tuck it away out of sight. My A2000 FlickerFixer is only a 4" x 6" card with a bunch of ram chips and a few discreets on it. A clever person could easily cut the real estate in half. Ed.
1676.5	It might have been the new Commodore Multisync	TLE::RMEYERS	Randy Meyers	`Fri Sep 09 1988 19:36`	11
	Re: .0 >It [400 line non-interlaced screen] was shown working - I believe on a >normal CBM monitor (it wasn't too clear and I don't have the mag still). Commodore is coming out with their own multisync monitor. I heard first reference to it sometime in the last month. A 400 scan line non-interlaced display will require a multisync or bisync monitor. The current Commodore monitors will not be able to handle the display.
1676.6	Hah, I've seen it.	TLE::RMEYERS	Randy Meyers	`Fri Sep 09 1988 19:40`	9
	Re: .0 >Commodore has exhibited a 2000 with: > - a 80286 bridge (previously unseen) Actually at the big announcement of the Amiga 2000 and 500 for the Boston Computer Society, Commodore displayed a 80286 bridge card that they had flown in from Germany the night before. They didn't show it working, though :-).