Date   : Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:43:30 +0100
From   : kortink@... (John Kortink)
Subject: Fwd: New Screen Modes with ARM7 Co-Processor?

On Mon, 2 Mar 2009 14:07:59 +0000 (GMT), tommowalker@...
wrote:

>
>> I suppose you could put a local CRTC on the copro and do some fun 
>> things that way - turn your beeb into some kind of CAD station...
>> 
>> I don't know if anyone ever did that back in the day - although some 
>> copros had other local interfaces (e.g. SASI on the Cumana, serial
>> on the Torch Tosca, disk on the Torch Graduate etc.).  Maybe there's
>> local video on the A500 copro (Dave/Chris?)  although whether it was 
>> usable in practice if so, I'm not sure.
>
>Some of the later A500 copros had VIDC chips on, I suspect that would
>be usable (otherwise why would they have bothered?). Whether it would
>be of any _practical_ use I don't know, essentially by that point
>you've got an Archimedes with a BBC hanging off the end.

More like the other way around.

Replacing the BBC video system with something more powerful
would probably prove more fruitful. To some. I don't agree
that you should teach old hardware new tricks. Like writing
demos, it's fun for a few days, and then starts gathering
dust. But something like non-interlaced DVI output of the
existing modes would be neat.


John Kortink

-- 

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