Article 147 of comp.sys.amiga.reviews: Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: eichhorn@igd.fhg.DE (Oliver Eichhorn) Subject: MINI-REVIEW: Domino 24-bit graphics board Message-ID: <1992Nov3.154925.13132@menudo.uh.edu> Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.graphics Keywords: hardware, graphics, 24-bit, Zorro card, commercial Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Nntp-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Reply-To: eichhorn@igd.fhg.DE (Oliver Eichhorn) Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1992 15:49:25 GMT Approved: barrett@math.uh.edu [MODERATOR'S NOTE: This review was originally published in the Imagine Mailing List. It was submitted to c.s.a.reviews by the author. I have extensively edited the grammar and spelling, and added the name, description, address, and price information below (to conform with the guidelines of comp.sys.amiga.reviews), but the review is otherwise unchanged.] PRODUCT NAME Domino graphics board BRIEF DESCRIPTION This is a 24-bit graphics board for the Amiga. It is a Zorro II card that definitely works in the A2000 and A3000. Check with the vendor for A4000 compatibility. (USENET news says that Domino and the AGA chipset work well together.) AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: X-Pert Computer Services Address: Weiherwiese 27 D-6270 Idstein Telephone: ++49/6126-8809 or 3056 FAX: ++49/6126/54922 LIST PRICE All prices are in DM. (Reportedly, 1 US$ == 1.40 DM.) Domino32K graphics card 698,-- Domino32K + TV-Paint Jr. 1098,-- (needs 8MB RAM) Domino TV-Paint Jr. 498,-- Software-drivers: AdPro, Real3D, VistaPro, Reflections, ImageMaster each 25,-- Imagine 50,-- Caligary 98,-- Complete driver pack 109,-- REVIEW Maybe you have already heard about the DOMINO graphics board from XPert. Some weeks ago I purchased one and now I want to report my impressions. SCREEN MODES (ni = non-interlaced, i = interlaced): Multiscan-monitors with 31 kHz | Multiscan-monitors with 57 kHz (like my Eizo 9060 or a NEC 3D) | (like Eizo 9070 or NEC 4D) | Resolution Colors Palette Hertz |Resolution Colors Palette Hertz -------------------------------------- |------------------------------------- 640 x 480 2,16,256 262144 67 ni | 640 x 480 2,16,256 262144 72 ni 640 x 480 32768 32768 67 ni | 640 x 480 32768 32768 67 ni 800 x 600 2,16,256 262144 60 ni | 800 x 600 2,16,256 262144 81 ni 800 x 600 32768 32768 60 ni | 800 x 600 32768 32768 60 ni 1024 x 768 2,16,256 262144 87 i |1024 x 768 2,16,256 262144 70 ni |1120 x 832 2,16,256 262144 65 ni |1152 x 900 2,16,256 262144 60 ni |1280 x 1024 2,16 262144 87 i | WHAT IT DOES First, you can run your Workbench on a Domino-screen. I do it in 800x600, and it looks nice; even the mouse pointer is in high resolution. The drawback here is the scrolling speed of text windows, but I'll explain this later. If you want to view nice pictures, there's a little program (ViewDom) included which will display all normal IFF pictures except 32-color images (strangely enough). I never tried extra-half-bright pictures, but HAM pictures are displayed quite well. The most interesting feature is of course ViewDom's ability to display IFF24 images. The pictures are displayed in as 15-bit images (32,768 colors) on a Domino screen. Unfortunately, they are not dithered. In particular, raytraced pictures sometimes look a bit ugly in undithered 15-bit mode. My hope is the AdPro driver mentioned later. The most interesting feature of Domino is its ability to run (almost) any program on a Domino screen. Each time a program wants to open a custom screen with up to 16 colors, a requester pops up. It asks if you want to run the program on the Domino screen or not. A nice feature here is that you can store the settings for the screen name. For example, each time the Imagine screen opens, it will run automatically (without requester) on the Domino. The problem is that some programs open screens without names, so the setting cannot be stored. "Well, now I have a large screen, but will the program recognize and use it?" Hm, that's a good point: most programs run on the Domino, but they will not use the higher resolution. BUT there are some exceptions: IMAGINE (yeah!!!), CygnusEd, PageStream, ProCalc, and others. WHICH PROGRAMS RUN? I tried quite a lot and here are the results: Programs that run on Domino screens but don't use the higher resolution: 3D-Pro, ImageLink, IntroCAD, Pixel3D 1.0, Real3D, Reflections, Videoscape 3D, BeckerText I, Calligrapher, Datamat. Programs that run on Domino screens AND use higher resolution: Imagine, MaxonCAD, BeckerText II (uses only larger height), FontDesigner, ProfCalc, MaxiPlan 1.8 (uses only larger height), SuperBasePro IV, LSE, DevPac 3.01, SuperJAM, Cinemorph (I saw it in Cologne), and CygnusEd. Programs that don't run on Domino screens: AudioMaster III, Audition IV, AMax II+, ImageMaster, ADPro (the main window does not run on a Domino screen, but the Visual-operators do, and they use the higher resolution.) HOW ABOUT IMAGINE? Okay, now it's getting interesting: All Imagine editors use the higher resolution :-)))))) The Project and Action editors only use the higher number of lines, but not the higher number of columns. The other ones use the complete screen. I run Imagine 2.0 on a 800x600 screen in 60 Hz. (If I'd have a larger monitor I could run it on a 1024x768 screen). Well, there some disadvantages, too: The speed. Line drawing is quite a lot slower than before :-( The mouse. The "hot spot" of the mouse pointer is not in the middle of it, but in the upper left corner. You have to click about 0.5cm below and 0.5cm right of your target. (Very strange, but I'm almost used to it.) The redraw. Sometimes the redraw is a bit confused, but it's only a minor problem, because pressing ALT-R can fix it. The images. At the moment I can't view my rendered 24-bit images directly in Imagine. There is a driver announced, but I don't have it yet. ILBM24 pictures created by Imagine CAN'T be loaded directly to ViewDom. You can load them with ADPro and save them again as ILBM24 and it works. The ILBM24 picture saved with ADPro is some kilobytes larger than the one stored with Imagine. (Strange, strange.) SOFTWARE DRIVERS There are some drivers announced: Imagine, ADPro, ImageMaster, Real3D, and VistaPro. With the drivers you can display directly on the Domino screen. FUTURE There are two updates planned: - An update for 24-bit ability (approximately 200 DM). - An update for 24-bit ability AND an own blitter -> FAAAST ("Far under 1000 DM", I was told.) THE DRAWBACK One drawback is the scrolling speed in shell windows. If you want to have a shell window as large as your whole screen, the scrolling is dog slow. Normally I open shell windows with about 300x100 pixels and it is OK. The scrolling speed depends on your processor speed. I use a Commodore A2630 [68030] board. AN ADVANTAGE Domino screens don't need CHIP memory. COMPETITORS On the CSS (Computer Shopper Show) in Cologne, where I purchased the board, there were some other interesting graphic boards: - EGC from GVP. 24 bit. Fast. Very fast. Extremely fast. 2700$. The demo at the GVP booth was very impressive. In the background there was a "little" 24-bit image ("Terminator II" in 1024 x 768) on the screen. In the foreground there were four smaller windows (each about 200x200), each with a 24-bit animation in it. And everything in 30 frames per second!!! It was amazing. Of course, the Workbench and many more programs can run on the EGS screen. - Retina from MacroSystems. This sounds nice. It has almost the same colors and resolutions as Domino, but it also has a 24-bit mode (it's in 640x480 I think). It also has it's own processor. Retina costs between approximately 550-800 DM (depending on the amount of video RAM). - OmniBus from ArMax. The same resolutions and colors like the Domino, but it's a bit cheaper and scrolling seemed a bit faster. I don't know. That's all for today. I'll mail again when I receive my ordered drivers for ADPro, ImageMaster and (of course) Imagine. --- Dan Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu General discussion: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu