Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!uunet!munnari!stcns3!mikb From: mikb@stcns3.stc.oz (Mike Benson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Overscan overrated? Keywords: ... sour owl .. Message-ID: <727@stcns3.stc.oz> Date: 12 Aug 88 12:01:48 GMT References: <3118@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> Reply-To: mikb@stcns3.stc.oz (Mike Benson) Organization: Alcatel-STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA Lines: 41 In article <3118@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> wayneck@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) writes: > >Okay, I'll bite. Just why do so many Amiga people think that overscan is >such a big deal for desktop video? The big guys like PIXAR don't seem >concerned about overscan. So why shouldn't desktop video mirror the big guys. > I can think of one good reason for having overscan, besides any arguments about the quality of the picture. Amigas are not only sold in the USA, but also in far-off places like Germany and Australia. These countries use a color coding method known as PAL (Phase Alternate Line) for televison and video (the Germans use PAL because they invented it, the Australians and many others use PAL because it's better). Amigas sold in Australia are PAL-compatible (rather loses the point of the A500 if you then have to spend 60% as much again to buy an NTSC monitor), and by a curious quirk of engineering, have a maximum resolution of 640x512. Most commercial software for the Amiga is written in the USA. Without overscan, what you get is an inch of black at the bottom of the screen. This totally unacceptable for DTV. WE *NEED* OVERSCAN. Besides, I think the image looks better if it can be made to fill the whole screen - then it looks like video not like a computer screen. >I think the Amiga is becoming a outstanding desktop video machine in the >near term. Long term depends on C=. It the Amiga doesn't improve there hear! hear! >just have trouble believing the "overscan" is a lock out feature in the >desktop video market. So what do you all HONESTLY think? > From where I sit, it's a lock out feature, no question. > Mike Benson > Wayne Knapp Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art. +----------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | Mike Benson | ACS: mikb@stcns3.stc.OZ.AU | | Alcatel-STC Pty Ltd | ARPA: mikb%stcns3.stc.OZ.AU@uunet.UU.NET | | 11th Floor, 5 Blue St | UUCP: {enea,hplabs,mcvax,uunet,ukc}!\ | | North Sydney NSW 2060 AUSTRALIA | munnari!stcns3.stc.OZ.AU!mikb | +----------------------------------+------------------------------------------+