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From: truesdel@ics.uci.edu (Scott Truesdell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 32 bit QuickDraw
Message-ID: <21161@paris.ics.uci.edu>
Date: 17 Aug 89 16:10:05 GMT
References: <509@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Sender: news@paris.ics.uci.edu
Distribution: comp.sys.mac
Lines: 39

adam@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Adam Glass) writes:

>Not to be pessimistic, folks, but encoders (RGB->NTSC) cost a lot. I mean,
>more than $600 and at least $700 or $800 for a good one. And that's only to
>convert to NTSC. Then there's the cost of the video board for the computer,
>which, for a 24 bit board, runs expensive (about the $1000 that RasterOps is
>charging for this new one (anyone who says "That's right, three digits" about
>RasterOps' price is kidding themselves)). 

Quote from RasterOps brochure obtained at Expo:

  "Two separate oscillators. [One] to support Apple's 13" color monitor 
at a resolution of 640 x 480, and the [other] to output 8-bit gray scale
video directly to VCRs or TV monitors. It will also output RGB NTSC video 
for external encoding in 24-bit True Color. ..."

later:

  "Circuitry that automatically senses which monitor you are using and 
switches automatically from 66.7 Hz to 30 Hz. You just plug in your 
Apple-compatible monitors, the board will take care of the rest." 


>I saw the picture of the RasterOps
>board in MacUser, and I thought I remembered both a) seing a place where an
>NTSC or PAL conversion board would snap/solder in, and b) reading something
>about the NTSC/PAL board being optional.

The pictures I've seen don't look like the finished product I held in 
my hands: the video RAM looks to be on a daughterboard in the ads, but the 
boards I saw had direct surface mount v-RAM directly on the main card.
There were no provisions for a daughterboard. 

So it appears to be a pretty good deal...

  --scott

--
Scott Truesdell