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SAGA Planar Modespage  1 2 

Kolbjørn Barmen
(Needs Verification)
Posts 219/ 2
22 Apr 2017 12:52


What enhanced legacy planar modes are in the plans for SAGA?

For example it would be crazy cool to work with fast HAM8 in "modern" resolutions :)


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
22 Apr 2017 14:51


SAGA does offer

a) The original AMIGA GFX Features
256 Color Regs with 24bit+ for Sprites / PLANAR MODES

b) A 9th PLANEPTR
The 9the Pointer provides a new Playfield and supports the following formats.
- PLANAR MODE
- PLANAR ATARI MODE
- 8Bit Clut
- 15Bit
- 16BIT Hicolor
- 24bit Truecolor
- NEO-GEO Mode
- 32 Bit Alpha + Truecolor
- YUV Video mode

A 2nd set of 256 Trucolor Color Registers




Saladriel Amrael

Posts 166
22 Apr 2017 15:08


Are all these modes available in every resolution format?


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
22 Apr 2017 15:13


Saladriel Amrael wrote:

  Are all these modes available in every resolution format?
 

 
Of course resolutions are free programmable.
You can define whatever you want.  666 x 666 if you want :-)


Kolbjørn Barmen
(Needs Verification)
Posts 219/ 2
22 Apr 2017 15:25


1280x720p HAM8 for Deluxe Paint? :)


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
22 Apr 2017 15:33


Right now not yet much Software takes benefit from this.

This is up to the AMIGA community to take advantage from.

The major importance is that all the modes are 100% copper controllable.
And that you can even mix them...

So in theory you could show a truecolor 24bit playfield below
and above a 8 Color Magic WB Planar WB....

Or you could use all 9 PLANES in PLANA mode and utilize the 512 Color registers this way.

A creative mind can surely find some cool things


Kolbjørn Barmen
(Needs Verification)
Posts 219/ 2
22 Apr 2017 22:31


So does SAGA have any benefits over AGA for legacy software? I honestly do not see old software being updated to take advantage of new hardware, so in my view it is up to "the hardware" to provide the ultimate experience of the legacy software.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
22 Apr 2017 22:52


Kolbjørn Barmen wrote:

So does SAGA have any benefits over AGA

SAGA does offer  for the 1st time a real integration of Chunky modes into AMIGA. This is big step forward.

For legacy "old" games SAGA can offer lag free upsampling of the screen to support modern display + CRT line effects.

So this is nice and make old games look nice again and allows them to play without tearing effects.


Michael R

Posts 281
23 Apr 2017 05:30


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

Kolbjørn Barmen wrote:

  So does SAGA have any benefits over AGA
 

 
  SAGA does offer  for the 1st time a real integration of Chunky modes into AMIGA. This is big step forward.
 
 
  For legacy "old" games SAGA can offer lag free upsampling of the screen to support modern display + CRT line effects.
 
  So this is nice and make old games look nice again and allows them to play without tearing effects.

When the standalone board is released for sale will the upsampling of the old games (OCS/ECS and AGA enhanced and output through DIGITAL-VIDEO) be handled by a secondary device (PARASITE) or will SAGA handle upsampling the legacy software and games directly through the FPGA?



Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
23 Apr 2017 05:51


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:
You can define whatever you want.  666 x 666 if you want :-)

}:-) MY FAVOURITE! (-:{




Michael R

Posts 281
23 Apr 2017 06:31


As far as SOUND that accompanies the old games which are upscaled through DIGITAL-VIDEO will that be handled through DIGITAL-VIDEO only, or will there be separate sound jacks for that? When I connect my accelerator card to my LCD monitor using an DIGITAL-VIDEO to DVI adapter there is no way to output sound through my speakers other than using the original Amiga sound outputs. How would that then work for the planned standalone motherboard?
   
    If I connect the DIGITAL-VIDEO cable directly to an DIGITAL-VIDEO television does that signal contain both sound and video?


Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
23 Apr 2017 06:38


If it has audio out jacks and supports sound through the DIGITAL-VIDEO, can "surround sound" be achieved?

4 different audio streams, that is???


Michael R

Posts 281
23 Apr 2017 06:38



  If I connect the DIGITAL-VIDEO cable directly to an DIGITAL-VIDEO television does that signal contain both sound and video? Is that the only way to output sound?
 
Let me explain my question. When will SAGA support the enhanced video and sound output for old games? I purchased a V500 v2+ accelerator card which I paid for several weeks ago which hasn't arrived yet. In fact, I didn't receive a payment confirmation so I don't know the status. If my card arrives and I install it correctly will I be able to play games on my A500 + accelerator and have the video output through DIGITAL-VIDEO or will I only have black and white video from the A500 RF coonected to a television? Likewise, will the sound be output through DIGITAL-VIDEO or only by the original A500 sound ports? If by DIGITAL-VIDEO how will I get sound from DIGITAL-VIDEO if it's connected to an LCD monitor? How do I connect speakers?

Sorry if I'm asking the wrong questions. Can anyone help me with this?
 
 
 


Michael R

Posts 281
23 Apr 2017 19:27


Please correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that SAGA, although many things are planned, currently only supports RTG through DIGITAL-VIDEO. For my Amiga 500 I won't be able to play my old games and have the video output through DIGITAL-VIDEO, only Black and White through RF connected to an old tv. I don't have a Commodore 1084 anymore. I assume the same will be true for my Amiga 1200 for AGA? What advantages does SAGA have over the original OCS/ECS and AGA chipsets at this point in time? Apart from video, my main concern is audio for my old games. 
 
  Will the standalone motherboard have audio jacks such as line-in, line-out so We can connect speakers for sound output, or will we need to connect to an DIGITAL-VIDEO television to get video and sound? Without audio jacks how would the motherboard work with my LCD monitor?
 
  In the old days being forced to connect Amiga computers to televisions or dedicated Amiga monitors was a huge hassle. Will I need an DIGITAL-VIDEO television for sound and video? Or can I use my LCD monitor and connect speakers?

I suppose something like this might work, but sound jacks would be much easier:

EXTERNAL LINK 


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Apr 2017 21:32


Michael R wrote:

  Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 

 
ok if you like. You are wrong. ;)


Michael R

Posts 281
23 Apr 2017 23:19


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

Michael R wrote:

  Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 

 
  ok if you like. You are wrong. ;)

Ok. I'm wrong. I've been trying to find specifications for the Apollo standalone motherboard and the V1200 accelerator card since you say the designs are complete and they are in the testing phase, but I can't find the specs anywhere. I'm trying to decide if it will meet my needs, especially video and sound connections with my monitor! Instead, every time I search for information I keep getting the specs for the Commodore 1200 Reloaded which I have already read several times! :-)




Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Apr 2017 23:35


Michael R wrote:

  Ok. I'm wrong. I've been trying to find specifications for the Apollo standalone motherboard and the V1200 accelerator card
 

 
Frankly our focus so far was not on the chipset but on
CPU/IDE/MEMORY Controllers - only few days of tweaking have been put into SAGA - AGA chipset features.
 
Do we have a working AMIGA chipset?
YES you can run PLANA WB on SAGA…
YES you can play PLANA AMIGA games on VAMPIRE (actually I played today Stunt Car Racer, Frontier, and some Sierra Adventures over SAGA)
But only few days have been put into configuration the chipset.
 
What does this means?
Yes SAGA can play original AMIGA games.
Yes some games look 100%  perfect.
Yes SIGNIFICANT MORE time of tweaking is needed to get all 100% of AMIGA games look 200% right.
For the time being I highly recommend to use the PARASITE to play games.
 
 
 
Regarding picture / specs and information.
We will show specs and pictures in the next days.


Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
23 Apr 2017 23:35


Michael R wrote:
I'm trying to decide if it will meet my needs,

Michael R,

Genuine 680x0 CPUs and custom AMIGA ICs have been in hibernation/stasis for 23 years and 25 years, respectively....

This WILL "meet my needs".

However, you may want the standalone, instead.


Michael R

Posts 281
24 Apr 2017 00:09


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

 
Michael R wrote:

    Ok. I'm wrong. I've been trying to find specifications for the Apollo standalone motherboard and the V1200 accelerator card
   

   
  Frankly our focus so far was not on the chipset but on
  CPU/IDE/MEMORY Controllers - only few days of tweaking have been put into SAGA - AGA chipset features.
   
  Do we have a working AMIGA chipset?
  YES you can run PLANA WB on SAGA…
  YES you can play PLANA AMIGA games on VAMPIRE (actually I played today Stunt Car Racer, Frontier, and some Sierra Adventures over SAGA)
  But only few days have been put into configuration the chipset.
   
  What does this means?
  Yes SAGA can play original AMIGA games.
  Yes some games look 100%  perfect.
  Yes SIGNIFICANT MORE time of tweaking is needed to get all 100% of AMIGA games look 200% right.
  For the time being I highly recommend to use the PARASITE to play games.
   
   
   
  Regarding picture / specs and information.
  We will show specs and pictures in the next days.
 

 
  Thank you Gunnar! That's good information. I look forward to reading those specs several times as well. Pictures are good too! :-)
 
  It would be great if I could use PARASITE to play games for the V500 (and the future v1200 if needed). So one more question before you go back to tweaking the SAGA chipset, okay two questions. :-)
 
  Will PARASITE be available for sale soon? Secondly, will SAGA eventually output sound for the accelerator cards through DIGITAL-VIDEO, or will sound come from Amiga sound ports? PARASITE will be good for video what about sound.
 
  Thanks for your 115% efforts!
 


Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
24 Apr 2017 00:23


Hi Michael R,

From the way Gunnar stated it, I'm pretty sure that you won't need the Parasite later, after the S-AGA code is released for the FPGA to use.

posts 22page  1 2