Is Amiga Emulation better than the real thing?

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
Today computers don't allow emulators to display animated PAL/NTSC screen modes, unless you manage to use the emulator on a 50 Hz screen mode (for PAL modes) ...

I don't know what your on about, but WinUAE on my laptop and external 22" widescreen tft works flawless (except for the occasional bugs/glitches due to not 100% compatibility).

Most games/demos work fine, like a real Amiga. Never saw jerkyness with screendragging or scrollers.
I enjoy playing Pinball Fantasies/Illusions just as much as I did on my real miggies.

Yes, emulation is different in that you don't have the hands on experience of a real Amiga, but other then that it runs circles around the real deal in almost every aspect such as speed, storage capabilities, internet useage etc.

Do I miss a real Amiga? Hell yeah  :boohoo:

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
@Krusher

What are your operating system and screen mode ?  Do you use any special screen mode created by any special software tool ...

As far as I'm concerned, I have never seen nor obtained any decent animation in emulators.

I'm running Windows XP Professional SP2 @1680x1050 @ 60hz. Nothing special. Fot games, WinUAE is configured to use 800x600 @32bit and the FPS slider is at 50.

As far as I can see animation just looks the same to me as native Amiga's (and pc animation, for that matter)

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
...

What you say is strange : if emulation speed is normal, then in 60 Hz animation must be awfully jerky - as jerky as on a Samsung LCD TV ;-) - and you couldn't miss it.

I know, but for some reason it looks normal to me. I can play Pinball Fantasies as if it was on a normal Amiga. And I know about the jerkyness effect, it's only non-existent  :-?
I don't even have the tearing effect!

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
...

Unless WinUAE contains some new complex algorythm that creates virtual frames in order to emulate 50 Hz animation on higher refresh rates.

Like 3:2 pulldown they use on converting 35mm film movies to NTSC/Pal?

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
...

I will test the latest versions of UAE when I find the time.

I'm using v1.4.4 with all bells and whistles on (100% accurate and all that, even with floppy sound emulation on)

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:
... Get some new hardware and enjoy yourself...

I'm running WinUAE on a single core Intel Centrino laptop running at 1.6Ghz, hardly new or state of the art (heh, a familiar name amongst Amigans  :lol: ) hardware but it does the job.

Does E-UAE have the floppy sound in it? Just curious as I don't have a Mac.

[Krusher]

arkpandora wrote:
... I am willing to buy a PC again if this is the only solution, but since my finances are not in a good shape, I am still gathering feedback.....

Actually I'd spare the cash and wait until Minimig gets ECS and more compatible or Natami. Macs are great for everyday use and just buying a pc for Amiga emulation just doesn't make sense to me.

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:

Krusher wrote:

bloodline wrote:
...
Not really state of the art at all... but if my old 1.5Ghz G4 can run UAE fine... then a 1.6Ghz Core Solo will have no problems at all.

Heck, I even remember my old AMD @ 1Ghz running WinUAE just fine. With a lot less memory then my laptop :-P

Does E-UAE have the floppy sound in it? Just curious as I don't have a Mac.

No, WinUAE is quite a bit better than E-UAE... but E-UAE is still pretty good...

I remember the moment the floppy sound was build in, I was like OMG this is the icing on the cake! Too bad that sound output is just not the same (DAC filters and whatnot aren't the same as on the Amiga, and I guess it's too much horsepower to do some trickery to make it sound the same)

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:
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I doubt anyone would really notice the difference though, while the Paula DACs are not linear they are not really that far off... :-)

*-Edit- while a Lookup table requires a memory access and a shift doesn't, it's obviously going to be a bit slower, but since the Lookup table is only 256bytes it should fit comfortably into a x86 CPU cache and thus be pretty fast!

To me the WinUAE output sounds harsh to my ears (regardless of the soundcard used) so yes, I do notice. Then again mp3 @ 128kbps sounds the same to me while most people are ok with that  :crazy:

Oh and I don't have a background in programming other then some Pascal/Amos/php stuff, nor hardware (although I did a year of I guess you can call it a midway between college and university classes on electronics- not for me, too much theory)

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:
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That is probably more to do with the very low quality (and hence actually rather "warm" sounding) amps on the Amiga motherboard than the actual Paula Audio... plus whatever sound system you used to use with your Amiga...

More like comparing tubes with new opamps then  :-D

For most of my +18 year old life I've had semi-highend audio equipment. Did a few years recording orchestra's so that might explain it.

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:
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18... I wish I was 18 again, but knowing what I know now :-)

Who wouldn't be, I'm 34 now  :lol:

[Krusher]

bloodline wrote:
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Ahhh, so then you are the old man, and I am the young :-D

I'm well aware, I wish Billie Piper went along for the ride but heh  :lol:

[Krusher]

AmigaHope wrote:

http://www.troubled-mind.com/output.mp4

and...?

The clip on that link shows *exactly* the kind of jerky scrolling I'm talking about. =/ If you watch it you'll notice that the scrolling is not as silky smooth as on a real Amiga...

I fail to see jerkyness *shrug*

Perhaps I'm one of the lucky few who can't see it. Then again, fluorescent light bulbs annoy the heck out of me and CRT monitors below 72hz always flicker to me.