Picasso and custom screen modes

[LoadWB]

I tried doing this on my PIV, with no (easy) results.  While I was researching this, I became satisfied (I can cite if you give me time to dig up my notes) that 1280x1024 simply was not possible at 24-bit without interlacing due to the graphics chip itself.  The P96 mode editor seems fully aware of this fact.  P96 Mode will not allow resolutions above 1152x900 without interlacing.

I can run 1152x900 in 24-bit NI, but it looks a little awkward on my Dell FP2001 LCD.

Though that doesn't mean that there aren't "special" modes of the chip yet unknown or not legal.

I'd love 1280 or 1600 24-bit NI on my Amiga, but I don't think it's gonna happen until I go PCI  :-)

[LoadWB]

The FF/SD only works with the video coming from the Amiga custom chips, not the SVGA output.

[LoadWB]

Eureka!

I played with the P96 mode editor tonight and managed to coax 1280x1024x24 non-interlaced out of my Picasso IV.  I AM A HAPPY CAMPER!  :banana:

The settings in Picasso96Mode:

1280x1024 $50061000
(Does the DisplayIDBase change with multiple cards?)

Depth: TrueColor
Clock: 83.05MHz
Interlace: No
Doublescan: No

FrameSize: 1632h 1076v
BorderSize: 24h 0v
Position: 40h 32v
SyncSize: 96h 12v
SyncPolarity: -h -v (didn't see much diff here, but negative sync makes me feel cool. YMMV)
Frequency: 51kHz 47Hz

As you can see, the vertical rate is NOT 60Hz, but this mode works wonderfully on the Dell 2001FP (20.1" LCD).  Sure enough, the monitor recognizes the mode as 1280x1024@47Hz.

FWIW, I believe this monitor will also synch to standard Amiga video through the SVGA port, owing to its ability to handle SVHS and composite video signals.  I have vague recollection of this happening by accident, but cannot confirm immediately as I do not have the necessary connections on-hand.  (It's in a box somewhere in the garage.)

Couple of notes on this mode:

:inquisitive: I see occasional screen corruption (miscolored pixels here and there) in this mode, using FBlit and PowerIcons

:-) Directory Opus 4.17pre20 looks pretty damn good

:-( Some Workbench screen and window operations are noticeably slower, though not as lagging as say Windows with a bad video driver

:roll: Should use native 1280x1024 backdrops for best speed and effect

:kitty: Feed me

[LoadWB]

Framiga wrote:
better to setup a 16 bit mode instead. 4MB of videoram are not enough for that resolution.

Unless my math is wrong, 1280x1024x24 comes out to about 3.8MB.  So this *should* work fine.  I bet, however, that memory is not available for an overlay.

[LoadWB]

Hyperspeed wrote:

Shame about the Picasso-IV not being able to do 1280x1024 24-bit at a decent refresh rate. Does the horizontal refresh rate show up as bad as it would on a CRT?

It looks crystal clear and smooth as something really smooth.

Speaking of screen resizing, most LCDs I've seen don't offer horizontal/vertical resizing or positioning which is a real pain. Auto-sizing rarely gets it right.

Can anyone reccommend a good LCD for Amiga (that Dell one doesn't count!).

First off, that Dell one I use is OEM'd by Samsung, and I have very good experience with them as a manufacturer, no love for Dell.  Secondly, this monitor does resizing and positioning, as well as other factors.

I also suspect that this will sync directly to the 15kHz screen modes of the Amiga chipset, owing to its composite and SVHS inputs.  I am pretty sure that I disabled the 2320 in my 2000 once to do this.  Give me a week and I will test this out to be sure.

Also, I have run the 1280x1024x24@47Hz since the night I made my post here.  Other than sporadic display element corruption, the system has run smoothly and stably.  I have not yet tried an overlay vis a vis MooVid, but I still suspect there is not enough available video RAM for this.

[LoadWB]

I made a few changes to my setup tonight which have made me very happy.

Installed Picasso96_21b:
This upgraded my rtg.library and Picasso96Mode.  Not sure about the variable setting program.  I thought I had the latest installed already, but I was obviously mistaken.

Played with PicassoModeTNG:
Still working on understanding this one... doesn't seem to do things the way I think it should.

Increased the pixel clock of my 1280x1024x24 mode to the maximum (85.03MHz IIRC.)  This increased my refresh to 48Hz.

I was surprised that the Picasso96 upgrade only changed the rtg.library and P96Mode by a minor version bump, but I believe that this alone is what eliminated the random graphic corruption when clicking icons.  My Workbench now works 100%!

Before this corrected my display corruption, I played with bumping down to HiColor mode, but for the life of me I could not get the screen to fill the monitor vertically.

Also, I lied about being a week to test the 15KHz input on SVGA on the Dell 2001FP.  I had good intentions, but some systems haven't seen the light of day since my move in October 2006 due to various happenings, and now it seems they won't make it out due to the possibility of another move.  ::sigh::  Of course, at this point it's probably moot, anyway, since wide-screens are the norm anymore.