3D world+New Colour VGA display

["Wayne Morellini" <waynemm@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "vic plichota" <atsvap@cgo.wave.ca>:
>Floating-point is a practical neccessity for any but the most limited
>3-D graphics.  There is an awful lot of trig calcs req'd, and
>scaled-integer math has no practical way to represent infinity or
>infinitesimal.

OK But what do techniques like 3D bitmaps and the new Voxels architechures 
take?  What about using precalculated Trig tables to speed up calculations 
like the ID games did and the FPU on Pentium IIs do?  As we presently live 
in a Polygon based world I suppose I would really need to know how accurate 
that 200Mflop per one million accurately redenered polygons really is, and 
how it compares to the bitmap/voxel approach?  From this calculation it 
would be possible to estimate how many FPU's would be needed for a group of 
500Mhz Misc chips.  It is just an interesting insight into the 
practicalities of boosting up an allready high selling handheld machine with 
an expansion card that practicly makes it a portable misc machine.  But now, 
yet again, there are rumours going around about a new Nintendo colour 
handheld with 3D?.  This new machine was in design years ago, when I was 
thinking of an expansion card, the colour gameboy was to be released so I 
gave up on the idea (luckily anyway, unfortunately the still hasn't 
arrived).  When the colour gameboy was released we got an outdated toy, not 
the origional Strong Armed custom 3D beast expected, now here we go again.

Still a company like ITV could easily take advantage of the market by adding 
Internet features by a add on card to handhelds like the gameboy.  Using 
network manufacturing they would have a low cost way to enter the market.  
Using there technology (and low power/cost LCDs like those described in the 
sharp sample enginnering notes for poertable applications at their Web 
site).  As you are not trying to set a standard and take on the world 
(expensive) so industry backers might be interested.  Making their own 
machines based around components allready used in cheap machines it might be 
possible to make a Java enabled Web device with USB and/or BlueTooth 
wireless for storage.  But also include recompiled emulation code for game 
handhelds like the Atari Lynx, Game Gear, N GB, and any other computer that 
can be operated from a floating Keyboard.


From: "Richard Ferreira" <richard@web-access.net>

I used to know somebody of the same name in Melbourne, but he was a 
economics person so that wouldn't be you would it?

>I guess that depends on what you are doing..
>My 3d program uses only multiplys..
>and uses mostly fixed integer math..  but one problem
>is you need a lot of data.. Like a 256x256 texture would use
>up 64k.. If you wanted flat shaded polygons it would be less..

I know but at 320*280 who would notice to much if they were a bit smaller )

>But the ploters need some tables too..

>Anyway.. If u want my souce code in the c language with some asm
>just ask.. I will give it to anyone.. but with all the files its a >little
>big(440k)
>And my souce is not pretty.. if fact i would say it quite ugly..

Gee thanks, I don't know what would be needed but it would probably need 
machine code etc, but your code should give good examples.

But I'm writing this stuff just to test the water of interest rather than 
keeping it to myself (I have another important software project to do 
instead).  The addition of 5 FPU's shared between 1-3 Misc chips hooked to 
dual port dram hooked to the cartridge port with the LCD controller 
redirected to read the display data from the Dual port dram should give the 
required 120Mflops and HI-res 320*2xx display in 16-bits.

One additional thing I forgot to mention about using the PC as a server for 
a misc card that might have advantages under windows using there Direct and 
DSP APIs, was that: using just the FIREWIRE interface most computer 
functions would be possible from a board with one sockect and alternatively 
Card Bus, DDIM sockets, IDE etc are availible on Notebook computers if 
anybody wanted a portable MISC computer on the Cheap (Cheap in developement 
terms).  Using the firewire or USB or National on board serial bus allows 
for competition in the same market as the sucessfull Parralax Basic Stamp, 
Domino etc, there products could not hope to compete with ITV's on 
performance terms in the embedded market.

Happy misco.

Wayne.


Pulled from www.tomshardware.com:

World's smallest, lowest power color VGA screen debuts
Kopin Corp. has introduced the world's smallest high performance, high 
resolution, full-color VGA display.
The CyberDisplay 640C is a low cost, light-weight, ultra low power, rugged, 
solid state active-matrix liquid crystal display measuring 0.38-inch 
diagonal in size.
The display uses 2.7V or 3.3V for logic and 3.0V for video. Kopin’s patented 
LVV (Low Video Voltage) architecture allows the CyberDisplay 640C to be 
operated at low video voltage levels compatible with conventional 
low-voltage CMOS circuits.
The CyberDisplay 640C displays information at 640-by-480, full-color pixel 
resolution. Operating with color sequential technique, the CyberDisplay 640 
presents 307,200 full color pixels for viewing, and at 2,100 lines per inch, 
is the densest active matrix LCD in the world, according to the company.
In addition to displaying high-resolution text and graphics, the display 
operates at video speeds and consumes only 30mW of power.
The display is designed for portable battery-operated communications devices 
and personal information products, including cellular "Internet phones," 
wearable and hand-held PC and GPS monitors, head mounted medical 
instruments, and entertainment and consumer devices such as personal DVD 
systems and other mobile info-tools, displaying text, graphics, e-mail and 
video from Internet, and other data or video sources in vivid color.
More information is available at http://www.kopin.com.


03:06 EST [Dolph]


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