This is Color-NeXTStation in view mode; [Up]
Date: Sun 07-Nov-1990 07:12:41 From: thamer@gecko.cis.ohio-state.edu (M T ) Subject: Color NeXTStation What is the story on the NeXTstation Color? I've heard it's scheduled to be released 1'st quarter '91, has 12MB RAM, 16 bit color, and 105MB HD. Are they simply adding color to the monochrome slab, or are there any additional performance enhancements (why different simms speeds) ? How much of a disadvantage is it to have 16 bit color vs. 32 bit? Does it have any NeXTbus slots or isn't expandable like the mono-slab? Perhaps the best way to get a serious color system is to buy the NeXTcube at $8000 and NeXTdimension 32 bit graphics accelerator board at $4000 and MegaPixel Color Monitor at $???? We're definitely over $12,000 at this point and we still only have 8MB RAM and 105MB HD with the cube. If REAL color is going to cost this much, I'll take the $3300 (edu-discounted) mono-slab now. Any thoughts, thanks, -Mustafa
Date: Sun 07-Nov-1990 17:21:55 From: declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh/LZ) Subject: Re: Color NeXTStation In article <85720@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, thamer@gecko.cis.ohio-state.edu (M T ) writes: > > What is the story on the NeXTstation Color? I've heard it's > scheduled to be released 1'st quarter '91, has 12MB RAM, 16 bit > color, and 105MB HD. Yes. Of course, you can add more RAM or order a larger HD. > How much of a disadvantage is it to have 16 bit color vs. > 32 bit? Not much. Believe it or not, PostScript drawing/moving windows, etc. is quite fast on the NeXTstation Color. PostScript also wins here, NeXTdimension - it's hard to tell them apart unless you know what to look for. Even resizing a color image is quite fast. > Does it have any NeXTbus slots or isn't expandable like the > mono-slab? No slots here. > Perhaps the best way to get a serious color system is to > buy the NeXTcube at $8000 and NeXTdimension 32 bit graphics accelerator > board at $4000 and MegaPixel Color Monitor at $???? We're definitely > over $12,000 at this point and we still only have 8MB RAM and 105MB HD > with the cube. If REAL color is going to cost this much, I'll take > the $3300 (edu-discounted) mono-slab now. The list price of the MegaPixel Color Monitor is $3000. Educational discounts apply to that and the NeXTdimension board, naturally. "Serious color system?" Depends on how you define serious. "REAL color?" I have no idea what you mean... The NeXTstation Color is excellent for what it does, but the NeXTdimension is really in a different class. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Declan McCullagh / NeXT Campus Consultant \ declan@remus.rutgers.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun 07-Nov-1990 20:35:57 From: portnoy@athena.mit.edu (Stephen L. Peters) Subject: Re: Color NeXTStation In article <Nov.7.12.21.55.1990.11656@remus.rutgers.edu> declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh/LZ) writes: >In article <85720@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, thamer@gecko.cis.ohio-state.edu (M T ) writes: >> How much of a disadvantage is it to have 16 bit color vs. >> 32 bit? > >Not much. Believe it or not, PostScript drawing/moving windows, etc. >is quite fast on the NeXTstation Color. PostScript also wins here, >too: dithering a 24-bit image looks almost as good as it does on the >NeXTdimension - it's hard to tell them apart unless you know what to >look for. Even resizing a color image is quite fast. I have another question about the color computer. I've heard that the 16-bit color is 12 bits of color, and four bits of alpha channel. I assume that this means 3 bits each or red, green, and blue, but I'm not sure what the "alpha" is -- some type of transparency effect? Stephen Peters
Date: Sun 07-Nov-1990 21:36:15 From: declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh/LZ) Subject: Re: Color NeXTStation In article <1990Nov7.203557.10442@athena.mit.edu>, portnoy@athena.mit.edu (Stephen L. Peters) writes: > In article <Nov.7.12.21.55.1990.11656@remus.rutgers.edu> declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh) writes: > >Not much. Believe it or not, PostScript drawing/moving windows, etc. > >is quite fast on the NeXTstation Color. PostScript also wins here, > >too: dithering a 24-bit image looks almost as good as it does on the > >NeXTdimension - it's hard to tell them apart unless you know what to > >look for. Even resizing a color image is quite fast. > > I have another question about the color computer. I've heard that the > 16-bit color is 12 bits of color, and four bits of alpha channel. I > assume that this means 3 bits each or red, green, and blue, but I'm > not sure what the "alpha" is -- some type of transparency effect? Actually, there are four bits per RGB color, yielding 12 total. That gives you a fixed palette of 4,096 colors. The missing four bits are used for an alpha, or transparency channel ("monochrome" NeXT products also have a 2 bit/pixel alpha channel). While not incredibly exciting on a monochrome system, it's quite remarkable on a color system... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Declan McCullagh / NeXT Campus Consultant \ declan@remus.rutgers.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------
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