13 Jan
2013
13 Jan
'13
9:03 p.m.
On Jan 13, 2013, at 10:58 AM, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote:
In article <CAMTenCGxSe9NcrS0KKiL3FufVRJrt5O+0ZSQEnUnaxPXUR4iKg at
mail.gmail.com>,
Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> writes:
I've gotten docs scanned and put up on bitsavers; the memory-mapped
registers for the graphics hardware and sound port (basically a PWM
analog line connected to the speaker in the monitor) are explained.
I have a set of Matrox QRGB-GRAPH (and QVAF-512) boards (Q-Bus color graphics for the
PDP-11) which I have yet to play with. I don't think it'd be a good candidate for
anything that requires rapid full-screen updates, though -- in particular there's no
facility for blitting a graphics region from the -11 to the graphics memory (everything is
drawn on a pixel-by-pixel basis through a set of registers). Were there any PDP-11
graphics systems that actually had a memory-mapped framebuffer?
On the other hand, the QVAF-512 board does provide a hardware "vector
generator" that could be used to provide a fairly speedy wireframe rendering of a
DOOM-like game :).
- Josh
On 12 January 2013 21:40, Richard <legalize at
xmission.com> wrote:
Yes, it does serve as an interesting data point that shows how much
DOOM you can cram into a little machine :-).
Compare the sound and graphics hardware present
on the spectrum to
that present on a PDP-11, i.e. none.
Well, fair point, but then again, I was addressing the angle of
whether a PDP could possibly have the CPU power & storage needed. I
think that vid suggests the answer could be "yes" /on that front./ The
closest stock unit I can think of that has enough hardware to be
comparable to an 80s home/gaming microcomputer is the Terak. (It has
the ability to produce limited audio.)
Interesting. Had to Google that. Sounds fun! An alternative: what was the Russian home
computer which was
PDP-compatible?
That could be another interesting alternative.
I find myself quite intrigued by the possibility
of a PDP/11 with
graphics. That would be something I would quite like to play with.
A bunch of DEC's early graphics "terminals" were indeed just that.
The GT40, GT62, etc., were all machines with a PDP-11 as the graphics
controller and a dynamic refresh display.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book
<http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline>
The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org>
The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org>
Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>