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UPGRADED.TXT
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Text File
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1994-06-20
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6KB
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197 lines
UPGRADE-D to K3BC SSTV
This revision's focus is on improving the quality of the
picture display in Trucolor, improving the quality of pictures
transmitted by tapping into the 24-bit color CD-ROM sources,
and improving the operability. I would like to stress the
desirability of upgrading your computer to Trucolor
(640x480x16.7 million colors). Video cards offering this
capability are now quite cheap (the Cirrus Logic chipset used
in their own card and by Diamond Speedstar have pushed the
prices below $75) and generally offer direct addressing as
VESA cards with no extra driver required. The new DX/Hi-Reso-
lution mode 96 introduced in Revision C requires Trucolor.
There is a growing army of users of the system on VHF where
the extra transmission time of mode 96 is not an impediment
and the resolution improvement by a factor of 4 is quite
impressive! The major additions are listed below with the
paragraphs in TVINFO.TXT where more complete info is contained
being shown in parenthesis.
It amazes me how many people are missing the use of some
of the system's capabilities because they have not thoroughly
read the Instruction Manual, TVINFO.TXT. 99% of the questions
I get asked are covered in detail in this document. READ IT !
The major additions are:
(1) We have used Fractal techniques to eliminate the
pixelization (or "square pixel" effect) on the TRUSHO pictures
that are expanded to fill the screen. This is easier to see
than to talk about. The improvement on "clean" pictures is
startling. (TRUSHO)
(2) The Receive program, RT.BAS, has had Truculor viewing
added to it with a selection of options of both color resolu-
tion and picture size offered in the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION list
in lines 3230 to 3270. (RT)
(3) We have added a picture type menu screen to RT.BAS
which can be easily customized by the user to use his own
favorite picture. This includes single key commands (ie; no
ENTER key needed) when choosing from the picture menu. This
can be switched in or out in line 3230. (RT)
(4) Added a TGACONV.BAS program for converting 24-bit
color Targa files of any resolution (pixels/line) to the SSTV
formats. There are a lot of high quality CD-ROM images avail-
able now in this format---this is the first source of pictures
I've found which really uses the mode 96 capability. (TGA-
CONV)
(5) In the previous revision we added capability to save
pix directly in compressed format in RT, TRUSHO, and SLIDE-
SHOW. This revision expands this to cover TIFCONV, TGACONV,
and PCXLABEL. KY1S has convinced me that PKZIP is a better
choice for compression, so I have made that first choice. The
3 batch files, PK, PKV, and PKX are now for PKZIP. If you
still want to use PKARC, you can rename PK-ARC.BAT to PK.BAT,
rename PKV-ARC.BAT to PKV.BAT, and PKX-ARC.BAT to PKX.BAT.
Also in line 440 of VT.BAS change the .ZIP to .ARC.
(6) We added the ability to transmit directly from com-
pressed file pictures in the VT.BAS program. Since this pro-
gram both views and transmits, it can also be used to view
single compressed picture files directly. For viewing multiple
files, a simple batch file, PX.BAT, decompresses a series of
pictures into the RAMDISK where a quick TSS will allow TRUSHO
viewing. Just typing---C:\TV>px a---will decompress all the
files in drive A into full format pictures in the RAMDISK.
(VT)
(7) A simple program, LINETIME.BAS, was added to calcu-
late the line timing numbers for all modes once you have
experimentally determined the correct timing number, LT3, for
Scottie 1. (RT)
(8) More info on noisy I/O cards. (RT)
(9) Batch files like STGA.BAT are used to chain several
of these programs together to download CD-ROM pictures direct-
ly into the View/Transmit program, VT.BAS. By pre-answering
the questions in the programs used in the chain; ie, by re-
placing the line in a program that asks a question by a line
that states the answer), you can get a seamless download,
format conversion, add predetermined words or graphics, and go
right to the Transmit G(o) button. You can even chain portions
of the Basic programs together by adding a line with the word
SYSTEM to toggle the program back to the batch file at the
desired point. The only limit is your imagination. (TGACONV)
Please remember when you incorporate the new revision to
transfer all of your SYSTEM CONFIGURATION values to the new
copy of the programs. Also, keep a copy of the old TRUSHO (ie,
TRUSHO.BAS and TRUSHO.ASM) on a separate floppy so you can
compare it to the new.
Have fun,
Ben Vester, K3BC
6/18/94