home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Amnesia 9
/
Amnesia - Issue 09 (1993-02-01)(Eclipse)(Disk 2 of 2).adf
/
ARTICLES
/
A1200A.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-01-31
|
11KB
|
168 lines
home computer, and the A1200 as a
power machine for all home hobbyists.
Positioning
The A1200 is much more powerful than
the A500 or A600. It is the first
keyboard-integrated machine with the
AA Chip set and a 32-bit processor.
This will permit 256 colours from a
palette of 16.8 million, compared to
the A500 and A600's 32 colors from a
TITLE: A1200 Preliminary Information palette of 4096. This new Chip set
A1200 Product Overview also supports an enhanced HAM mode
allowing near photo-realistic images
Introduction in all resolutions with up to 256,000
colors. The new AA Chip set will
support VGA productivity screens (640
The A1200 is the most significant x 480, 256 colors) at refresh rates
product Commodore has released since up to 72Hz. 600 x 800, 256 color
we introduced the Amiga 500.The A1200 screens are also supported at 72Hz
is seen as the A500 of the 1990s. We interlaced. Sprite sizes have been
should view the A600 as the entry increased from 16 bits to 32 and 64
bits wide. Also, sprites can be dis- in the A600.
played in screen borders and have
resolutions independent of play The A1200 retains the PCMCIA card
fields. The A1200 will come with 2 port for memory and I/O expansion,
megabytes of chip RAM, thus chip RAM but also adds a 32-bit processor bus
expansion is not needed. expansion port accessible via a door
on the bottom of the unit. This port
The A1200 is a true 32-bit system is similar to the A500 expansion
with 32-bit RAM and ROM using the 14 port, but is not compatible. This
MHz clock speed (2x A500/A600) 32bit port is enhanced to 32 bits and 14MHz
68E020 processor. This processor not operation. Cards/Adapters can have
only runs at twice the speed of the access to the port allowing:
A500/A600, but also has a 256 byte
instruction cache. These capabilities * Accelerator processors
enable the A1200 to achieve perform- * DSP processors
ance that is up to 5 times that of * SCSI adapters
the A500/A600. * Fast RAM expansion
* Bridge cards
The A1200 is packaged in the new
A600-style case, but is slightly Boards added to the expansion bus can
larger to include the addition of a have external cable connector access
numeric keypad, as in the A500+. This via a rear panel knock out.
package also supports the addition of
an internal 2.5" IDE hard drive, as With the new package, AA chip set,
better expansion and high speed features, the A1200 supports 8 bit-
32-bit processor, the A1200 is a very planes, allowing display of 256 sim-
exciting and competitive product. ultaneous colors chosen from a
palette of 16,777,216 colors. In size
The new A1200s are shipped with Amiga and design, the A1200 is similar to
OS Release 3, a backward compatible the A600 but is slightly larger. The
extension to the industry standard larger design allows for use of a
Release 2, which provides full full-size keyboard, including numeric
support for new Chip set enhanced keypad.
graphics, and is "localized" or over
14 languages and countries. Features
TITLE: A1200 Preliminary 14.32 MHz 68EC020 NTSC
A1200 Preliminary Technical Inform- 14.18 MHz 68EC020 PAL
ation 24 bit Address space
Subject To Change Without Notice 32 bit Data path
Note: System Configuration may vary Memory and Expansion
between Commodore Sales Companies.
2MB chip memory standard on mother-
The A1200 represents Commodore's board organized as 512k x 32bit 150
first low-end, low-cost system to Pin internal CPU slot-type expansion
incorporate the Advanced Amiga Chip card-edge
Set ("AA" chip set). Among the new Standard Amiga 23 pin analog RGB,
512KB, 120ns, Release 3 Kickstart Digital RGBI Color composite video
Mask ROM (V39.106) organized as 128K output (PAL or NTSC) RF output for
x 32 bit standard TV (PAL or NTSC)
The A1200 ROM includes PCMCIA code. The PCB can accomodate either PAL or
This code is absent from the A4000 NTSC. The actual components placed on
ROM, and is the only content the board determine which of these
difference between the ROMs. two video standards is supported.
Mass Storage System I/O
Internal slim 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive External System I/O
(880k capacity)
External Floppy
Capacity for 2.5" IDE Hard Disk Drive Serial
with 20MB or 40MB+ formatted drive. Parallel
Mouse
Operating System Joystick
Stereo Audio ports
Release 3, Workbench 39.29, Kickstart
39.106 Internal System I/O
Video Output Internal Floppy Signal and Power
IDE Signal and Power of functionality of the chips follows
Keyboard membrane is 31 pins
* * * * *
Expansion
Alice
PCMCIA PC Card
Alice is based on the 2MB ECS Agnus
Follows PCMCIA Standard 2.0. Memory chip, and continues to act as the
and I/O cards are supported. main Amiga Chip bus controller.
Although Alice retains the same 16
CPU Slot bit data bus as the ECS Agnus, it can
now direct 32 bit and/or double CAS
Additional technical information on page mode transactions on the Chip
the 150-pin CPU Slot Card Edge will bus, and has a stripped down inter-
be available shortly. face to a 32-bit Chip memory bus.
External logic is used for memory
AA Custom Chips selection and decode.
The A1200 uses the same AA chip set Lisa
as the A4000 (Alice, Lisa and Paula).
The AA chips are software compatible Lisa is a new full custom design
with the original and ECS chipsets, replacement for Denise implemented in
with the exception of the ECS "super- CMOS technology. In addition to a 32-
hires" mode palette. A brief summary Bit Chip interface, Lisa improves
video output to 24 bits of digtal RGB Page Mode RAM. The same bandwidth
video. Coupled with 80ns DRAM, Lisa enhancements are available for
can use double fetch cycles to obtain sprites. Also, the maximum number of
64 bits of data in a single Chip bus bitplanes usable in all modes has
cycle resulting in an overall four increased to eight.
fold increase in Chip memory band-
width for video. The Color Palette has been expanded
to 256 colors deep and 25 bits wide
Paula (8 Red, 8 Green, 8 blue, 1 Genlock).
This permits the display of 256
The same Paula chip continues to simultaneous colors in all resolut-
perform the same functions such as 8 ions. A palette of ,777,216 colors
bit audio with four voices configured is available in all resolutions.
as two stereo channels, floppy disk
I/O, RS-232 serial I/O, potentiometer A new register bit allows sprites to
inputs, and interrupt control. appear in the screen border regions.
AA Chip Set Feature Summary A bitplane mask field of 8 bits
allows an address offset into the
The 32-bit wide data bus supports colour palette. Two 4-bit mask fields
input of 32-bit bitplane data and do the same for odd and even sprites.
allows the doubling of \s\smemory
bandwidth. Additional doubling of In dual playfield modes, two 4-
bandwidth is achieved by using Fast bitplane playfields are now possible
in all resolutions. This is intended to allow 15KHz
screens to be intelligently displayed
Two extra high-order playfield scroll on a 31 Khz monitor, sharing the
bits allow seamless scrolling of up display with 31 KHZ screens.
to 64 bit wide bitplanes in all
resolutions. Resolution of bitplane Power Supply
scroll, display window,and horizontal
sprite position has been improved to Output Voltage Current (max)
35ns in all resolutions. + 5V 3.0A
+12V 500mA
A new 8 bitplane HAM mode has been -12V 100sA
created, 6 for colours and 2 for
control bits. All HAM modes are - Well, the A1200 is now available in
available in all resolutions. most good shops, so check it out
today, and if anybody buys one of
Sprite resolution can be set to these then please write an article
LORES, HIRES, and SHRES independent about it and send it to Amnesia -
of bitplane resolution.
Article By:???/Commodore
Attached sprites are now available in Clipart By:Punisher/Eclipse
all resolutions.
Hardware scan doubling support has
been added for bitplanes and sprites.