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MVGAVU (c) Copr. 1989 Lawrence Gozum & Marvin Gozum
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
User Manual
DISCLAIMER
This product is distributed AS IS. The authors specifically disclaim all
warranties ,expressed or implied, including ,but not limited to, implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with
respect to defects in the diskette and documentation, and program license
granted herein, in particular, and without limiting operation of the
program license with respect to any particular application use or
purpose. In no event shall the authors be liable for any loss of profit
or any other commercial damage including but not limited to special,
incidental, consequential or other damages.
LICENSING AGREEMENT
You may use this program for a 10 DAY TRIAL PERIOD. Should you find this
program useful, you MUST register it; you will then be provided with the
latest releases of the VGACAD system see last section of this manual).
You can freely distribute copies of unmodified MVGAVU and charge a $10
max for distribution, in lieu of recognized Users Group guidelines (e.g.,
Asso. of Shareware Professionals or NY Amateur Computer Club).
WHAT IS MVGAVU ?
MVGAVU is a GIF and BLD/PLT (BLoaD and PaLleTte) viewer, a GIF slideshow
program, and an integrated component of VGACAD v1.6 (and up). MVGAVU is
EASY TO USE, MENU-DRIVEN; no messing with Command Line options or driver
files since popular SVGA modes are hardcoded.
MVGAVU has unsupported modes; 320x400x256 DOUBLES your MCGA resolution,
while 360x480x256 almost TRIPLES (270%) it - giving you close to SVGA
capability on your generic VGA card. There is also a VGA 640x400x16 for
those Amiga GIFs and a Tseng 640x400x256 mode - as well as support for
popular SVGA modes already hardcoded. MVGAVU interpolates GIFs that are
larger (up to 2KBx2KBx256) than your viewing mode (see the whole picture
w/out scrolling) or posterizes colors in 16-color EGA/VGA modes. Also,
include any viewable 320x200x256 picture (with VGACAP) or BLD/PLT pics
from VGACAD, SQZGIF, EGA2VGA, VGA2EGA or MAC2GIF.
MVGAVU is a versatile slideshow; it determines the best viewing mode for
any GIF - automatically ! It will maximize your video card's capability
by displaying the optimal MCGA, EGA, VGA, or SVGA mode available.
WHAT IS VGACAP ?
VGACAP is a resident utility that captures 256 color pics in VGA/MCGA
320x200x256, 640x480x256 and 800x600x256 color mode. VGACAP will "Bsave"
320x200x256 pics in a BASIC 'BLoaD' format. SVGA 640x480x256/800x600x256
pics are saved in a *.RAW format ('GIF' them with RAW2GIF included).
REQUIREMENTS
MVGAVU requires an PS/2 or EGA/EEGA/MCGA/VGA/SVGA video card. About
512KB of RAM is required, although it uses less than that. MVGAVU
requires the BRUN41.exe runtime module be present in your present path.
You MUST have a VGA or MCGA adaptor (at least BIOS compatible) present
and an analog monitor to use VGACAP. VGACAP uses about 2K of RAM.
HOW TO USE VGACAP
Run VGACAP before your paint or viewing program. Press <Alt-F4>, while
viewing your picture to saved as *.BLD/*.PLT files (for 320x200x256) or
*.RAW/*.PLT files (for 640x480x256 and 800x600x256).
The first time you run the program it will save your screen and palette
to SCREEN00.BLD (or SCREEN00.RAW) and SCREEN00.PLT respectively. If
there is an existing SCREENxx.BLD (.RAW) or SCREENxx.PLT file, then it
will increment to the next higher number. You can use your favorite
memory manager to remove this TSR or reboot to release it from memory.
When using a picture viewer (e.g., PICEM or VPIC) or application which
requires a keypress to continue, hit another key after <Alt-F4>.
LOADING PICTURES INTO MVGAVU
Two formats are accepted by MVGAVU: GIF and BLD/PLT files; At the start
of the program, select [G]IF or [B]LD file types or [Q]uit to exit.
You can select any filename by moving a highlighted bar (with the arrow
keys) and pressing the <return> key. Pressing <Spc> allows you to select
a new PATH, while <Esc> exits. When selecting a *.BLD file, be sure it
has a corresponding *.PLT file or a error message will result. PATHs
should end with a backslash character "\" or it one will be added.
All pictures are interpolated to your selected video mode. As such, SVGA
GIF files (e.g., 640x480x256 to 1024x768x256) are interpolated to "fit to
screen" when they are larger than your screen.
USING RAW2GIF
You can convert captured 640x480x256 and 800x600x256 pictures to GIF
through this utility. Simply run it and select filenames as you would in
MVGAVU; once selected, RAW2GIF converts it automatically. You can
convert single *.RAW files by passing the filename at the Command-line.
e,g., "RAW2GIF SCREEN00" <return>
THE MAIN MENU
After successful loading of your picture you will see several video modes
to choose from. MVGAVU 2.1 supports EGA 640x350x16, VGA 640x480x16, MCGA
320x200x256 and many SVGA modes (e.g., 640x480x256 and 800x600x256) too.
The MVGA Modes
The 320x400x256 mode is the safest since it uses minimal VGA register
modification and is safely within tolerances of all PS/2 monitors. In
theory, it should run on the least "register-compatible" VGA card.
The mode has a very interesting aspect ratio - double the vertical
resolution of MCGA/VGA 320x200x256. Many Amiga, Atari and MacII GIFs are
set to this aspect ratio; viewing GIFs in this mode will virtually
replicate what the "originator" saw.
When MVGAVU is invoked via Command-line, 320x400x256 is the default for
"safety" considerations. If a VGA card is not detected then the MCGA
320x200x256 mode is used; if a MCGA card is not detected then the EGA
640x350x16 mode (posterized when necessary) is used as a last resort -
thereafter you will get an error message. Thus, you can virtually let
MVGAVU decide which mode will best (or can) show your GIF file.
The 360x480x256 mode pushes your VGA card to its theoretical limits ! It
has the same vertical resolution of the SVGA 640x480x256 mode - the most
popular SVGA format so far. With 270% more resolution, you can view
640x480x256 GIFs with minimum distortion or "jaggies". If a GIF image
with a 360 pixel width has a larger screen height (e.g., 360x960x256
"Lester.GIF"), MVGAVU will automatically correct the aspect ratio and
interpolate the picture to "fit to screen".
If you get "weird" results from the 360x480x256 mode, your video card is
not as "register-compatible" as it claims to be; use the 320x400x256 mode
instead. If the 320x400x256 mode fails, it is BIOS-COMPATIBLE ONLY !
A new mode has been added - 640x400x16 (w/posterization when necessary).
This was added to view those Amiga HAM 640x400x16 GIFs (e.g., ANDI, and
BARBARA) the way they were created; like 360x480x256 mode, it requires a
"register-compatible" VGA card or PS/2 Model 50(and up).
The SVGA Modes
MVGAVU supports popular SVGA chips and is hardcoded for the Tseng chip
(STB, Genoa, Orchid, WIllow, ...), Paradise (old Dell, AST, Compaq, ...),
Cirrus chip (Video7, new Dell, ...), ATI (Wonder, VIP), Trident (Logix,
Maxon, ...), Everex and C&T chips. SVGA MODES ARE NOT VERIFIED; ENSURE
THAT YOUR CARD SUPPORTS IT OR UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS WILL FOLLOW !
We made a 640x400x256 Tseng SVGA mode since it has the same aspect ratio
of the 320x200x256 mode and makes viewing your 320x200x256 GIF collection
much CLEARER due to 400% more resolution. Moreover, VGACAD v1.6 (and up)
uses "Virtual Screens" for cutting and pasting 320x200x256 pics into SVGA
GIFs - composite 320x200x256 screens look good in 640x400x256. Amiga,
Atari and MacII GIFs use this aspect ratio multiple and look as close as
possible to what the originator saw in this mode.
View Jovian VIA scans (320x240x256 GIFs) in 640x480x256 or 800x600x256;
these GIFs have the same aspect ratio. This has the same effect of
viewing 320x200x256 GIFs in the 640x400x256 mode.
SVGA and EEGA User Modes
To set your own modes specify the Screen Width, Screen Height, colors (16
or 256), Video Mode, and Chip type (9=BIOS). On default, MVGAVU.CFG
contains the Paradise chip 800x600x16 mode. Several *.CFG files for
800x600x16 mode are included as well as some of the more unusual modes
(e.g., Video7 modes); select the SVGA chip family with a corresponding
*.CFG file (as indicated at Main Menu) and copy that to MVGAVU.CFG and it
will be your User Mode (i.e., "X" option).
If you want set a 256 or 16 color mode, press "P"arameters. Once you
edited, it is saved and can be recalled anytime. Input the video mode in
decimal (e.g. 255) or hex (e.g. &HFF); REMEMBER THAT HEX ENTRIES *MUST*
BE PRECEDED BY THE "&H" CHARACATERS. EEGA modes can be set to 800x600x16
and are hardcoded for speed. SVGA modes can either use safe BIOS modes
or specify the Chip type for FAST bank-switching. EEGA MODES MUST ALWAYS
USE "9" FOR BIOS EVEN IF IT IS ALREADY HARDCODED FOR SPEED SINCE NO BANK
SWITCHING IS NECESSARY UP TO 800x600x16.
EGA and VGA 16-color Modes and Posterization
There are still a lot of GIFs in EGA 640x350x16 and VGA 640x480x16 modes,
so we have included them in MVGAVU. If a GIF has more than 16 colors
(e.g, 256) then the "best 16 of 64" EGA colors are selected/posterized.
For a novel way of viewing of your 640x480x256 GIFs, view them again in
640x480x16 or 640x350x16 (posterized) - quite interesting !
Fixing Aspect Ratios
Some GIFs have the same screen and image descriptors (e.g.CARMEN2); these
large GIFs result in distorted aspect ratios or require scrolling to view
correctly (assuming you select a mode with matching aspect ratio).
"5:6" aspect assumes originator was using a 320x200 or 640x400 screen
aspect ratio (normally Amiga, Atari or MacII). Select this option to
adjust for optimum screen size and correct the aspect ratio.
"1:1" aspect assumes originator was using a "square" aspect ratio. If
you have 100 pixels on all sides of a sqaure, the square should appear as
a SQUARE on your monitor, not some rectangle. 320x240(Jovian VIA),
640x480 (EEGA/MCGA/VGA/SVGA), 800x600 (EEGA/SVGA), and 1024x768 (SVGA)
modes (should) have "square" aspect ratios. Select this option to fix
such GIFs (e.g., SYLVIA.GIF, PAULINA.GIF, FMAID.GIF, ... ).
ADJUSTING CONTRAST & BRIGHTNESS
If you view a non-posterized GIF or BLD/PLT pic you can adjust contrast
and brightness. You have to do this for those Amiga, Atari and MACII
GIFs since they usually have some "gamma error" - particularly brightness
<sheesh>. Anyway, use the arrow keys to increase or decrease brightness
and contrast. Make sure your NUMLOCK key is OFF !
[Esc] restores the original palette, while pressing any other key (e.g.,
[return] or [spc] will exit vewing. Contrast and brightness adjustment
levels can be increased or decreased with the [+] or [-] keys followed by
corresponding rising or falling tones.
[->] increase brightness [+] increase adjustment level
[<-] decrease brightness [-] decrease adjustment level
[dn] increase contrast [*] reset adjustment level
[up] decrease contrast
With VGACAD v1.6 (and up) you can import the adjusted palette in your
edited picture by pressing [backspace] key. When editing a SVGA GIF via
VSCRN (i.e., "virtual screen"); eNCODe that GIF and view it with MVGAVU;
adjust the palette, press [backspace] then exit to import that palette.
ALL ADJUSTMENTS ARE PERMANANET !
CREATING/SAVING MVGA 320x400x256 / 360x480x256 OR SVGA GIFs
You can 'downsize' (squeeze) SVGA GIFs (e.g., 640x480x256) or expand
small GIFs (e.g., 320x200x256) to 320x400x256 or 360x480x256. Downsize
SVGA GIFs for fast-decoding or enlarge small GIFs for enhanced image
processing with VGACAD or you can reduce odd SVGA GIFs (e.g., DGNLDY) to
smaller SVGA modes (e.g., 640x400x256). Simply view your GIF any SVGA
256-color mode and press the [tab] key. A MVGASCRN.RAW and MVGASCRN.PLT
file will be created which can be converted with RAW2GIF. Subsequent
saves overwrite these files, so encode it with RAW2GIF and rename them
immediately to preserve them.
GIF SLIDESHOWS, COMMAND LINE VIEWING & BATCH PRESENTATIONS
Up to 60 GIFs with ANY resolution (up to 2KBx2KBx256) can be viewed in a
slideshow. Press [S]how when after selecting the [G]IF file type. Move
the cursor to select files; press the [+] key to mark or [-] to unmark.
[D]elay adds pauses (to 60 secs.) between GIFs. [V]ideo mode will cycle
through "Maximum Modes". Press [S]how again to start show; press any key
while the slideshow is running to stop. You can select several choices
of "Maximum Modes". MVGAVU decides which mode is optimal.
In EGA 640x350x16, ALL pictures are interpolated and posterized, if
necessary. Use this mode to see all your GIFs "posterized". 64KB MCGA
cards will output as EGA 640x350x4 grey shades.
If MVGA 320x400x256 is chosen, MCGA 320x200x256 and EGA 640x350x16 modes
are automatically selected as the default modes for "safety". If you
select this mode on an EGA or MCGA card, MVGAVU will adjust accordingly.
If MVGA 360x480x256 is chosen, MVGAVU assumes a "register-compatible" VGA
card present and selects from the above and MVGA 640x400x16 as well.
You can also set SVGA 640x400x256, 640x480x256 and 800x600x256 for any of
the SVGA chipsets supported by MVGAVU. THESE MODES ARE NOT VERIFIED AND
ASSUME YOUR VIDEO CARD SUPPORTS IT.
Command Line Viewing & Batch Presentations
MVGAVU can be used in a batch (*.BAT) file for presentations. In Command
Line mode, only your picture is displayed and pressing any key (except
[tab] and Contrast/Brightness adjustment keys) after its display will end
the program. No menus or prompts interfere. Type "MVGAVU [file] <ret>"
with no extension and optional path (e.g., MVGAVU \gif\svga\zoe).
MVGAVU searches for the first matching *.GIF then it searches for a *.BLD
file which can abe viewed only in MCGA 320x200x256 mode and must have
matching *.PLT files in the same drive/directory. GIFs are viewed with
320x400x256 as "Maximum Mode" (described above) and will optimally select
between MCGA 320x200x256, EGA 640x350x15 and MVGA 320x400x256 - and
interpolate (or posterize) accordingly; MVGAVU selects the 'best' mode.
THE CHAINED VGACAD ENVIRONMENT
BRUN41.exe is a runtime module distributed under licence with Microsoft
in connection with this program. Place it with MVGAVU or anywhere your
PATH has access to. MVGAVU is a part of VGACAD (v1.6 and up). ONLY ONE
COPY OF BRUN41.EXE IS REQUIRED.
REGISTRATION
Registered VGACAD v1.6 (and up) users are registered for MVGAVU v2.2;
simply replace your old version with this version. MVGAVU is part of
VGACAD. To register personal use of MVGAVU send a registration fee of
$27.95 USD (out of USA/Canada add a $15 US handling fee). For 3.5"
updates, add a $10 USD 3.5" updating fee. Registered users get updates
of MVGAVU with VGACAD updates which we provide in appreciation of your
support (through registration).
REGISTRATION OF MVGAVU IS BASED ON 'PERSONAL USAGE'. CORPORATE OR
ORGANIZATIONAL USERS *MUST* REGISTER ALL COPIES USED ON AN INDIVIDUAL
BASIS; A SPECIFIC PERSON (NAME) MUST BE EXPLICITLY ASSIGNED TO EACH
REGISTRANT WHO WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A CORRESPONDING REGISTER.OVL FILE TO
INDICATE REGISTERED USAGE. REGISTRATION GRANTS A SPECIFIC PERSON (NOT A
JURIDICAL PERSON OR CORPORATE ENTITY) THE RIGHT TO 'USE' MVGAVU.
As token of our appreciation (i.e., to registered users), we will send
you the the latest version of programs listed below.
GIFPUB - converts 256 color GIFs to B&W images desktop publishing (DTP)
as .PCX (Ventura Publisher, First Publisher, Publisher's Paintbrush, PC
Paintbrush+, WP, Aldus Pagemaker). Variable sizing/contrast/brightness.
Histogram Analysis. Superior error-distributed dithering.
GIFDOT - has almost all the features of GIFPUB for printing on IBM/Epson
printers. Several sizes. 8 pics/page. Single/Double Pass printing.
SQZGIF - converts LARGE GIF pictures (up to 2048x2048x256) to 320x200x256
using interpolation and "color averaging" techniques to blend/smooth
"jaggies" while retaining a maximum of color information; outputs
directly to GIFPUB, GIFDOT, VGACAD, MVGAVU, VGA2CGA or VGA2EGA.
VGACAD - extensive paint/image processing program for VGA/MCGA users
(edit GIFs up to 32KBx32KBx256 !!!); airbrushes, color and grey image
processing functions (smoothing, noise removal, shading, contrast
stretching, edge detection, ...), splines, Cut&Paste, variable sizing,
256-color gradient/pattern fills, MORE !
MAC2GIF - converts .MAC ("readmac") pictures to 5-16 grey shades or color
and saves results as .GIF or BLD/PLT file; view pics in VGA, MCGA or EGA.
VGA2CGA - converts 256 color GIFs to CGA! Uses an unsupported 160x100x16
mode with up to "405" colors. Includes special "CGX" viewer.
EGA2VGA - converts GIFs (16 colors and below) or ANY VIEWABLE 2-16 color
EGA/EEGA picture to 320x200x256; creates 256 new colors; outputs directly
to GIFPUB, GIFDOT, VGACAD, MVGAVU, VGA2CGA or VGA2EGA.
VGA2EGA - converts 256 color pictures to 16-color EGA. Error-distributed
dithering. Variable sizing/RGBICMY/contrast/dithering levels. EEGA
support up to 800x600. GIF or optional PCX save to 4 RGBI planes for
Desktop Color Separation.
WHAT'S NEXT ?
Aside from enhancing existing releases, we are developing VGACBT, a
Computer-Based Training application, MANNEQUIN for Advertising/Fashion
Design or creating your own artistic nudes, and SYNPCX to convert B&W PCX
files (e.g., hand scanner output) to grey shades for VGACAD image
processing, GIFPUB redithering, GIFDOT printing, or VGA2EGA conversion -
it will fix those "scan line jitters".
Support maverick authors like us and we will continue developing products
like nothing seen commercially - otherwise they will simply "DIE" from
lack of support ! Compare the cost/benefit ratio of any of our products
with commercial products. You, and you alone, determine whether it will
be worthwhile to continue developing. Support the User-Supported
(Shareware) concept. Register you Shareware copies. To register MVGAVU,
send the registration form and check or money order payable in USD to:
Dr. Marvin Gozum
2 Independence Place #303-2, 6th & Locust
Philadelphia, PA 19106
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank John Bridges for releasing VGAKIT.ARC which
included source code for 'bank switching' the Tseng, Paradise, Cirrus,
Trident, Everex, C&T and VGA Wonder chips and source for the now, popular
360x480x256 mode. Also, we would like to thank Mike Abrash for
publishing source code (in Programmer's Journal) for the 320x400x256
mode. Seminal variants have been developed based on their evolving work
into MVGAVU. We are grateful to Don Babcock, for QBASM's GIF adaptations
of Tom Pfau's Public Domain LZW source (in LZW.ARC) for QB4 linking,
which provided invaluable guidance in resolving QB4 memory allocation
problems. Thanks a meg - John, Mike, Don and Tom !
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Graphics Interchange Format and GIF are trademarks (tm)
of CompuServe Inc. an H&R Block Company.