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1995-09-09
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Falcon 030 preliminary developers Documentation
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as presented on the Atari EuroDevCon92
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Overview
From the point of view of an application writer, the most important thing
to realize about the Falcon030 is that it is an ST compatible TOS machine.
This means that software written to take advantage of the operating system
features via operating system calls of the previous machines will work
without modification. In fact a great deal of effort was expended to
insure that a large precentage of software that runs on previous machines
will continue to operate. The changes that the user will see between Falcon
and previous TOS machines involve improved video and sound abilities.
The video system has the following characteristics:
1) The system supports both VGA and broadcast system monitor types.
For this document "broadcast type monitor" means a TV as well as an
analog RGB monitor such as the SC1224.
2) The number of vertical lines can be either 200 or 400 (approx.)
This is done by using interlace on broadcast monitors to get 400 lines
and doubling each line on VGA monitors to get about 200.
3) The number of horizontal pixels can be approximately either 640 or 320.
4) The number of bitplanes can be either one, two, four or eight.
5) Characteristics numbered 1-4 can be mixed in any combination.
6) The color palette is 262144 in 1, 4 or 8 bit per pixel mode and 4096
in 2 bit per pixel mode.
7) Overscan is available in all broadcast video modes.
8) A 16 bit per pixel, true color mode exists that will operate in all
modes except 640 pixel wide VGA mode.
All of these modes can be accessed via the GEM VDI. In the case of true
color mode there is no color palette to allow for changing the color of
pixels that have been already drawn. The GEM VDI provides 256
virtual pens to use for drawing. These pens act just like the physical
pens in the other modes except that once a pixel is drawn, it cannot be
changed using vs_color().
The sound system has the following components:
1) 56001 Digital Signal Processor
2) DMA sound engine that can playback or record one, two, three or four
16 bit stereo channels at 12.5, 25, or 50 Khz.
3) 16 Bit stereo codec allowing both input and output of sound via
built-in headphone and microphone jacks.
4) An external port (DSP) that allows external I/O for a wide variety of
purposes.
Falcon030 Hardware Reference Guide
The Falcon030 hardware specification can be summarized as follows:
CPU: 68030, 16 Mhz
FPU: Socket for optional 68881 or 68882 running at 16 Mhz
RAM: Custom module. 1 to 16 Mbytes of RAM.
ROM: 512 Kbytes
Blitter: Graphics coprocessor running at 16 Mhz
Video:
Resolution BPL Colors Palette colors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST Low-res 320 X 200 4 16 4096
ST Med-res 640 X 200 2 8 4096
ST High-res 640 X 400 1 2 4096
True color 640 X 480 8 256 262144
320 X 200 15 32768 N/A. 1 bit for overlay VGA or
Video X:320 or 640 1,4 2,16 (Overscan Y:200 or 400)
8 256 (262144 selectable)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All modes can also be Genlocked, to provide multi-media capabilities on
monitors or televisions. The true color modes also directly supports
overlays. An on board RF modulator allows for direct connection to TVs.
Monitor connector allows connection to VGA monitors, ST monochrome, or color
monitors (via an adapter plug).
Horizontal scrolling is supported, compatible with STE.
Sound:
Built in stereo 16-bit analog to Digital convertor.
Built in stereo 16-bit DACs.
Stereo microphone input and stereo headphone output jacks. Internal
speaker.
Sophisticated multiplexer connects DSP, Codec and DMA.
3 channel PSG sound (compatible woth ST)
8 channel 16 bit PCM digital record/playback I/O
Stereo 8bit PCM sound (compatible with TT030,STE and MSTE)
Digital Audio/DSP connector
DSP: 56001 32Mhz Digital Signal Processor with 32Kx24 zero wait state SRAM
I/O:
Parallel port
Modem/RS232 port (9 pin)
MIDI in
MIDI out/thru
Cartridge port
SCSI II (50 pin connector) with DMA
LAN Local area network (compatible with TT030 and MegaSTE)
Joysticks: Two STE compatible enhanced joystick ports supporting four
paddles a light gun, and up to 21 buttons each.
FDD: 1.44 Mbyte Floppy Disk Drive
HDD: Internal optional hard disk drive on IDE bus.
Keyboard: 94/95 key keyboard (with enhanced controller IC wich supports
faster keystrokes, up to 300 DPI mouse, and prevents overrun and underrun)
Mouse: 100 DPI mouse supplied as standard.
Other:
Real time clock with battery backed, non-volatile RAM.
Optional internal HDD
Internal expansion connector
I hope this has cleared up some of the confusion and killed/confirmed
some of the wild rumors that has been spread about the Falcon030.