Subject: REVIEW: Retina 24-bit graphics board
From: [email-masked] (Nikolaj Peddie-Richers)
Date: 19 Apr 1993 02:20:26 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME                                                    
                                                                
	Retina 24-bit graphics board

BRIEF DESCRIPTION                                               
								
	High-resolution, 24-bit graphics board for the Amiga 2000/3000/4000
with 1, 2, or 4MB of on-board 32-bit wide RAM.  (The 4MB version is tested in
this review.)  Comes with a Workbench emulation and VDPaint, a 24-bit paint
program.

COMPANY INFORMATION                                             
								
	Name:		MacroSystem Computer GmbH
	Address:	Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 85
			5810 Witten
			Germany

	Phone:		(+country code) 02302/80391
	FAX:		(+country code) 02302/80884

DISTRIBUTORS

The card was bought from:

	Promigos Switzerland
	Mr. H. R. Wenger
	Hauptstrasse 37
	5212 Hausen bei Brugg
	Switzerland

	Phone: 011-4156-322132
	FAX:   011-4156-322134
	BBS:   011-4156-322133

The North American distributor is (thanks to Rudolf Neuhaus for this
information):

	MacroSystem US
	Mr. Robert Tingley
	17019 Smugglers Cove
	Mount Clemens, MI 48038

	Phone: (313) 263-0095

LIST PRICE

	DM 798,- for 4MB version plus shipping and handling; 1 and 2MB are
versions cheaper.  Paid sFr. 798,- plus s&h (1 DM = sFr. 0.85, I think).

       In American money, that's about $570, subject to variations in the
exchange rate.  Your bank can tell you what the exact exchange rate is.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	- Amiga with an empty Zorro II slot.
	- Monitor (at least a VGA one recommended) and monitor cable.
	- Kickstart 37.175 and Workbench 37.67, or higher.

	MacroSystem recommends 1MB Chip RAM, 4MB Fast RAM, and a 100MB SCSI
hard drive.  You can run with less, but the recommended minimum
configuration for VDPaint is 5MB RAM and lots of free hard drive space, due
to the size of 24-bit pictures.  Plus I recommend a _big_ screen.  At high
resolutions, things get small.

COPY PROTECTION

	 None.  The VDPaint version included will run only on the Retina.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	- Amiga 3000/25
	- 2MB Chip RAM, 8MB Fast RAM, 100MB SCSI HD
	- Kickstart 37.175 (2.04) and Workbench 37.71 (2.05)
	- Samsung Syncmaster 17-inch multisync monitor
	- Retina with 4MB RAM

REVIEW

	The following discussion consists of a short introduction, the "ins
and outs" of software and hardware installation, the setup of the Workbench
emulation, and some real-life impressions of the card with the programs I
use.  All of it carries personal bias; I bought the Retina for a specific
purpose, and I can tell you how well it lives up to my expectations.  That
is, I am not interested in (or capable of) a full technical review of the
card, nor in some general, lofty, can-she-fly-to-the-moon-in-principle kind
of discussion.  Furthermore, I have had the card for four days only, and I am
discovering new features all the time.  This review is not exhaustive, then.

	For a long time, I have wanted to use higher resolutions on my
Amigas.  I spend much of my waking life researching and writing philosophy
papers on a bizarre Austrian philosopher called Ludwig Wittgenstein, and I
am tired of flickering, dog-slow overscanned screens on a small monitor.  If
you spend entire nights writing, then you certainly know what I mean: the
standard Amiga output, including AGA, doesn't quite do the trick for this
kind of work.

	There are a number of Amiga graphics boards on the market; but until
very recently, all of them were aimed at the graphical artist or CAD users.
Often, these boards are very expensive, putting them out of my reach.

	Enter the summer of 1992.  I was in Switzerland and heard of a
high-resolution board called Domino by XPert systems.  I didn't get one in
time, having to leave for Canada before any boards were actually shipped.
Some time later, I heard that the board is actually quite slow, since it
relies on the CPU for blitting operations; it's a "dumb" VGA card with a
Zorro II adapter.  But its most interesting feature, besides its
high-resolution, is a so-called Workbench Emulation, which allows the card
to be integrated into the Amiga Workbench environment.

	Winter 92-93:  through USENET discussions, I get to know Rudolf
Neuhaus, who tells me about a card he bought at a computer show; it's called
"Retina" and does the same as the Domino, but more.  In particular, it has
24-bit display modes and comes with its own blitter.  It sounds great.  In
fact, it sounds so great that I decide to take the plunge and order one
blind through my father in Switzerland in early March.  Promigos is
back-ordered, and it takes _three_ shipments from the manufacturer to fill
my order.  My card has the serial number 18086, the 102nd Promigos sells.

	A 17-inch monitor rounds off my leap into serious Amiga power;
judging by how small things get even on a screen like this, I would
recommend this as a minimum configuration.

	Three days ago, my card arrived via courier; the packaging is OK.
Two disks and two manuals are included:  one each for the Workbench
emulation and VDPaint.  The card itself is quite small, full-length, but
about half-height with relatively few chips on it; my (untrained) eye can
discern some ZIP RAMs, a big NCR chip, which must be the VGA/graphics chip
itself, a memory controller, and EPROMS.  The card has a 15-pin VGA socket on
the back.  With 4MB, the limit for the Retina, every other ZIP RAM socket is
populated; with 2MB, all sockets are populated, but with lower-density
chips; at 1MB, every other sockets is populated again.  All cards are
identical except for the amount of RAM on them; a jumper alters timing
slightly for the different configurations.  Most applications don't need 4MB
RAM; it is only once you get into 24-bit graphics work or need to open a
large number of Retina screens under the Workbench emulation that things get
memory-intensive.  The card itself is a 32-bit card with a 16-bit Zorro II
interface and connector.

	The hardware installation is relatively simple; always ground
yourself to prevent static build-ups, and let a technician do the
installation if you don't trust yourself fully.

	[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  As the review mentions, do not attempt to
	install any hardware device unless you are comfortable and
	experienced at doing so.  If you are careless, you may void your
	warranty or even damage your Amiga.  If you are in doubt, have
	a professional do the installation.  - Dan]

On my Amiga, the warranty seal was broken by CBM itself when they installed
additional memory after I bought the machine directly from CBM Switzerland.
Be aware that opening your machine voids any warranty, at least in some
countries.  After unscrewing five screws, the A3000 cover can be slid off,
and the daughterboard with the expansion slots becomes visible.  Unscrew one
of the slot covers on the back, and slide the card into the corresponding
empty slot until it sits in the slot firmly.  Screw in the one screw that
holds the backplane of the card.  On my card, the was a small gap between
the A3000 case and the Retina backplane; to screw it on, I would have had to
bend the metal backplane, the thought of which went against my very soul.
Two small washers from Home Hardware solved the problem, and the card now
fits _perfectly_, much to my delight.  I recommend you do not re-assemble
your machine fully until you've successfully installed the included
Workbench emulation and have run it.  If you're afraid they'll arrest you
for running a pirate radio station, slide the cover back on.

	Once the hardware is installed, you can power up your Amiga and
install the software.  First gripe: if you just click on the HD_Install icon,
nothing appears to be copied, contrary to what the manual says.  It turns out
the install script works fine when run from Shell.  I just copied the entire
disk onto my "System:" partition.  Later I re-installed everything with the
install script; both ways work.  The software includes the retina.library
for the Workbench emulation, RetinaEmu (the Workbench emulation itself),
RetinaScreenMode (to set your display preferences and your monitor type),
RetinaComm (a utility-commodity), a harlequin.library (the card can run
programs written for the Harlequin graphics card), and some utilities which
allow you to test the Retina, define new monitors, or to display pictures
and animations.  Information for programmers is included also.  Further, the
software comes with support files for VLab, apparently a digitizer also from
MacroSystem, a saver module for ADPro, and an ARexx script for ImageMaster.
I am not familiar with any of these programs; maybe someone else can write
how well the Retina works in conjunction with these.  VDPaint is installed
separately (cf. below).  To redirect all output to the Retina automatically
upon boot-up, you also need to either copy RetinaEmu into your WBStartup
drawer or include in your s:Startup-Sequence or s:User-Startup; the startup
file is better, since you start displaying "stuff" earlier.

	The Workbench emulation is a piece of software that allows all or
some output to be redirected from the Amiga's custom graphics chips to the
Retina.  This means that you can run most programs on the Retina, but at
higher resolutions and/or higher refresh rates, making use of the Retina's
capabilities, but not loosing Workbench support at the same time; this is
the best of both worlds, as it were.  So that, with the Retina, your Amiga
_behaves_ and _looks_ like an Amiga, just at much, much higher resolutions.
RTG support for the Retina has been announced in the manual; but until this
by now mythical animal is ready, the Workbench emulation of the Retina is an
excellent solution.  For the installation process, two monitors are
preferred, since until you've fully installed the Workbench emulation, some
output will be through your normal Amiga monitor socket or the Retina's.  So
I deprived my understanding wife Jennifer of the CBM 1960 multisync from our
flicker-fixed A2000 for the duration of the operation.

	Once the software has been transferred to hard disk (you could run
the card on a floppy-based system, if you had to), you need to run
RetinaScreenMode to set the preferences for your monitor; particularly what
your vertical and horizontal frequencies are; this will limit your display
possibilities, and you will be given a list of possible resolutions for your
monitor.  You select your frequencies by choosing from a list of monitors on
the left of RetinaScreenMode's windows, having the list of possible display
resolutions on the right.  Beware, though; you need a monitor that can do
64KHz (?) vertically to make full use of the Retina; mine can do 49.8KHz
only, excluding me from some of the nicer (more flicker-free) resolutions.
Then you need to run the ScreenMode program from your Prefs drawer; you have
to enter higher values for your horizontal and vertical pixel number.  I
entered 1024x768.  You need to activate auto-scrolling.  In IControl, also in
your Prefs drawer, you also need to switch off "Screen Menu Snap."  Now you
can run RetinaEmu and select your Workbench screen resolution; I have mine
set to 1024x768 at 57Hz non-interlaced.  (Actually, since writing this
review, I now have a virtually flicker-free 1280x1024 @ 87Hz.  See the end
of the review.)  Rudolf Neuhaus can run his at the same resolution, but at
76Hz since he has a 64KHz monitor!  RetinaEmu is written as a Commodity and
can be called up through a hotkey or Commodities Exchange.

	In RetinaEmu, you can define a default screen resolution; for each
program, display can be on the Amiga graphics chip or on the Retina board
(I set all screens to be displayed on the Retina).  Whenever a program
opens a screen, it will be opened on a default-size Retina screen.  But, once
you've run a program, the Retina emulation usually can identify the screen
by i) public screen name, ii) screen title (in titlebar), or iii) path and
name of the program run; a list is kept of all programs run.  You can now
change the parameters for the screens of specific programs from the list
of possible screen resolutions.  I have not yet found a program that cannot
be identified.  This method of allowing you to customize screens is extremely
flexible and _very_ reliable; I have not had any problems.

	The manual of the Retina does not say what the limitations of this
card are, so here is a _partial_ list of the possible resolutions and
refresh rates which you would get if you had the monitor with the highest
vertical frequency range in the monitor list (79KHz).  This is at 8-bit (256
colours):

	- 1024x768 @ 76Hz non-interlaced
	- 1280x1024 @ 87Hz interlaced
	- 724x566 @ 76Hz (maximum overscan PAL)
	- 1440x1132 @ 87Hz interlaced)
	- 800x600 @ 76Hz
	- 364x283 @ 76Hz

Group modes (cf. below) include:

	-1900x1426 @ 70Hz
etc.

My monitor's list (50KHz) includes some other resolutions like:

	- 1024x768 @ 57 Hz non-interlaced
	- 1280x1024 @ 87Hz

Group mode:

	- 2400x1200 @ 50Hz interlaced
	(it works; I've _run_ a 2400x1200 WB! But it does flicker.)
	- 1280x1024 @ 87Hz

	There are a large number of screen resolutions, and I have not tried
them all; this list is just to give you an idea of the kinds of resolutions
the Retina is capable of.  In 24-bit mode your refresh rate drops; I've used

	- 1024x768 @ 60Hz interlaced
	- 800x600 @ 50Hz non-interlaced

Group mode:

	- 800x600 @ 50Hz

	With a bit of calculation you can also figure out why the Retina
comes with up to 4MB of RAM; at 1024x768x24 bitplanes, you need a whopping
1.8MB of RAM just for the picture, independent of the RAM needed for program
requirements or picture manipulations!

	A group mode defines the range of possible screen resolutions, all
of which must fall within the bounds of the group mode definition.  Depending
on the resolution you need, a screen will open with the _best-suited_
resolution.

	Surprisingly, interlace at high resolutions is actually quite
usable; I have not experimented too much with this yet, but it seems that
1024x768 @ 57 Hz non-interlaced flickers more than 1024x768 @ 91Hz
interlace! In fact, 1024x768 @ 91Hz _doesn't_ flicker.  The loss of picture
quality is small, and further experimentation with interlace at high-refresh
rates seems worthwhile.  I wonder what 1024x768 @ 114Hz interlace would look
like.  But then maybe it wouldn't be interlace... I don't know.  With the help
of an included ARexx script, you can make up your own monitor definitions.

	The Workbench emulation is limited to 16 colours at this point.  The
card itself is capable of displaying 256 to 16.8 million colours at the
resolutions mentioned above.  Since 16 is less than 256 we can conclude that
the Workbench emulation does not make full use of the card yet.  For that,
we'll have to wait for RTG to make its debut.  However, having said that,
the RetinaEmu allows you to open screens with "extra" colours.  This means
that, for example, if I want to run my ancient DPaint II in low-res at 32
colours half-bright I can use this mode to do it -- and it works.  If I don't
chose "extra colours," I get 16 colours with the palette repeated where the
other colours normally are.  The manual warns you that, because the Amiga
has to re-calculate data for these extra colour screens, this mode is quite
slow.  DPaint II seems all right in this respect.  VDPaint opens its screens
in 24-bit, so you can work in 16.8 million colours without problems.  Since
this card has far better output than AGA chips in terms of resolution and
number of colours, it would be nice to run all those AGA specific programs
with it.  Since I don't have any, I don't know whether it works, but I
suspect it doesn't, since I don't have Workbench 3.0.  However, the display
program that comes with the Retina, which can display pictures and
animations, does support formats like HAM8, IFF-ILBM 24 bit, IFF-DEEP,
IFF-ILBM in 2 to 256 colours, etc.

	OK, enough techno-speak.  How does the Retina fare when actually put
to use?  The short answer is: very well.  You have to see it to believe it!
I now run my Workbench on a 1024x768 [1280x1024 at the end of review] screen
with lots of space for my various docks under ToolManager 2.0 and for
programs that open windows on the Workbench.  I can run Term 3.2 on my
Workbench, having it take up about a quarter of my screen 80x25 mode with
Topaz 11 as my terminal font.  Term 3.2 scrolls in 16-colour mode without the
usual flicker now; CPUBlit has finally made its way into the Trashcan on my
system.  I don't have a high-speed modem right now, so this is at 2400 Baud.
Clock, Calculator, Notepad, Agenda, Docks, File Finder, etc., all fit onto
the screen at the same time, leaving lots of space for other activities.  I
can open about fourteen shells at the default size [at 1280x1024].  Much
unlike the native Amiga display, things don't slow down on the Retina when
you have, say, ten or twelve windows open.  This is a big bonus, for what
good is a big virtual desk (the Workbench) if you cannot spread your stuff
out? The Retina has more than fulfilled my expectations in this way.  You
now have a real Workbench where you can spread out your windows, not having
to scroll around; seeing everything, but not dying from clutter.  It's a
state-of-the-art work environment.

	PageStream 2.22:  Since PageStream can be run on the Workbench, using
it in high resolutions is easy.  Suddenly, the page that one could see very
little of at NTSC-interlaced resolution with maximum overscan can be seen in
full and flicker-free at a size that is readable [at 1280x1024 resolution].
You can see two pages at the same time, readable.  The detail is incredible; a
Times outline font looks like Times, without jaggies that usually accompany
on-screen display; documents are displayed with great detail.  A page _looks_
like a page now.  This is a dream come true.

	excellence! 3.0:  excellence! is a typical example of programs that
are written for lower resolutions like high-res interlace:  when you open a
screen, the program is cramped into the upper left corner.  Now, excellence!
supports high-res, high-res interlace, productivity modes, and the 2024
mode.  I find there are two possibilities here: either run excellence! in
PAL full overscan, 724x566, but with a high refresh rate (76Hz) and have a
rock-steady display but at relatively low resolution.  Or use the 2024 mode
and either run it on 1280x1024 or make your own monitor file that is closer
to the 1008x1008 of the PAL 2024 resolution, flicker-free as well.  However,
since excellence! -- solid word processing as it otherwise provides -- does
not allow you to scale your page, things get small in the second case.  I had
excellence! set up to use LetterGothic at 13 points as the default font,
which means that, together with Post and PostDJ, I can generate and print
out Postscript files without having to change any of the page parameters.
But you can also use the four Postscript fonts included with excellence!.
They sort of "fake" Display Postscript, I gather, and they require a pitch
of 15.  On a normally sized PAL screen, you don't see more than two thirds of
the page, but in the 2024 mode you do.  Of course, you lose colours in this
mode, since the 2024 mode is limited to four.  It's a trade-off; philosophy
deals with universals, not particulars; and as universals are colourless,
I'd rather have more detail than more colours.

	DPaint II:  Much to my surprise, DPaint II runs on the Retina;
however, it cannot take advantage of the higher screen resolutions.  640x400
is the limit.  But, you can run it in 32-colour mode in low-res interlace,
or 640x400 in 16 colours, always at a 76Hz refresh rate, which is
rock-steady.  I have noticed that the "fill" tool no longer works; but it
was buggy even on the native Amiga display and sometimes caused DPaint to
freeze.  But not working and usually working are two different things.

VDPAINT
	I cannot say much about this program, but give my first
impressions.  It looks very powerful and has all the standard tools and then
some.  Instead of a toolbar, it has sort of a toolbox that pops up on your
screen, which you can close or leave open after you've selected your weapon.
VDPaint usually sells for about DM 800,- and the results you can produce
with it are stunning; I have taken some 24-bit JPEG pictures and played with
them.  24-bit colour at 1024x768 is like a photograph.  Brilliant quality.
I've actually sat down in front of the TV after working with VDPaint,
suddenly thinking to myself "Gosh, that's blurry!"  One nifty feature is the
little preview window in the file requester with depicts a miniature version
of your picture with some file formats.  Maybe somebody more knowledgeable
can review this program and give it the credit it deserves.

	Other programs tested:  Snap 1.62, MagicMenu, TinyClock, and
TPP (Text Plus Professional, a TeX front-end) all run.  In fact, I have
not yet encountered a program that doesn't run.  The only program I found
that caused some problems was 'Liner, a shareware outline program I had lying
around.  It produced a "Retina Alert" which looks much like a AmigaDOS
alert, except it's in green, not red.  The alert told me to switch to an
Amiga output to see an Intuition alert and returned to the Workbench
emulation screen afterwards, so I suspect the problem is that 'Liner
misbehaved, but not in a way specific to the Retina.  Even on the native
Amiga display, 'Liner gets messed up with different font sizes and produces
Enforcer hits, if I remember correctly.

	Things like your pointer preferences make for some comic relief the
first time you run them.  How much space does a 320x200 screen (the pointer
preference program's screen resolution) take up on a 1024x768 screen? Not
much!  For all later runs you can set the resolution in RetinaEmu, though, so
that you can have your low-res screen back.

	Since the Retina can run Harlequin-specific programs, I'd be
interested to hear from someone who actually does it.

DOCUMENTATION, LIKES AND DISLIKES

	The card itself delivers excellent performance at a good price.  My
only gripes are with the install script and the documentation.

	The documentation is very good for someone who already has some
grasp of the fundamental concepts in the graphics card business.  I don't,
and I found it quite difficult to find my way round the first time, since
you have to do this and that and you don't really know why.  When things
don't work out -- the install script is just one instance -- you're in
trouble.  The second day I had the Retina, I powered up my Amiga in the
morning -- and nothing appeared on the screen after it finished booting.  So
I had to get the second monitor again and go trouble-shooting.  There wasn't
much in the manual.  It turns out that for some really _bizarre_ reason,
RetinaEmu tried to re-direct a screen called "Workbench" onto the Retina,
which worked the first day I had it.  After _hours_ of fiddling,
desperation, frustration, and an increasingly strong headache, I found out
that I have to enter "Amiga Workbench" for the screen name to re-direct the
Workbench output to.  (It pays to read screen titles 8-).)  Since then, the
Workbench emulation has worked flawlessly, but I don't want to be in the
shoes of someone who has even less knowledge about the inner workings of the
Amiga than I do.

	The manual does not give you the full technical specifications of
the card.  I think it has an advanced VGA chip with a pixel clock of up to
90MHz.  It does state that the card has some BitBlit logic on-board, though,
which I take to be something like a blitter.

	Finally, since the card is now available through a North American
distributor, there must be an English manual available.  In case I haven't
mentioned it yet, all documentation I received is in German, though the
programs that come with the Retina are localized/multilingual.  That's fine
with me, but then not everyone reads weird Austrian philosophers for a
living....

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	- Domino; simple VGA card with Zorro II adapter card.  Slow.

	- Merlin; similar specifications, but apparently with Zorro III
	support.  This card is vapourware still, and the one time I called
	the company about the Domino, they were quite rude.  I took my
	business elsewhere in the end, and I haven't regretted it.

	- Picasso II; not much information here.  Vapourware still, from what
	I can tell, although some people report having seen one on shows.
	Possible 1MB on-board RAM limit.

BUGS

	None found.  One behavior that is a feature and not a bug is the
effect of running KCommodity and working with VDPaint whilst leaving the
screen blanker option of KCommodity on.  Since VDPaint seems to avoid the
Workbench emulation and run on the card directly, inputs under VDPaint don't
seem to count for KCommodity.  So your screen blanks.  But since you can't
hit a key or move the mouse that would "un-blank" your screen, you're sort
of stuck.  I have managed to switch back to the Workbench screen, but
without a mouse pointer.  Included with the Retina is RetinaComm, though,
which resolves that problem (my Trashcan is getting fuller).

VENDOR SUPPORT

	No experience; so far, I have been able to resolve all the problems I
encountered.  Once set up, the Retina is virtually maintenance free.  Rudolf
Neuhaus has been in touch with the programmer at MacroSystem who seems to
be very helpful.

WARRANTY

	I have not found anything in the manual about a warranty.  I think
this may be because German law requires some basic warranty to be offered;
for example, six months or so.  Wer weiss mehr?

CONCLUSIONS

	Buy one!  This is an excellent deal for an excellent card.  And get a
big monitor, too.  The Retina allows you to enter the realm of
workstation-level display quality _now_ with a reliable Workbench emulation
and free-but-fully-functional 24-bit paint program -- at a very reasonable
price.  It integrates fully into your normal work environment, once it is
installed.  The software makes the Workbench emulation setup for your
applications painless (after you've installed the Retina emulation itself);
all they need to do now is to provide a manual more aimed the beginner and
get rid of that install script problem.  An advanced user will find the
current manual quite satisfactory, I think.

	The Retina represents a new breed of Amiga display card which is
guaranteed to become much more important, once the fabulous RTG makes it
into broad daylight.  The Retina deserves highest marks for its resolution
and colour capabilities, outstandingly well-done Workbench emulation, speed,
and availability.  A Retina-equipped Amiga is a competitive workhorse.

	[Writing this review has had one positive side for me also; after
all the experimentation I did with settings to get straight about the
workings of the Retina emulation, I have settled for a new screen
resolution; 1280x1024 @ 87Hz interlaced; the whole screen is virtually
flicker-free and I get even more space!  Once you get this feeling of having
lots of space to work on, sitting down at a 14" monitor running a 600x400
screen makes you feel almost claustrophobic!  Freedom is addictive.]

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1993 Nikolaj Peddie-Richers.  All rights reserved.

	PROVISO:  by submission to comp.sys.amiga.reviews, permission is
granted to redistribute this review, provided that it is not done for
profit; for example, not in a publication of the IDP Communication
Publication Group.  If you wish to include this review in any commercial
publication, written permission of the author is required.  Furthermore, no
part of this review may be altered without permission of the author under any
circumstances.

	All copyrights and registered trademarks of products mentioned in
this review are acknowledged.  No copyright infringement is intended.

---

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