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ATI small wonder CGA question and no color composite

oblivion

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Aug 28, 2010
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I have a few questions about the ATI small wonder CGA card.

first off I have a version 1 and 2 and both have the same "issues". The cards seem to work just fine in CGA mode in almost circumstances and look correct with the exception of BurgerTime which in CGA mode looks very odd. I could only find one image on the net that looks the same as what i'm getting and it's here
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...cga&simid=608015149271613453&selectedIndex=37

Is the game supposed to look like this? I just assumed it would use the default magenta/cyan/black/white scheme which in this case may actually hurt my eyes less.

second issue is no matter how I set the switches I can not get either card to output color composite, only mono. I know these cards are capable of it. I have switch 1 set to off and the other set to on which should work but doesn't. other switch combinations have also not worked for me. any ideas or something I've overlooked? I originally thought maybe it was the copy of Burger Time itself and it maybe it was a later version that removed support for color composite but when I tried MS Flight Simulator 2 in color composite mode it also only displayed in B/W.
 
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...cga&simid=608015149271613453&selectedIndex=37

Is the game supposed to look like this? I just assumed it would use the default magenta/cyan/black/white scheme which in this case may actually hurt my eyes less.
That's exactly how it's supposed to look on *RGB* CGA displays: http://www.mobygames.com/game/pc-booter/burgertime/screenshots (note the labels under the thumbnails).

Any other expectations I could only blame on screenshots/videos made by people who misconfigure their emulators, or assume that their VGA-era memories must hold true for CGA in all cases. Not criticizing you personally, mind you... unfortunately such mistakes are easy to make when even the esteemed preservationists of history at the Internet Archive can't be bothered to get it right. :(
 
The incorrect images at mobygames were submitted by... ME, gasp! Submitted 19 years ago, when we were getting mobygames off the ground, and the only way to capture pixel-level images accurately was by using Flopper which had limitations. Any Burgertime image with a black background is wrong. I should submit a correction.

Viler is right -- the blue background image is correct when selecting RGB to play on an RGB TTL monitor.
 
thanks for clearing up the burger time portion of the question.....I feel stupid asking this but are all CGA monitors RGB monitors? I know the Tandy CM-4 I'm using can do 16 colors at once because it can do Tandy graphics but there aren't any CGA only monitors correct? I did try playing Burger Time on a Later PC and on a VGA monitor and got the Cyan/Magenta/Black/white color scheme which I have to say I prefer in this instance.
 
I feel stupid asking this but are all CGA monitors RGB monitors?
In common parlance, a "CGA monitor" is a 15 kHz color monitor with a digital RGBI video input. 15 kHz means it supports a maximum resolution of 640x200 or thereabouts. The intensity pin (the I in RGBI) allows a total of 16 colors to be displayed, although most CGA graphics modes don't allow all 16 colors to be displayed on the screen simultaneously.

These monitors also support other video standards that conform to the CGA video signal specifications but allow up to all 16 colors to be displayed simultaneously in graphics mode, such as Tandy 1000s, ATI/Plantronics, EGA's 320x200 and 640x200 graphics modes, the Commodore 128's 80-column mode, or even the Amiga's rarely-used digital RGBI video output.

You can also display CGA video on a monochrome or color monitor with a composite video input, but it's not common to refer to these as "CGA monitors" because they can be used with a wide variety of computers, video game consoles, or home video equipment (VCRs, DVD players, etc.), not just CGA.
 
The incorrect images at mobygames were submitted by... ME, gasp! Submitted 19 years ago, when we were getting mobygames off the ground, and the only way to capture pixel-level images accurately was by using Flopper which had limitations.
LOL, I didn't even look! Well, you obviously get a pass because without your efforts the *correct* images couldn't have been put there afterwards. :)
Flopper was indeed a godsend for its time. *Tips hat to hargle*
 
In common parlance, a "CGA monitor" is a 15 kHz color monitor with a digital RGBI video input. 15 kHz means it supports a maximum resolution of 640x200 or thereabouts. The intensity pin (the I in RGBI) allows a total of 16 colors to be displayed, although most CGA graphics modes don't allow all 16 colors to be displayed on the screen simultaneously.

These monitors also support other video standards that conform to the CGA video signal specifications but allow up to all 16 colors to be displayed simultaneously in graphics mode, such as Tandy 1000s, ATI/Plantronics, EGA's 320x200 and 640x200 graphics modes, the Commodore 128's 80-column mode, or even the Amiga's rarely-used digital RGBI video output.

You can also display CGA video on a monochrome or color monitor with a composite video input, but it's not common to refer to these as "CGA monitors" because they can be used with a wide variety of computers, video game consoles, or home video equipment (VCRs, DVD players, etc.), not just CGA.

Thank you for that detailed explanation. cleared things up for me.
 
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