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Vintage-Computer.com: The Videogame!
- Thread starter atari2600a
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patscc
Veteran Member
Dr. Who
Dr. Who
patscc
Dr. Who
Unfortunately, he won't be doing it anymore. Boo.
patscc
patscc
Veteran Member
Monochrome monitors
Monochrome monitors
Nice, clear text, though. It wasn't until the Hercules came out that you could get decent monochrome graphics on the IBM. (Maybe there was some earlier third-party stuff, but I don't know of any)
I remember occasionally running into an application that would just look awful, for whatever reason, on a color monitor, so it was sometimes real nice to switch it to monochrome.
Also, in a dark environment, amber ( or even red ) is easier on the eyes.
I always thought, that the amber switch on a color monitor was a cheat, since you're using multiple guns. With the green you can turn the other two guns off.
patscc
Monochrome monitors
On the original IBM MDA, the only thing you could do was paste together ASCII blocks.
Nice, clear text, though. It wasn't until the Hercules came out that you could get decent monochrome graphics on the IBM. (Maybe there was some earlier third-party stuff, but I don't know of any)
I remember occasionally running into an application that would just look awful, for whatever reason, on a color monitor, so it was sometimes real nice to switch it to monochrome.
Also, in a dark environment, amber ( or even red ) is easier on the eyes.
I always thought, that the amber switch on a color monitor was a cheat, since you're using multiple guns. With the green you can turn the other two guns off.
patscc
CP/M User
Veteran Member
patscc wrote:
On the original IBM MDA, the only thing you could do was paste together ASCII blocks.
Yes that's the text-based way of making graphic like representations on a MDA. Though someone told me about a specific program which produced true like graphics on that display - even though it isn't usually possible. All they told me was the program was written in C and they couldn't understand how the program worked (they made it sound very technical!). Unfortunately they didn't know the name of the program and I've never found such a program. I suspect the program is Public Domain or was freely distributed through of one those clubs which distributed software.
Perhaps it maybe possible of producing graphic like figures simply using text - I made such a program and posted it here Last year - though in order for a MDA display to support such a program it would have to redefine the character set and allow transparent graphics. I'm unsure though if that's possible using that kind of hardware though. Someone told me it was impossible to redefine graphics using a CGA display, however I've actually seen that being done as well!
Nice, clear text, though. It wasn't until the Hercules came out that you could get decent monochrome graphics on the IBM. (Maybe there was some earlier third-party stuff, but I don't know of any)
What the person told me about this program which did graphics on a MDA was it was specifically written to do just that - all within that program, so there's no drivers or standard way of producing graphics using that display. I'm fairly familiar with the Hercules graphics card which does monochrome graphics at quite a high resolution - though usually when someone tells me of a program which did graphics on a true Monochrome card - I tend to believe them! :-D
I remember occasionally running into an application that would just look awful, for whatever reason, on a color monitor, so it was sometimes real nice to switch it to monochrome.
Perhaps the application you were running wasn't mean't for a colour monitor?
Also, in a dark environment, amber ( or even red ) is easier on the eyes.
I always thought, that the amber switch on a color monitor was a cheat, since you're using multiple guns. With the green you can turn the other two guns off.
That puzzles me - since what I was reading about Green Screens and why they were made was generally in line with working with Green Screens in an office environment all connected with how easy they are to look at. Though if people have a preference to Amber, then all I can suggest is different people respond differently to those different monitors. Generally in an office though you wouldn't be using them in a dark environment. However with my Amstrad computers the only option besides colour was a green screen. So amber screens were made I believe. The popular PCW range of business computers Amstrad made I believe were only Green Screens as well - I'm not sure if there was B&W or Amber screens made for those machines either. The mystery continues! :-D
On the original IBM MDA, the only thing you could do was paste together ASCII blocks.
Yes that's the text-based way of making graphic like representations on a MDA. Though someone told me about a specific program which produced true like graphics on that display - even though it isn't usually possible. All they told me was the program was written in C and they couldn't understand how the program worked (they made it sound very technical!). Unfortunately they didn't know the name of the program and I've never found such a program. I suspect the program is Public Domain or was freely distributed through of one those clubs which distributed software.
Perhaps it maybe possible of producing graphic like figures simply using text - I made such a program and posted it here Last year - though in order for a MDA display to support such a program it would have to redefine the character set and allow transparent graphics. I'm unsure though if that's possible using that kind of hardware though. Someone told me it was impossible to redefine graphics using a CGA display, however I've actually seen that being done as well!
Nice, clear text, though. It wasn't until the Hercules came out that you could get decent monochrome graphics on the IBM. (Maybe there was some earlier third-party stuff, but I don't know of any)
What the person told me about this program which did graphics on a MDA was it was specifically written to do just that - all within that program, so there's no drivers or standard way of producing graphics using that display. I'm fairly familiar with the Hercules graphics card which does monochrome graphics at quite a high resolution - though usually when someone tells me of a program which did graphics on a true Monochrome card - I tend to believe them! :-D
I remember occasionally running into an application that would just look awful, for whatever reason, on a color monitor, so it was sometimes real nice to switch it to monochrome.
Perhaps the application you were running wasn't mean't for a colour monitor?
Also, in a dark environment, amber ( or even red ) is easier on the eyes.
I always thought, that the amber switch on a color monitor was a cheat, since you're using multiple guns. With the green you can turn the other two guns off.
That puzzles me - since what I was reading about Green Screens and why they were made was generally in line with working with Green Screens in an office environment all connected with how easy they are to look at. Though if people have a preference to Amber, then all I can suggest is different people respond differently to those different monitors. Generally in an office though you wouldn't be using them in a dark environment. However with my Amstrad computers the only option besides colour was a green screen. So amber screens were made I believe. The popular PCW range of business computers Amstrad made I believe were only Green Screens as well - I'm not sure if there was B&W or Amber screens made for those machines either. The mystery continues! :-D
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
As I recall the story, the green/amber screens are s'posed to be easier on the eyes/other organs than the pure B&W or color, because of lower emissions of harmful radiation. Of course this advantage is lost when using a color monitor in single-color mode, it was done just done for those folks who are more comfortable working with a monochromatic display, while the radiation level is still equal to that of a color display.
--T
--T
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
By the way, whatever happened to Jordan? Anyone heard from him lately?
--T
--T
CP/M User
Veteran Member
Terry Yager wrote:
As I recall the story, the green/amber screens are s'posed to be easier on the eyes/other organs than the pure B&W or color, because of lower emissions of harmful radiation. Of course this advantage is lost when using a color monitor in single-color mode, it was done just done for those folks who are more comfortable working with a monochromatic display, while the radiation level is still equal to that of a color display.
Is that all to do with putting the back of your hand against the screen and all the hairs stand up? I remember the old Green Screen from my Amstrad doing that! I've got another green screen with my slightly newer Amstrad, though it's not a standard Amstrad monitor and it's got a clear sheet of plastic on the outer surface!
As I recall the story, the green/amber screens are s'posed to be easier on the eyes/other organs than the pure B&W or color, because of lower emissions of harmful radiation. Of course this advantage is lost when using a color monitor in single-color mode, it was done just done for those folks who are more comfortable working with a monochromatic display, while the radiation level is still equal to that of a color display.
Is that all to do with putting the back of your hand against the screen and all the hairs stand up? I remember the old Green Screen from my Amstrad doing that! I've got another green screen with my slightly newer Amstrad, though it's not a standard Amstrad monitor and it's got a clear sheet of plastic on the outer surface!
CP/M User
Veteran Member
patscc wrote:
Unfortunately, he won't be doing it anymore. Boo.
Yeah!! :-D
Unfortunately, he won't be doing it anymore. Boo.
Yeah!! :-D