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[Previous](31-05.html) [Table of Contents](index.html) [Next](32-02.html)
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Chapter 32\
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Be It Resolved: 360x480 {#Heading1}
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------------------------
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### Taking 256-Color Modes About as Far as the Standard VGA Can Take Them {#Heading2}
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In the last chapter, we learned how to coax 320x400 256-color resolution
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out of a standard VGA. At the time, I noted that the VGA was actually
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capable of supporting 256-color resolutions as high as 360x480, but
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didn’t pursue the topic further, preferring to concentrate on the
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versatile and easy-to-set 320x400 256-color mode instead.
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Some time back I was sent a particularly useful item from John Bridges,
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a longtime correspondent and an excellent programmer. It was a complete
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mode set routine for 360x480 256-color mode that he has placed into the
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public domain. In addition, John wrote, “I also have a couple of
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freeware (free, but not public domain) utilities out there, including
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PICEM, which displays PIC, PCX, and GIF images not only in 360x480x256
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but also in 640x350x256, 640x400x256, 640x480x256, and 800x600x256 on
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SuperVGAs.”
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In this chapter, I’m going to combine John’s mode set code with
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appropriately modified versions of the dot-plot code from Chapter 31 and
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the line-drawing code that we’ll develop in Chapter 35. Together, those
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routines will make a pretty nifty demo of the capabilities of 360x480
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256-color mode.
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### Extended 256-Color Modes: What’s Not to Like? {#Heading3}
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When last we left 256-color programming, we had found that the standard
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256-color mode, mode 13H, which officially offers 320x200 resolution,
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actually displays 400, not 200, scan lines, with line-doubling used to
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reduce the effective resolution to 320x200. By tweaking a few of the
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VGA’s mode registers, we converted mode 13H to a true 320x400 256-color
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mode. As an added bonus, that 320x400 mode supports two graphics pages,
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a distinct improvement over the single graphics page supported by mode
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13H. (We also learned how to get *four* graphics pages at 320x200
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resolution, should that be needed.)
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I particularly like 320x400 256-color mode for two reasons: It supports
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two-page graphics, which is very important for animation applications;
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and it doesn’t require changing any of the monitor timing
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characteristics of the VGA. The mode bits that we changed to produce
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320x400 256-color mode are pretty much guaranteed to be the same from
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one VGA to another, but the monitor-oriented registers are less certain
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to be constant, especially for VGAs that provide special support for the
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extended capabilities of various multiscanning monitors.
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All in all, those are good arguments for 320x400 256-color mode.
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However, the counter-argument seems compelling as well—nothing beats
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higher resolution for producing striking graphics. Given that, and given
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that John Bridges was kind enough to make his mode set code available,
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I’m going to look at 360x480 256mode next. However, bear in mind that
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the drawbacks of this mode are the flip side of the strengths of 320x400
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256-color mode: Only one graphics page, and direct setting of the
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monitorregisters. Also, this mode has a peculiar and unique aspect
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ratio, with 480 pixels (as many as high-resolution mode 12H) vertically
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and only 360 horizontally. That makes for fairly poor horizontal
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resolution and sometimes-jagged drawing; on the other hand, the
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resolution is better in both directions than in mode 13H, and mode 13H
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itself has an odd aspect ratio, so it seems a bit petty to complain.
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The single graphics page isn’t a drawback if you don’t need page
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flipping, of course, so there’s not much to worry about there: If you
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need page flipping, don’t use this mode. The direct setting of the
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monitor-oriented registers is another matter altogether.
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I don’t know how likely this code is to produce problems with clone VGAs
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in general; however, I did find that I had to put an older Video Seven
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VRAM VGA into “pure” mode—where it treats the VRAMs as DRAMs and exactly
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emulates a plain-vanilla IBM VGA—before 360x480 256-color mode would
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work properly. Now, that particular problem was due to an inherent
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characteristic of VRAMs, and shouldn’t occur on Video Seven’s Fastwrite
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adapter or any other VGA clone. Nonetheless, 360x480 256-color mode is a
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good deal different from any standard VGA mode, and while the code in
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this chapter runs perfectly well on all other VGAs in my experience, I
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can’t guarantee its functionality on any particular VGA/monitor
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combination, unlike 320x400 256-color mode. Mind you, 360x480 256-color
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mode *should* work on all VGAs—there are just too many variables
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involved for me to be certain. Feedback from readers with broad 360x480
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256-color experience is welcome.
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The above notwithstanding, 360x480 256-color mode offers 64 times as
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many colors and nearly three times as many pixels as IBM’s original CGA
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color graphics mode, making startlingly realistic effects possible. No
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mode of the VGA (at least no mode that I know of!), documented or
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undocumented, offers a better combination of resolution and color; even
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320x400 256-color mode has 26 percent fewer pixels.
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In other words, 360x480 256-color mode is worth considering—so let’s
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have a look.
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### 360x480 256-Color Mode {#Heading4}
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I’m going to start by showing you 360x480 256-color mode in action,
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after which we’ll look at how it works. I suspect that once you see what
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this mode looks like, you’ll be more than eager to learn how to use it.
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Listing 32.1 contains three C-callable assembly functions. As you would
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expect, **Set360x480Mode** places the VGA into 360x480 256mode.
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**Draw360x480Dot** draws a pixel of the specified color at the specified
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location. Finally, **Read360x480Dot** returns the color of the pixel at
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the specified location. (This last function isn’t actually used in the
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example program in this chapter, but is included for completeness.)
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Listing 32.2 contains an adaptation of some C linecode I’ll be
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presenting shortly in Chapter 35. If you’re reading this book in serial
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fashion and haven’t gotten there yet, simply take it on faith. If you
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really *really* need to know how the line-draw code works right *now*,
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by all means make a short forward call to Chapter 35 and digest it. The
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line-draw code presented below has been altered to select 360x480
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256-color mode, and to cycle through all 256 colors that this mode
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supports, drawing each line in a different color.
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------------------------ --------------------------------- --------------------
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[Previous](31-05.html) [Table of Contents](index.html) [Next](32-02.html)
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------------------------ --------------------------------- --------------------
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* * * * *
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Graphics Programming Black Book © 2001 Michael Abrash
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