From: kjohnson@castor.cs.uga.edu (Kristopher Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: The REAL Falcon specs wanted!
Keywords: Falcon specs.
Date: 31 Aug 92 19:47:19 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

Okay, here it comes...again!!!

 Atari Falcon 030 Specifications
 -------------------------------
 
 CPU: Motorola 68030 32-bit microprocessor @ 16MHz w/ 32-bit bus
 FPU: Motorola 68881/68882 @ 16MHz (optional)
 DSP: Motorola 56001 Digital Signal Processor running in parallel @ 32MHz 
         w/ 32kWords (24-bit) of local zero wait state static RAM
 ROM: 512kB
 RAM: 1, 4 or 16MB(14MB usable) on daughterboard (RAM is 32-bit wide)
 
 Expansion bus: Internal 'Processor-Direct' slot for 386SX emulation 
                (third party 386SX emulator nearly completed) or other 
                co-processors/etc.
 
 Video: (See below for specific video modes/resolutions.)
        16-bit BLiTTER @ 16MHz (also handles hard drive access)
        Accepts external video sync to allow high quality genlocking
        Overlay mode for easy video titling and special effects
        Overscan support
        Hardware-assisted horizontal fine scrolling
        VIDEL (video controller) sits on 32-bit bus
 
 Audio: Stereo 16-bit Analog-to-Digital DMA input
        Stereo 16-bit Digital-to-Analog DMA output
        Eight 16-bit audio DMA record/playback channels
        SDMA sound/DMA co-processor
        
 Ports: 128kB cartridge port
        2 9-pin mouse/joystick ports
        2 15-pin STe enhanced analog/digital controller ports (Atari also 
           has new analog controllers w/ a joystick, 3 fire buttons, and a 
           12-key keypad)
        MIDI IN, OUT/THRU
        Bi-directional parallel port
        RS232C serial port
        SCSI II w/ DMA
        Analog RGB/VGA/composite video connector
        Stereo headphone out (1/8" mini-jack)
        Stereo microphone in (1/8" mini-jack)
        DSP port (up to 1MHz data transfer rate)
        RF modulator for TV hookup
        Localtalk compatible LAN (up to 250kbaud transfer rate)
 
 Misc:  Internal 1.44MB 3.5" HD floppy
        Internal IDE 2.5" hard drive (optional)
        Pre-emptive mulitasking OS (MultiTOS) w/ adaptive prioritization 
           and inter-process communication (also 68040 compatible)
        Realtime clock and battery backed up RAM
        1040ST-style case w/ internal fan
        North American availability in mid-October
 
 Price: 1MB/no HD -  $799 list
        4MB/65MB  - $1399 list


     Resolutions available on the Atari Falcon030 (c) 1992 Atari Corp.
                         Written by John Townsend
 =========================================================================
 This document may be re-printed again and again as long as the Atari 
 copyright remains intact.
 =========================================================================

 A couple of notes: Unlike previous machines, there are just too many
 resolutions to give each resolution a name. Therefore, I will do my best
 to describe what the resolution is and which monitor it is on.

 - NOTE: TV and a Color Monitor are the same.. by Color Monitor, I am
   talking about the standard SC1224. By VGA, I mean a standard VGA
   Monitor.

 40 column modes ( "column" means the number of x pixels divided by 8)
 ---------------
    4 color, normal, TV:         320x200,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, normal, TV:         320x200,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, normal, TV:         320x200,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, TV:         320x200,  true color

    4 color, interlace, TV:      320x400,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, interlace, TV:      320x400,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, interlace, TV:      320x400,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, interlace, TV:      320x400,  true color

    4 color, normal, VGA:        320x480,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, normal, VGA:        320x480,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, normal, VGA:        320x480,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, VGA:        320x480,  true color

    4 color, line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,  true color

 80 column modes
 ---------------
    2 color, normal, TV:         640x200,    2 colors, 1 plane
    4 color, normal, TV:         640x200,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, normal, TV:         640x200,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, normal, TV:         640x200,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, TV:         640x200,  true color

    4 color, interlace, TV:      640x400,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, interlace, TV:      640x400,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, interlace, TV:      640x400,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, interlace, TV:      640x400,  true color

    2 color, normal, VGA:        640x480,    2 colors, 1 plane
    4 color, normal, VGA:        640x480,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, normal, VGA:        640x480,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, normal, VGA:        640x480,  256 colors, 8 planes

    4 color, line-doubling, VGA: 640x240,    4 colors, 2 planes
   16 color, line-doubling, VGA: 640x240,   16 colors, 4 planes
  256 color, line-doubling, VGA: 640x240,  256 colors, 8 planes

and lastly.. there are compability modes for ST Low, ST Medium, and ST 
High on both VGA monitors and SC1224 monitors. (On a color monitor, ST 
High is achieved by using the interlace mode).

Also, the ST Monochrome monitor (the SM124) will work with Falcon030 as 
well. However, it only supports one resolution: ST High Resolution.

All modes on a TV can be overscanned. This means multiplying the X and Y
resolution by 1.2. For example, modes with 320 pixels of horizontal 
resolution (X res) will become 384 pixels across, and modes with 640 
pixels will become 768 across. Overscanning is done in the X and Y 
resolution. You can't do them independently. Special Note: On a VGA 
monitor, overscan is "faked".. since the video hardware doesn't have the 
capability to do overscan on a VGA monitor, we made it so that if a 
overscan mode is set on a VGA monitor, you still see the normal size 
screen, but the screen is a window onto the bigger overscanned image. 
Make sense? We did this for compatibility. This way if a game that has an 
overscanned starup picture can use the same pic on both the VGA monitor 
and the TV monitor. Pretty cool, eh? <grin>

BTW.. Overscan can NOT be set from the desktop. The AES and Desktop will 
work just fine with it, but because you can't see the parts of the 
screen, we thought that that option shouldn't be available from the 
desktop. We don't want to confuse people. However, Overscan can be set 
using a new XBIOS call (Vsetmode()).. so it is still available.

I hope I haven't made any mistakes. I triple-checked this document in 
search of errors and I couldn't find any. If you do find some, send me 
Email on GEnie (to TOWNS) or CIS (70007,1135) and let me know.

-- John Townsend, Atari Corp.

P.S. Anyone who would like to reprint this message, please do so!
     The smaller the number of times I have to type that message, the
     more my fingers with thank you! ;-)

     After looking at this one more time.. one point to clear up: By
     saying SC1224 Color Monitor, I mean any Color Monitor that Atari
     have manufactured for the ST/Mega/STE/MegaSTE computers. Clear
     as mud? ;-)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st