SPECTRA Advanced Graphics

[Fruitcake]

No, I'm just fed up of people repeating stuff they've heard about ULAplus without bothering to check the facts.

I am annoyed about the misinformation that goes around about ULAplus

I understand your annoyance. It's like this statement:

Paul himself has said he has no intention of making a 128 version.

which is completely untrue as I have always stated that I would be interested to make a 128 compatible version if there was sufficient demand.

SPECTRA will only ever work on the 48K machine

The hardware design of the SPECTRA is incompatible with the 128s

I know that 128K has no Y on the bus, and no Composite video, but why not take the signals from RGB Socket? SPECTRA for 128 is not impossible.

The design isn't incompatible; the implementation is. Obtaining the Y signal from the RGB socket is viable (tried it).

I certainly wouldn't want to deter anyone from coding for SPECTRA

I'm not hostile to SPECTRA

Its extended colour scheme is worse than ULAplus in every single respect.

Personally I think SPECTRA is a dead end and I wouldn't waste time developing for it.

Oh, Ok...

SPECTRA is a SCART interface.

That' like saying, Multiface one is a Composite Video or Kempston Joystick Interface.

Yes SPECTRA is a SCART interface, but it just happens to provide the following as well:

• RGB SCART connectivity (with all necessary signalling voltages)
  
• Sound output via SCART
  
• Additional colours and colour resolutions (32 modes in total)
  
• Additional border colours and effects
  
• Screen buffering to avoid flicker (double screen buffers)
  
• ZX Interface 1 compatible RS232 socket
  
• Kempston compatible joystick socket
  
• Optional onboard EPROM facility
  
• Optional ZX Interface 2 compatible ROM cartridge socket
  
• ZX Interface 1 compatible ROM paging mechanism for use with the ROM facilities
  
• Reset button
  
• Full width rear expansion bus with gold plated connections
  
• Configuration switches to ensure full I/O compatible with all existing Spectrum devices

So ULA+ has 4x1 Attributes mode too?

No, because that mode takes too much RAM and too much CPU to make much use of.

Too much RAM for what application? Too much CPU for what functionality? So even for a graphics editor or a word processor it wouldn't be useful? Too much for a game perhaps? Then use the 4x2, or the 4x4, or the 4x8, or 8x4, or the 8x2, or the 8x1, all either using standard colours or the enhanced colour palette. An application can pick its preferred trade off between number of colours, colour resolution and RAM usage.

People haven't even begun to scrape the surface of what's possible with ULAplus. For instance 24 color backdrops with no CPU overhead, palette cycling, and I'm sure there are others

I know what you mean. For instance, the double screen buffer mechanism of the SPECTRA interface allows a simple interrupt routine (consisting of little more than an OUT instruction) to toggle between the two screens every frame and when used on an LCD/LED TV (which most are these days) can produce a 512 line display in any of the new display modes with very little CPU effort. And of course a CPU routine could be used to switch between the display modes midway through each TV frame to generate a hybrid mode display. And the ROM facilities coupled with the ZX Interface 1 compatible paging mechanism provide a convenient persistent way to extend BASIC, allowing the potential for new BASIC commands to control all of the enhanced display modes (some can already be controlled using standard BASIC).

SPECTRA really doesn't support existing software without a rewrite

SPECTRA supports all existing software to reproduce them in their original colours in clarity not generally seen from a 48K Spectrum. It will not recolour existing games if that is what you meant but did not actually write.

And I want to improve the number count of Spectrum software that is using SPECTRA. This does not mean that I will not support ULA+ in the future too.

If people want to support the SPECTRA modes then great. If people want to support the ULA+ modes then great also. They are free to choose whichever approach works best for them.

Miguel had to turn the color and brightness up on the television while making his SPECTRA video for YouTube so you could actually see the difference.

Well at least he could connect his Spectrum up to a TV via SCART using real hardware...

How many Timex Software tilles are using Hires colour mode, apart from some demos?

More than there are SPECTRA titles.

Nice dodge of the question there.

The problem is that even after you deliver new hardware, it's insanely difficult to get anyone to write anything to support it.

Indeed. I wonder if it helps having people go out of their way to belittle new interfaces?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a Windows based emulator to support it.

And in the worst case I can thake the code of VBSpec and port it to PureBASIC (which is faster than VB), and add the SPECTRA modes myself.

And then there is always the Windows based emulator with SPECTRA support I have been designing... (well if you want something done, do it yourself I say)

I am sorry that people have been waiting for it for so long, but that's not something I had any control over

Well you could do what I did and learn the necessary technologies, put a lot of time and effort in and be prepared to spend a fair amount of money on the development and production costs...