Just released.

PTDQ is a video system for AGA Amigas that provides a chunky-to-planar method which is faster than the traditional ones. It is the higher-quality brother of PTDS (formerly PED81C), another system based on the same core principle.

                          SIMPLIFIED COMPARISON CHART
----------------+------------+----------------+--------------+---------+------
                | horizontal | maximum number | color choice | visual  |
         system | resolution |      of colors | freedom      | quality | speed
----------------+------------+----------------+--------------+---------+------
           PTDQ | full       |            256 | **           | **      | **
           PTDS | half       |             81 | *            | *       | ***
traditional C2P | full       |            256 | ***          | ***     | *

          C2P PERFORMANCE COMPARISON SUMMARY
---------+---------+------------------+---------------
         |         | C2P conversions  | C2P conversion
 machine | routine | per second       | time (frames)
 --------+---------+------------------+---------------
 A1200   | PTDQ    | 12.670  (+2.493) | 3.946 (-0.966)
         | K030    | 10.177           | 4.912
 --------+---------+------------------+---------------
 A1200B  | PTDQ    | 50.098 (+13.425) | 0.998 (-0.365)
         | K030    | 36.673           | 1.363
 --------+---------+------------------+---------------
 A1200PS | PTDQ    | 86.340 (+12.494) | 0.579 (-0.098)
         | K040    | 73.846           | 0.677
 --------+---------+------------------+---------------
 A1200TF | PTDQ    | 67.689  (+4.699) | 0.738 (-0.055)
         | K040    | 62.990           | 0.793
 --------+---------+------------------+---------------
 A4000CS | PTDQ    | 72.690  (+7.614) | 0.687 (-0.081)
         | K040    | 65.076           | 0.768

A1200:   Amiga 1200
A1200B:  Amiga 1200, Blizzard 1230 IV, 68030 @ 50 MHz, 60 ns RAM
A1200PS: Amiga 1200, PiStorm32-lite, Raspberry Pi CM4, firmware v1.04
A1200TF: Amiga 1200, TerribleFire TF1260, 68060 @ 50 MHz, firmware 68090
A4000CS: Amiga 4000, NTSC PAL-jumpered, CyberStorm MK III, 68060 @ 50 MHz

PTDQ = PTDQ_DoC2P()
K030/K040 = Kalms c2p1x1_8_c5_030_2() / c2p1x1_8_c5_040()

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

Cool, always nice to see new innovation in this area :)

@NovaCoder

Thanks! In general, trying to make something new is one of my main motivators.

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

This video shows the Amiga AGA chipset combining 3 full screen 8-bit layers (or playfields, if you prefer) using various 8-bit alpha values.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YBfCrU0aK0


LAYERS

Background:
* PTDQ system
* 320x200 dots
* max 256 colors

Middleground:
* PTDS system
* 160x200 logical dots, 319x200 physical dots
* max 16 non-transparent colors
* each base color can have an arbitrary 8-bit alpha (actually used: 0 for complete transparency, 128 for dark colors, 255 for bright colors)
* "native" chunky dots (i.e. each byte in the layer buffer corresponds to a dot)
* triple buffer

Foreground:
* PTDQ system
* 320x200 dots
* max 81 non-transparent colors
* each base color can have an arbitrary 8-bit alpha (actually used: 0 for complete transparency, 192 for see-through graphics, 255 for solid graphics)


NOTES

* The color model is RGBW for all the layers, but each layer could use a color model of its own without making any difference performance-wise.
* If the middleground had used PTDQ, its size would have been 320x200 dots and its maximum number of non-transparent colors would have been 81. However, that would have required the PTDQ C2P conversion.
* If the middleground did not use 100% transparent dots, its maximum number of colors would have been 81.
* If the foreground did not use 100% transparent dots, its maximum number of colors would have been 256.
* The display size is actually 319x200 dots to hide the leftmost column of dots, as PTDS requires a 1-dot shift to the right for the even bitplanes.
* The ball is rendered by scaling and flipping in real time a 128x128 chunky bitmap.
* The ball is wiped by means of both CPU and Blitter. The logic that handles the geometry still needs to be refined in order to provide a massive speedup.
* For convenience, the video has been recorded with WinUAE.
* On a stock Amiga 1200, the demo runs at 50 fps except when the ball covers most of the screen (in that case, the frame rate drops proportionally to the size of the ball); the slowdowns will be greatly reduced once the wiping is optimized.
* On an accelerated Amiga, the demo runs at steady 50 fps.
* YouTube's encoding reduced the saturation of colors.


CREDITS

The graphics have been obtained by processing the following pictures:
* boing ball: from OBLIGEMENT / http://obligement.free.fr/gfx4/boingball_enregistree_amigacorporation.png
* Earth: from https://cronianverse.fandom.com/wiki/Earth
* plate: from Freepik / https://www.freepik.com/premium-ai-image/steampunk-frame-brass-metal-plate-with-empty-sheet-design-white-background_277147660.htm
* porthole: by winwood1, from Wallpapers.com / https://wallpapers.com/png/round-porthole-window-png-05042024-zmsra0nm6gp8hvuv.html

Last edited by saimo on 16-Sep-2025 at 07:48 AM.
Last edited by saimo on 16-Sep-2025 at 07:45 AM.
Last edited by saimo on 16-Sep-2025 at 07:45 AM.

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Friend Saimo,

the absence of comments, not to mention commendations to such posts,
says everything there is still possibly to say about this Amiga World of ours that David Doyle originally founded.

And when he did, talented, relentlessly enthusiastic friend Saimo,
back when David Doyle founded it,
reactions (LIBRARY PUN NOT INTENDED!!!) would have been oh so different.

Vultures still had to tear apart that comatose Amiga body,
Vampires still had to enthrall the poor simpletons of the internet fora,
Renfields, lackeys of the Count Dickinsons of this world, still had to appear,
Cdimauro still had hair and an almost human appearance.

Reactions would have been oh so different,
the masses would have carried you in triumph.

But now,

now just accept this gnarled hand's handshake,
and my heartfelt congratulations for not just pushing the limits of those chipset as aging as this poor heart of mine, but baking it all as reusable code, too.. instead of one of those fancy but ultimately self-serving """"demos""""".

SUCCESS TO YOU FRIEND SAIMO!
Success.







/mega..

_________________
I HAVE ABS OF STEEL
--
CAN YOU SEE ME? CAN YOU HEAR ME? OK FOR WORK

@MEGA_RJ_MICAL

Quote:

Friend Saimo, the absence of comments, not to mention commendations to such posts, says everything there is still possibly to say about this Amiga World of ours that David Doyle originally founded. And when he did, talented, relentlessly enthusiastic friend Saimo, back when David Doyle founded it, reactions (LIBRARY PUN NOT INTENDED!!!) would have been oh so different.

There's truth in what you say, but there's also the fact that my stuff - quite simply - isn't popular.

Quote:

But now, now just accept this gnarled hand's handshake, and my heartfelt congratulations for not just pushing the limits of those chipset as aging as this poor heart of mine, but baking it all as reusable code, too.. instead of one of those fancy but ultimately self-serving """"demos""""". SUCCESS TO YOU FRIEND SAIMO! Success.

I'm glad you appreciate my work, thank you!
But I love demos (and also made a couple) and they have their usefulness beyond entertaiment, too

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

it is assembler code?

@OlafS25

Yes.

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

buy graphics card
forgot AGA
if you really want to use chipset
use good old Amiga 500 with OCS with 68000 7 MHz 0.5 MB CHIP 0.5 MB SLOW RAM

@ppcamiga1

not everyone needs to be lectured by you what he should do

quote]
ppcamiga1 wrote:
buy graphics card
forgot AGA
if you really want to use chipset
use good old Amiga 500 with OCS with 68000 7 MHz 0.5 MB CHIP 0.5 MB SLOW RAM
[/quote]

please, friend ppcamiga1,
shut the fuck up, miserable human filth.
you have no right to speech, here:
you are uncapable of writing code,
you are uncapable of writing in English,
you are unwanted and unwelcome.
silence.

ProszÄ™, przyjacielu ppcamiga1,
zamknij się, nędzny ludzki śmieciu.
Nie masz prawa głosu:
nie potrafisz pisać kodu,
nie potrafisz pisać po angielsku,
jesteÅ› niechciany i niemile widziany.
cisza.

POMERANIAN CORRIDOR OH POMERANIAN CORRIDOR WHY DID YOU HAVE TO CLOSE UP SO YOUNG

ps. once again great work Saimo,
don't listen to windshield wipers.


/mega

_________________
I HAVE ABS OF STEEL
--
CAN YOU SEE ME? CAN YOU HEAR ME? OK FOR WORK

@OlafS25

herr szonwejs stop trolling start working on zune

Last edited by ppcamiga1 on 17-Sep-2025 at 09:07 AM.

@MEGA_RJ_MICAL

micro mical stop trolling take yours pills

@ppcamiga1

trolling entails teasing, scum.

do I tease you by pointing out a simple yet painful truth, which is that you can't write a single line of code?

do I tease you by higlighting you are unable to express yourself in English?

no, my malformed friend,
I do not tease you.
I hurt you.



VVVVOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
/m!

_________________
I HAVE ABS OF STEEL
--
CAN YOU SEE ME? CAN YOU HEAR ME? OK FOR WORK

@MEGA_RJ_MICAL

micro mical stop trolling start working on zune together with szulc szonwejs karlos hammer agami etc

@ppcamiga1

Quote:

buy graphics card forgot AGA if you really want to use chipset use good old Amiga 500 with OCS with 68000 7 MHz 0.5 MB CHIP 0.5 MB SLOW RAM

It's so sad to see that when someone bring someone novel to the same hardware which was set in stone back in the days and allows some capabilities we never seen before and the answer is "buy graphic card" and yet, when people do just that using a pistorm, the rumble still goes on 'amiga just become a keyboard to it".
There's nothing that can satisfy you, just an overpriced pc would. Please go back to your windoze pc

_________________
Indigo 3D Lounge, my second home.
The Illusion of Choice | Am*ga

@pixie

Quote:

when someone bring someone novel to the same hardware which was set in stone back in the days and allows some capabilities we never seen before

Thanks for having stressed that!


@all

Everyone can now try the last demo on their Amigas: it's available for download at https://retream.itch.io/ptds.

P.S. If you try it on a CRT, post pictures and let everybody enjoy the view, please!

_________________
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

Quote:

when someone bring someone novel to the same hardware which was set in stone back in the days and allows some capabilities we never seen before

AGA was outdated even in 1992.
No matter what you do it never reach 1992 level.
It is waste of time.
Amiga in 1992 should have chunky pixel 16 bit color.
buy graphics card and enjoy graphics that Amiga should have since 1992.

Last edited by ppcamiga1 on 18-Sep-2025 at 05:15 PM.