Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet
From: joachim_worringen@mowgli.fido.de (Joachim Worringen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Piccolo Graphics Board
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.graphics
Date: 7 Jan 1994 16:40:30 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
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Reply-To: joachim_worringen@mowgli.fido.de (Joachim Worringen)
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Keywords: hardware, graphics, 24-bit, Zorro II, Zorro III, commercial
PRODUCT NAME
Piccolo Graphics Board 2MB
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
A 24-bit graphics board for all Amigas equipped with Zorro II/III
slots.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Name: Ingenieurb|ro Helfrich
Address: Technologiezentrum Delmenhorst
Am Wollelager 8
D-27749 Delmenhorst
Germany
Telephone: ++49-(0)4221-120077
FAX: ++49-(0)4221-120077
Mailbox: ++49-(0)441-383326 V32.bis
++49-(0)441-9310900 ISDN
Distribution in the U.S. via DKB (address unknown; can be found in
AmigaWorld Magazine).
LIST PRICE
1MB Board: 698,- DM
2MB Board: 848,- DM
SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
HARDWARE
Amiga 2000, 3000, or 4000. (Theoretically, any Amiga with
Zorro II or Zorro III slots.) Piccolo's "Autosensing"
feature automatically uses the faster ZorroIII bus if
available for higher performance. The board can be forced
to run in ZorroII mode (by setting a jumper) for early
A4000/40's with a Rev.3.0 CPU module.
A CPU >= 68020 is needed to run the standard software. A
version of the software that can be run on a 68000 CPU is
available from the manufacturer, but limited (I did not test
it). A CPU >=68030 with coprocessor is recommended.
A hard drive is required. Installation of the system
software and all the tools and applications consume about
6MB of disk space. Minimum (system software only) needs
about 2MB.
The Amiga Graphics Emulation (AGE) software consumes about
250KB RAM on boot. Furthermore, every screen that cannot be
kept in the memory of the Piccolo is stored in Fast RAM. To
work only with the Workbench Emulation, 2MB Fast RAM is the
minimum; using the 24-bit EGS system, you'll need at least
4MB of Fast RAM. Double these amounts of memory and you'll
get comfortable.
No hardware incompatibilities reported until now (including
ZorroIII in A4000/40 Rev.3.1 and Fastlane SCSI-Adapter).
SOFTWARE
Kickstart/Workbench 2.04 or greater is required. Works with
all revisions above (also tested on a developers system with
Workbench 3.1).
COPY PROTECTION
None.
MACHINES USED FOR TESTING
A2000 Rev.4.1 with 1 MB Chip RAM
GVP Combo030/33MHz/8MB RAM with 2 SCSI-Drives connected
Kickstart 37.175, Workbench 38.65 (Version 2.1)
A3000/25, 2MB Chip RAM, 8 MB Fast RAM
Kickstart 40.x, Workbench 40.x (Version 3.1, Developer)
Several tools running (KCommodity, Toolmanager, Snap, MagicMenu,
Cycle2Menu, MFR, and so on).
WHAT'S IN THE PACKAGE ?
I've got the 2MB version of the Piccolo, Board Revision 2.1. The
version of the software considered in this review is the 2.0 system
software, including Version 6.100 of the EGS system. These are the most
current releases.
The board is a full length ZorroII/III-card which fits in an A2000 or
A3000 without problems (I've tested it). I suppose it will fit in an A4000
as well as I've heard no other reports. I mention this because in the past
there have been some size problems with other boards. Also, from my
knowledge as a student of electrical engineering, the board is of good
quality: multilayer with at least an extra layer for ground,
precision-sockets for the relevant parts (PAL's and RTG-EPROM (actually,
this socket is empty)), no wires or other patches, and gilded Zorro contacts.
The RAM and the graphics chip (Cirrus Logic 5426, the same one the PicassoII
and GVP Spectrum use) are surface mounted.
The board has three outputs and one input: one standard
SubD high density VGA outlet (for every common VGA monitor), one
FBAS outlet and one Y/C outlet for use with video. The last two
outlets are not active until you install the Encoder Module on the
board (plug-in-installation). This module currently costs 178,- DM.
The input is the passthrough of the native Amiga video signal.
Software included (4 Disks):
- Piccolo-specific system software.
- Full EGS distribution with libraries, tools and demos.
- PicoPainter (Painting program for EGS, with image processing
features).
- TV-Paint Jr. (Update to full version costs 248,- DM).
Along with the board comes the documentation. Read below for
further information on this topic.
INSTALLATION
As mentioned above, the installation of the hardware causes no
problems and is well covered in the manual, though there are no pictures of
this topic. But even without pictures, it shouldn't be a problem even for
the novice user. The manual mentions possible problems when installing in
an A2000 (2 MB of ZorroII address room is needed) or an early A4000/40
(you'll need the revision 3.1 of the processor module to operate in ZorroIII
mode). Finally, when operating with only 1 monitor, you must supply the
native Amiga video signal to the Piccolo. Connect the Amiga outlet with the
Piccolo input via a supplied cable. This cable accepts only VGA-style
outputs on the Amiga side (like a flickerfixer in an A2000, a native A3000,
or an A4000 with adapter plug). If you want to connect an A2000 with no
flickerfixer, you'll need to buy the adapter (same one as with the A4000)
separately.
The installation of the software is performed via the Commodore
Installer program (must reside in c: by tooltype default). During the
installation, the script asks for the type of monitor which you use in order
to adjust the software, avoiding possible damage by exceeding the frequency
limits of your monitor. You also may choose between a 1 or 2 monitor setup
according to your hardware setup. You can choose which additional software
(Tools, Demos, Paint programs) you wish to install. Full installation
requires 6 MB on your hard drive. The whole software gets installed into one
single drawer (EGS:). I prefer this method because it is easy to see which
software or library belongs to what. The necessary Assigns are performed
automatically on booting. Only 2 files of the installation can be found
outside of this EGS: drawer: the Piccolo monitor file in DEVS:monitors, and
an EGS startup icon (project icon) in SYS:WBstartup.
The process of installing the 4 disk of software is painless - if
you install it on your SYS: drive. If you choose to install it on
another partition, only fragments get extracted and installed. This was my
experience when testing the board in a friend's A3000 for the benchmarks
below. I don't know the reason for this behaviour or if this was only an
"accident". The whole process is excellently documented in the manual,
although the 'Help' function in the Installer program already gives enough
information.
After finishing the installation and rebooting the system, your
Amiga is ready for a "new dimension of graphics."
WORKBENCH EMULATION: Preface
The reason why I acquired a graphics board for my Amiga 2000 was
that I wanted a big and flicker-free display to run my newsreader, edit
texts and source files, run TeX, and to have much space on my Workbench
screen for all these icons, docks and windows. I seldom play games
(RoboSports runs fine on my Piccolo!). I didn't want to have 256-color
backgrounds (and still don't use them) and I am no artist so I don't have a
real need for DPaint or Brilliance (which do not not benefit from any
graphics board).
The so-called Workbench emulation (in the manual, they don't use this
term, but 'AGE' for 'Amiga Graphics Emulation') is based on patches of
functions in the concerned system libraries (intuition, graphics, layers,
etc.) via SetFunction(). This is a legal method to install custom functions
on top of the regular system functions. By this method, only programs which
do not access the resources of the Amiga directly can be run on a Piccolo
display. This includes the vast majority of even older programs (no games or
demos, of course) and nearly 100% of the programs which only run only under
Kickstart version 2.04 and above.
Another way to let even older or "badly behaved" programs run on the
display of a graphics board is to permanently copy the contents of the
bitmaps in Chip RAM to the memory of the graphics board. As you can
imagine, this method is very CPU-intensive and quite slow, depending
on your CPU performance. The advantages of letting such a program
run on an graphics board display then on a native Amiga display are
marginal. The Piccolo does not use this method but passes the
native Amiga video signal through when switching to a screen which is not
displayed on the Piccolo itself (like DPaint, Brilliance or games).
WORKBENCH EMULATION: Starting the Emulation
Let's go back to the point where you have successfully installed the
software and rebooted your system. All you have to do to let the Piccolo
'control the whole' is to start the ScreenMode program from your Prefs
drawer, select a Piccolo screenmode of your choice (only the ones which your
monitor is able to display can be selected) and leave the program via 'Use'
or, better, 'Save'. And voila: your new Workbench screen is ready for work.
By the way, the same method is true for the PicassoII and GVP Spectrum, but
not for the Retina, which uses another method (I don't know it).
This emulation needs some RAM, of course. I compared the amount of
free RAM after booting without the Piccolo software installed (just move the
Piccolo monitor file out of DEVS:monitors) and a standard PAL display
(640x512, 8 colors) versus the amount of free RAM after booting with Piccolo
software installed and running an equivalent screenmode (Piccolo VGA
640x512, 8 colors). These are the results: the Piccolo system has about
150KB *more* free Chip RAM and about 390KB *less* free Fast RAM.
It might be interesting to know that it is also no problem to define
'Autoscroll' screens on the Piccolo. They behave just like the standard
Intuition autoscroll screens; i.e. they scroll smoothly in real time.
WORKBENCH EMULATION: Working with the Piccolo Workbench
The Piccolo Workbench (silly notion) looks just like the original
Workbench. All gadgets, windows, menus are exactly the same in form and
function. Screen dragging, though, is not possible. I don't miss it at all
because switching the Screens is all I need and is much faster. The
mouse pointer behaves like the original one: you can edit it via the
'Pointer' program, and it changes its shape also if a program (like
TurboText) wants it to. No difference.
The number of colors you can use on your Workbench depends on the
Version of your Workbench. With all 2.x versions, the maximum number of
colors is 16, and with version 3.x you can use a maximum of 256 colors. And
you can really use these colors as the Workbench does nearly keep the same
speed as with 8 colors. The scrolling in the shell gets even faster!
Multiview on a 256-color Workbench is great when you display pictures - no
false colors any more (if the picture has fewer than 256 colours and you don't
use a 256-color background).
From now on, every program which lets you choose its screenmode from
the systems Display Database runs fine in any desired resolution which the
Piccolo provides. Examples for this type of programs are FinalWriter, Term,
DirOpus and many, many more.
A second category of programs, which are 'well-behaved' (only use
system functions) but do not yet offer the selection of the desired
screenmode can be convinced to use the performance of the Piccolo with a
so-called 'Screen Promoter'. A variety of this kind of program may be found
as PD/Shareware. But with the Piccolo comes another one called
'PicoRetarget'. It runs as a commodity. Every time a program wants to open
a screen, PicoRetarget pops up a requester asking you if you want to
redirect this screen onto the Piccolo, with 4 choices: 'Ever', 'This time',
'Never', 'Ever ask', 'Not this time'. According to your choice, you can
select the new screenmode for this program. PicoRetarget stores your
decision in an editable database: if you've chosen 'Ever', you'll never
again will be asked about the screen of this program (similarly with the
other possible choices). This way you can run e.g. PageStream 2.x on a nice
1024x768 screen. Running DPaint, you would have chosen 'Never', and DPaint
would start on a native Amiga screen which you can access via the standard
methods for screen cycling.
Every program that will not work on a Piccolo screen will use the
standard Amiga chipset. The Amiga signal gets passed through directly to the
monitor. This is also true if you play a game and boot from disk.
WORKBENCH EMULATION: Compatibility
I've left out some words about compatibility above. I can't say much
more than this:
- Programs which let you choose the screenmode run perfectly.
- Most 2.x-compatible programs without screenmode requester run well
when redirected via 'PicoRetarget'. Examples: TurboText (has some
minor problems with the window size, not the fault of the Piccolo),
PageStream, ArtExpression, ShowDVI, GPFax, FontDesigner (also
known as TypeSmith), old CygnusEd versions, ADPro. I don't own all
these programs but know this from other users.
- Programs known to cause problems:
- ARQ (Animated Requesters) crashes after a while. Reason
unknown.
- KCommodity and the Mouseblanker from Commodore can't blank
the pointer - but Diropus and Qmouse can because they use
the correct function 'SetPointer'. Author of KCommodity is
informed.
- MandelMania crashes because of writing directly into the
bitmap. The Author is informed. Mand2000 runs perfectly.
- With installed SPY system-monitoring software, the EGS
screen blanker 'Nightshift' displays only a black display.
This is not the fault of the EGS software.
- Powersnap 2.1 did not work. New Version 2.2 is announced
and promises to be 'better-behaved' and work with the
Piccolo and GVP Spectrum
- See the problem with 'MagicMenu' and 'MainActor' under
'BUGS', below.
- Probably some more I don't know of.
WORKBENCH EMULATION: Performance
This is the magic word when it comes to comparing graphics boards.
I have done some benchmarks with the program 'HasUndIgel', which is part of
the PicassoII distribution. It performs only pure Intuition functions and
should reflect in some way the performance of each board in the different
resolutions and depths (which means numbers of colors).
Some more information: the Piccolo, the PicassoII and the GVP
Spectrum all use the same chip (Cirrus Logic GD5426). The hardware of the
Piccolo is *very* similar to the one of the GVP Spectrum, and they both use
EGS - they should achieve similar performance. The software and the bus
interface of the PicassoII are totally different - here you can see, what
you can achieve only by programming (or not). OK, let's see the facts.
(Higher numbers mean better performance.)
| Piccolo | PicassoII |NTSC-Hires-Lace
800x600 - 8 Colours | A 3000/25 | A3000/25 | A2000/030/33
| ZorroII | ZorroIII | ZorroII | ECS-Chipset
------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+--------------
Plot Points | 44900 | 70038 | 61896 | 129413
Draw Lines | 3393 | 11193 | 2423 | 5881
Paint Boxes | 1972 | 9048 | 2155 | 1864
Scroll vertical | 2471 | 3023 | 661 | 171
Scroll horizontal | 127 | 257 | 128 | 185
Draw Circles | 230 | 472 | 419 | 1278
Draw Text (w\o Scroll) | 6258 | 7488 | 5543 | 6141
Draw Frames | 1686 | 5081 | 2302 | 2705
Open/close Windows | 45 | 63 | 42 | 59
Change Windowsize | 109 | Crash(*) | 97 | 222
Move Windows | 405 | 564 | 441 | 552
| Piccolo | PicassoII |NTSC-Hires-Lace
800x600 - 256 Colours |A2000/030/33 A3000/25 | A3000/25 | A4000/040/25
|ZorroII(**)| ZorroIII | ZorroII | AGA-Chipset
------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+--------------
Plot Points | 107630 | 68724 | 67095 | 161250
Draw Lines | 20636 | 17150 | 1516 | 2803
Paint Boxes | 14831 | 14048 | 1106 | 863
Scroll vertical | 1410 | 1368 | 214 | 128
Scroll horizontal | 1025 | 1065 | 94 | 72
Draw Circles | 787 | 459 | 487 | 1097
Draw Text (w\o Scroll) | 9892 | 9540 | 3319 | 3686
Draw Frames | 8769 | 6778 | 736 | 1297
Open/close Windows | 13 | 12 | 15 | 39
Change Windowsize | 53 | 24 | 72 | 80
Move Windows | 217 | 224 | 240 | 226
(*) This crash really is mysterious - hard to find a reason for it. The
A3000 was a developer's system. Maybe this could be a reason.
(**) The reason why I ran this test on my own machine and not on the A3000
is simply that I forgot to do so. Sorry for this. But the increase of
performance against the ZorroIII test is remarkable! I run a GVP Combo-030
board at 33MHz.
I know that I could have done many, many more tests. But I don't have
easy access to all combinations of Amiga and graphics board, and to drive
around, configure systems, install and uninstall software is a lot of work,
I can tell you. I think, that you'll get the idea with these tables, too. I
have access to the Retina, but it does not offer screenmodes and so the
'HasUndIgel' benchmark does not run on it. In general, people say that it is
noticeable slower than the boards above.
The most remarkable result from the benchmarks is the excellent
performance of the Piccolo board in the 'Scroll Vertical' test. Scrolling
vertically is important when it comes to scrolling through a text in an
editor or word processor or for the output in a shell. This is where the
Piccolo really excels. The reason for the PicassoII's being quite slow in
this test is that the PicassoII supports draggable screens (this is what I
was told by Markus Moenig, who has contacts to the developers of the
PicassoII). Decide for yourself which feature is more important to you. The
'Draw lines' test shows very good performance, too. But see for yourself -
greater values always mean more speed.
Let me add some subjective votings based on my personal experiences.
I run my Workbench in a resolution of 928 x 680 in 8 colors. I could not
imagine Workbench operations to be any faster - especially when comparing
them with a Macintosh IIci which is dog slow even in a lower resolution. The
scrolling in a CON: window (I am a frequent Csh user) is wonderful (look at
the corresponding values for 'Scroll Vertical' in the table above). The
switching of screens is fast enough for the monitor not to resync - you only
see a black display for the fraction of a second. I think it's a little bit
faster than on the Picasso - but this is not really serious.
The performance boost with ZorroIII is impressive only when it comes
to transfers of huge amounts of data - like when playing an animation or in
the 'Paint Boxes' test above. Don't expect *too much* of ZorroIII when it
comes to everyday window operations. But if you have a ZorroIII system,
don't go without it (my opinion). On the other hand, I was surprised when
comparing the performance of the Piccolo in my accelerated A2000 and in an
A3000 in ZorroIII mode (see above).
OK, here for completeness are some possible resolutions and colors:
Maximum: 1280x1024 256 colors 90Hz interlaced
(1600x1280 is also possible, but not really recommended -
it's too flickery and nearly unreadable even on a 17"
display.)
Other: 1152x 900 256 colors 60Hz
1024x 768 256 colors 72Hz
800x 600 64K colors 80Hz
These are only some typical resolutions. You can freely program
(nearly) any resolution which does not exceed the limitations of the
hardware. The maximum in 24-bit color is 800x600 at 90Hz (interlaced).
These values are identical for the GVP Spectrum and PicassoII as they use
the same chip.
EGS
Due to the lack of Truecolor support by Intuition, the German firm
'VIONA Development' has developed the EGS system. EGS stands for 'Enhanced
Graphics System', meaning a retargetable truecolor window system. Every
graphics board that has an EGS driver available can run any EGS application
in any resolution and number of colors (up to 16 million). The Piccolo
comes with an EGS driver and the complete EGS system libraries (current
Version 6.100).
As I am no artist and so no frequent user of EGS applications (which
all deal with pictures), I am no EGS expert and will not write a complete
review about EGS. This might be someone else's task. Just let me say: EGS
works quite well, but still lacks some "real" applications. In the near
future, ImageFX will be ported to EGS, and rumours say that ADPro also will
run under EGS (not only output). Anyway, all major graphics applications
can use EGS for their output directly or via conversion.
The performance of EGS is amazingly high if you think of the huge
amounts of data that are to be moved. But it requires a lot of memory - and
I mean *a lot*. I will make no further comment on this. If you need 24-bit,
you'll need EGS until another solution is released from Commodore (if ever).
One program of the EGS system is very important even to the
non-EGS-user like me: the 'Tweaker'. With this tool, you can edit existing
screenmodes and logical monitors or create new ones. This way, you can
adjust the Piccolo to your monitor optimally. Editing is quite easy, as you
see the effects of your manipulations on the gadgets in real time. The
manual says that you can't destroy your monitor with this program because of
several protective measures in the program. So far, I can't prove them
wrong. This program is documented very well (with technical background) in
the 'Installation' manual. With the help of the 'Tweaker' I have defined my
favourite screenmode (928x680) and adjusted all other modes to the optimum -
no monitor adjusting necessary any more although my monitor is not digitally
controlled. Great! But you'll need some time to adjust *all* of the modes.
Ah, and another "important" EGS tool for every user: NightShift.
This is a screen blanker not only for the EGS screens, but also for
Intuition. And it's really great because it uses the full colors EGS
provides - that's truecolor! Included with NightShift are 11 blanker
modules, all of good quality. My favourite is 'Scooter': you fly through
space, following (and flying through) a curved line of frames - the speed in
combination with the colors and lots of frames and stars is really
impressive. Most of the modules can be customized by a number of parameters.
Also included are two Paint programs, PicoPainter and TVpaint Jr..
PicoPainter has many functions that are similar to ADPro which are realized
via a convolve operator, a color processor and brush and text functions with
many parameters and options. The program is very easy to use as it makes
full use of the EGS menus, requesters etc. I like it better than TVPaint
which has its own custom user interface. Working with PicoPainter is fun,
as you have all requesters open you want, modify some values here and there,
stamp transparent Text and so on - and see the result immediately in
Truecolor! PicoPainter is more powerful than TVPaint Jr., but I can't say
if it suits 'professional' demands. It supports all important file formats,
like JPEG, IFF, Targa, rgb5 and rgb8, YUV, QRT and PPM. Anyway, its useful
and included.
For "real" Image processing, wait for the upcoming new versions of
ImageFX (which will definitely run under EGS) and ADPro (which is said that
it will run under EGS, too).
VIDEO
The Piccolo has a some features that distinguish it from other
boards. First thing are the Y/C and FBAS outputs directly on board
(activated with the plug-in module). Second thing is the 'feature
connector' known from most VGA boards in MS-DOS PC's. All relevant video
signals can be accessed at this connector. The manufacturer of the Piccolo,
the Ing.B|ro Helfrich, also has developed the 'VideoCruncher'. It is a
24-bit real time digitizer which has a JPEG coprocessor on board to digitize
sequences on hard disk (and play them back). It utilizes the 'feature
connector' mentioned above to display a 24-bit real time overlay PIP
('Picture in Picture') on the standard Piccolo display (inside of a movable
window). This is very interesting for video editing and multimedia
applications. The VideoCruncher features the same Autosensing bus interface
as the Piccolo. I could not verify these dates since I took them out of a
flyer I received from the manufacturer.
DOCUMENTATION
The Piccolo comes with 5 well printed, clearly written manuals:
Piccolo Installation (140 pages)
EGS System (160 pages)
Dia (45 pages)
PicoPainter (75 pages)
TVpaint Junior (75 pages)
and some minor Update informations on disk.
This refers to the German version. All manuals are written in German
language. I have no information about the English documentation.
All the manuals are bound in a way that you can not leave them open
on the table - this is a disadvantage. Spiral binding would have solved this
problem.
The manual I know the best is the Installation manual. It covers all
aspects of installing hardware and software on all the different systems,
editing and creating screenmodes, and possible problems. It has plenty of
screenshots and gives not only all the information I need but also a lot
of background information I want. Rating: near to excellent. An Index is
missing. This manual is of very high value for experts and beginners as
well. It clearly states which sections you have to read and which ones are
only for background information.
The user manual for the EGS system gives a sufficient explanation of
the particularities, the supplied preference editors and tools. Some little
demos and the games (Tetris and Boulderdash) are undocumented - they don't
really need documentation. It is suitable for beginners; the expert is not
really in need of so much information on the EGS system.
The tiny manual for the graphics display program 'Dia' explains the
ARexx commands in brief words (a reference and some examples). The usage
via the Workbench is very simple, and the ARexx programmers will have no
problems with the supplied information, though it is not suited for the
absolute beginner - nor is ARexx. It's funny that the name of the ARexx
port is not 'DIA' or something like this, but 'rainbow'.
The remaining too manuals are for 'PicoPainter' and 'TVPaint Jr.'.
As I do not really use these programs, I can not say much about their
quality. This would be a job for an artist. However, let's say at least
something about the contents. The PicoPainter manual describes every
function of the program but has no tutorials. You can do a lot of things
with the program but will have to find out for yourself. This manual is
sufficient. The TVpaint manual goes the other way: it illustrates every
function with a small tutorial, but is missing a real reference. It's harder
to find information on a certain function. But both manuals are sufficient
to work with the programs. The TVpaint manual is better for beginners than
the manual for the PicoPainter (which is the more powerful program, by the
way).
LIKES AND DISLIKES
The Workbench emulation is very stable and fast, even in 256
colors. This is one of the most important points, I think!
Creating new screenmodes is very useful. You can adjust any
screenmode to take full advantage of your monitor, even if it has no digital
control.
The EGS system consumes a lot of RAM. Don't expect to do some real
work under EGS with less than 6 MB *free* FAST RAM. This should be
improved. On the other hand, the board in general and especially EGS are
pleasingly fast.
The manufacturer should be addressable via email. Currently, they
have no plans in this direction. I will try to convince them.
The warranty could be longer (let's say, 2 years).
COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS
I could compare it with the popular PicassoII board. If you own an
A2000 and have no plans to step up to an A4000, the PicassoII gives
comparable performance (see benchmarks) for a little bit less money. If you
want ZorroIII, I would not consider buying a ZorroII-only board.
The advantage of the Piccolo against the PicassoII and even the GVP
Spectrum is obvious when it comes to video. The Piccolo has videonorm
connectors on board, and via the feature connector you can combine it with
additional hardware.
Actually, the software support for the PicassoII and Retina is
slightly better than for the Piccolo. But I think that in the near future,
more and more applications will support EGS now that GVP's marketing power
stands behind it.
The 'Merlin' board promises similar features like the Piccolo, but
it is known to have serious bugs in software and hardware (doesn't run on an
A4000 in ZorroIII or together with the Fastlane SCSI adapter).
BUGS
See "mysterious crash" in the benchmark table. We couldn't find a
reason for this one, and no other program operating in this mode had
problems.
The Piccolo shows problems when you work with 'MainActor': if you
select to play an animation on a screen and not in a window, MainActor (and
often the system as well) crashes. This is because MainActor tries to open
a view (which is legal). The bug occurs no matter which screenmode (Piccolo
mode or native Amiga mode) you choose. This problem does not show up with
the PicassoII and Retina. There are no problems if you play your animations
in windows only. Markus Moenig, the author of MainActor, is willing to add
EGS support as soon as he will get a board from either Helfrich (Piccolo) or
GVP (Spectrum).
Not really a bug, but it should be noted: EGS has problems with
'MagicMenu' (or vice versa). You have to deactivate MagicMenu to work
properly with EGS. The system does not crash, but MagicMenu intercepts the
'right mouse button pressed' event and displays a menu on the Intuition
screen which was the last active one (usually the Workbench). Perhaps the
author of MagicMenu can fix this by adjusting the priority of his input
handler; I will inform him.
No more bugs found which can be directly attributed to the Piccolo
system. Read 'Compatibility' above and remember, that all of the current
'Workbench emulations' are kind of hacks until Commodore releases the
necessary standard retargetable graphics (RTG) system. Actually, the
Piccolo seems to be a very good hack and is prepared to run under RTG. But
still then, old and 'bad-behaved' programs will cause the Piccolo (and any
other graphics board) to crash.
VENDOR SUPPORT
You can phone the manufacturer all day, but they prefer that you call
them during Hotline hours: Tuesday and Thursday between 4 and 6 pm. I had
no real technical problems with the board but only wanted to get information
about the promised update (which arrived on 23rd of December). Sometimes,
you'll have to ask for the right person to get the desired information - but
this person isn't always present during Hotline hours (his name is Mr.
Ringelberg - ask for him, and he can give you the answer you want). If you
get the right person, the support is good.
The manufacturer has two support mailboxes in Germany; one of them
belongs to Activa Int. (Scala). They are told to provide updates and
developer information. I could not yet verify the quality of these BBS's
because I had to be registered and have not called since then. Currently
they cannot be reached via email - this would be the easiest way for many of
us! You can only call the boxes and leave a mail message there.
WARRANTY
6 months full warranty here in Germany.
CONCLUSIONS
I am very confident in this product. It runs all the software I
need and is very fast. I gives me a totally new feeling with my Amiga: no
flickering any more, high resolutions, truecolor and high scrolling speed.
I don't want to give a rating since there's no common rating system
in c.s.a.reviews. But I can fully recommend it, especially to ZorroIII users
with interest in Intuition applications, Truecolor applications (read: EGS)
and video. Hardware and software are of high quality.
The number of applications for EGS is still small, but with the
power of GVP behind it, I think more will come (ADPro will be a
breakthrough). Anyway, it's already useful as it is.
Thanks to Markus Moenig and Klaus Melchior for their help with the
benchmarks.
I can be reached at
Joachim_Worringen@mowgli.fido.de
Feel free to send me your own experiences or opinions concerning this review.
I'll be happy to answer your questions.
I am in no way connected to the Ing.Buero. Helfrich or any concerned
manufacturer.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright 1994 Joachim Worringen. All rights reserved.
This review is freely distributable by electronic means. Printed
distribution needs permission of the author.
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