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Parallax Forums > Public Forums > Propeller Chip > Morpheus: 256 color VGA, 0.5-7.5MB **NEW** 256 color per pixel 256x192 VGA mode photos - see p.10

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Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 8/24/2009 12:57 PM (GMT -8)

Hi Jeff!

Thank you for the kind words

Yes, for forum members that got board from me during UPEW 2009, or ordered bare boards/bundles from me I can make kits available minus boards and props

The current screen shots are in four color mode (from 256 color palette); after I finish the remaining GPU functions I mentioned earlier in the thread I will add a unique palette per scan line. Right now I am debugging hline, which will speed up the filled rectangles and filled circles immensely. Then I will debug the pasm version of the generic line drawing routine, which will turbo charge any line drawing, and last but not least will come PutChar and PutString. I figure the above will take me about a week, including debugging, testing, and a couple of mini demo's.

After that, I will start on the 256 colors per pixel drivers; 256x192 will come first, followed probably by 320x240, then 400x300. Then I will adapt the GPU library to 256 color mode, after which I will start on the sprite engine for the 256 color modes

I might sneak in the per line palette before I finish everything, in which case I'll post a many color shot sooner...

Thanks,

Bill

p.s.

Anyone wanting to order should email me at the gmail in my sig with your forum name, full name and full address so I can figure out shipping and handling.

All amounts are in USD, and I only take PayPal

Morpheus ONLY Lite kit (no props, no pcb, all other parts included) $70+s/h

Mem+ ONLY Lite kit (only one 512KB memory chip, no pcb) $50+s/h

Bundle of Both of the above Lite kits $110+s/h (includes a total of two 512KB memory chips)

Bundle of Both of the above, plus three more memory chips for 2.5MB total, $125+s/h

Oldbitcollector said...
Some of us got boards at UPEW 2009

Any chance you have a kit price for everything I need -minus the Propeller DIPs and the boards?
(No sense taking them from someone else if I have them in the shop.)

This looks AWESOME. Can you do some screen shots with more color than we're seeing now?

OBC

Please use mikronauts _at_ gmail _dot_ com to contact me off-forum, my PM is almost totally full
Morpheus & Mem+dual Prop SBC w/ 512KB kit $119.95, 2MB memory IO board kit $89.95, both kits $189.95
www.mikronauts.com - my site 6.250MHz custom Crystals for running Propellers at 100MHz
Las - Large model assembler for the Propeller Largos - a feature full nano operating system for the Propeller

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 8/24/2009 1:56 PM (GMT -8)

I forgot to mention!

ALL of the four color Morpheus bitmap modes XGA/SVGA/VGA (1024x768, 800x600, 640x480) use the same graphics engine - the "gr.config(xmm_address,x_rez,y_rez,bits_per_pix) configures the drawing engine :)

Now back to work for me...

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 8/25/2009 7:05 PM (GMT -8)

http://forums.parallax.com/forums/?f=25&m=379097&g=379496#m379496

Since I spilled the beans in the Prop to Prop communications thread, I may as well tell y'all in this thread:

Stacks of Morpheus-es (Morpheii?) and Propteuses (Propteii?) are designed to communicate over a high speed (up to 20MB/sec burst rate) 8 bit parallel bus, with three to four control signals possible.

Morpheus and Propteus were designed from the beginning to have a shared bus - their P0-P7 stack directly on top of each other, which is NOT and accident. If the SPI ram using P8-P11 is not populated, P8-P11 are available for handshaking; if it is populated, P9-P11 are available when P8 is high.

You really should only put a Mem+ boards onto the top Morpheus onto such a stack, and they cannot have the SPIO and SD sections poulated.

I have not written any software for it yet, it is on the list - I intend to write an app note on this configuration. Due to bus loading I don't recommend stacks more than 10 high.

An eight board Morpheus stack would have a total of 128 cores and 4MB of static ram.

Due to the high drive capability of the Propeller, it might - and I stress might - be possible to build a 16 high stack with 256 cores and 8MB, however the data rate on the shared bus might have to be dropped to 10MB/sec or even 5MB/sec.

heater
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2008
Total Posts : 1834

Posted 8/26/2009 2:08 AM (GMT -8)

Oh my god!

What will we do with all that?

For me, the past is not over yet.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/3/2009 6:59 PM (GMT -8)

Heater pointed out a bug in my implementation of Conway's Game of Life for Morpheus - I think I squashed the bug :)

The updated zip is on my downloads page.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/4/2009 3:18 PM (GMT -8)

I've just posted a new & improved SVGA driver/gpu to the downloads page on my site!

The 0.90 version adds a pasm "hline" routine, which massively accelerates filled rectangles, and gives a small but nice speed boost to filled circles.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/4/2009 10:09 PM (GMT -8)

I found a bug in the hline routine, and I am in the process of squashing it.

After running for a while, the lock in hline was not released soon enough for the refresh engine, causing it to hang.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/5/2009 9:14 AM (GMT -8)

*THREE* updates this morning!

I’ve uploaded new releases of:

* XGA 1024×768 driver, now includes GPU cog and new DEMO2 (requires monitor capable of 51Hz vsync for xga)
* SVGA 800×600 driver, now includes the improved GPU cog and updated DEMO1
* Conway’s Game of Life, now includes bug fix and speed boost due to GPU cog

Changes include:

* fixes in GPU code, significantly faster with addition of hline
* updates in demo's
* new DEMO2 for XGA
* Life now much faster

You can grab them from my downloads page. More coming in about a week!

Post Edited (Bill Henning) : 9/5/2009 5:19:45 PM GMT

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/5/2009 5:44 PM (GMT -8)

I finished a new driver today, completing the initial four color driver set. Morpheus now has three released video drivers:

* XGA 1024×768 (4 colors from 256)
* SVGA 800×600 (4 colors from 256)
* VGA 640×480 (4 colors from 256)

All existing resolutions are supported by my XMM_GPU graphics engine cog, which currently implements:

In Pasm:

* Pen(c)
* Plot(x,y)
* Plotc(x,y,c)
* Cls(c)
* HLine(x,y,x2)

In Spin, calling Pasm:

* Line(x1,y1,x2,y2)
* DrawRect(x,y,w,h)
* FilledRect(x,y,w,h)
* DrawCircle(x,y,r)
* FilledCircle(x,y,r)

Coming Soon:

* PutChar(x,y,ch)
* PutStr(x,y,str)
* FillPalette(c,r,g,b)
* SetPalette(y,c,r,g,b)

All drivers now also come with the same demo program, that demonstrates the XMM_GPU cog’s features, and the drivers will soon be updated to have a unique 4 color palette for each scan line, and calls will be added to XMM_GPU to set the whole palette or individual entries. This will allow some pretty colorful “4 color” images, and will also allow for color cycle based animation.

(you can always find the latest drivers and demo’s on my Downloads page)

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/13/2009 2:40 PM (GMT -8)

Hi!

I am back from a very relaxing 7 day Alaskan Cruise - highly recommended if you need to unwind and catch up on your sleep. I did spend some time figuring out some things for PropellerBasic

Now I will continue with my regularly scheduled Morpheus work... I will be tackling the "Coming Soon" items in the previous message, then onto 256 color drivers...

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/15/2009 3:20 PM (GMT -8)

UPDATE:

gr.putb(x,y,byte) - Write a byte to (x & ~3),y
gr.PutChar(x,y,ch) - Write a character ch to the screen at (x&~3),y

I got the Spin version of PutChar working (uses putb), and boy are some of the characters in my initial font ugly!

With any luck, I will be posting a refresh of my VGA/SVGA/XGA drivers with a working PutChar() and PutStr() later tonight (using the Spin PutChar).

Pasm version of PutChar() coming right afterwards...

jazzed
_oOo_(^^)_oOo_

Date Joined Jan 2008
Total Posts : 2114

Posted 9/16/2009 8:15 AM (GMT -8)

Bill, do you have any videos of your graphics drivers in action ?

--Steve

Propeller Tools

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/16/2009 9:19 AM (GMT -8)

I will attempt to make some...

Hmm...

VGA->SVIDEO converter->capture card should do it!

jazzed said...
Bill, do you have any videos of your graphics drivers in action ?

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/16/2009 2:03 PM (GMT -8)

New driver revisions on my site's downloads page:

VGA 640x480
SVGA 800x600
XGA 1024x768

All are 4 color (out of 256) bitmapped drivers.

What's new?

- PutChar(x,y,ch)
- PutStr(x,y,ch)
- 128 character (including line drawing characters) 8x12 font
- characters drawn in current pen color

I am now satisfied with the quality of text output, so my next update for the drivers will be a pasm version of PutChar.

Enjoy!

(As always, comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome)

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/16/2009 8:10 PM (GMT -8)

Progress report:

I have created a YouTube channel where I can upload video's. No video's yet, but I hope to be able to upload a couple tomorrow!

www.youtube.com/mikronauts

In other news, I have updated the Game of Life - it got a significant speed boost!

jazzed said...
Bill, do you have any videos of your graphics drivers in action ?

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/17/2009 2:43 PM (GMT -8)

Today so far:

gr.PutChar(x,y,ch) - now in pasm
gr.PutBytes(x,y,bptr,numbytes) - new, in pasm
gr.PutStr(x,y,strptr) - now in pasm

New demo stage:

PUB RefreshDemo|x,y,ch
  repeat ch from 1 to 3
    gr.pen(ch)
    repeat x from 0 to 175
      repeat y from 0 to 479 step 12
        gr.PutBytes(0,y,@set[x],80)

Set[] is an array of 256 bytes, where Set:=i, used for the demo

I'm working on updating all three drivers (VGA,SVGA,XGA) with the new demo and new xmm_gpu.spin, they will be uploaded to my site later today.
Please use mikronauts _at_ gmail _dot_ com to contact me off-forum, my PM is almost totally full
Morpheus & Mem+dual Prop SBC w/ 512KB kit $119.95, 2MB memory IO board kit $89.95, both kits $189.95
www.mikronauts.com - my site 6.250MHz custom Crystals for running Propellers at 100MHz
Las - Large model assembler for the Propeller Largos - a feature full nano operating system for the Propeller

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/17/2009 8:55 PM (GMT -8)

The new driver set has been uploaded.

I found and fixed a bug in gr.hline(), and optimized FilledCircle some more, resulting in a HUGE speed increase for filled circles!

I also replaced the old PutChar() demo with a better text demo.

Next:

* FillPalette(c,r,g,b) - set color C (0..3) to r,g,b for every line on the screen
* SetPalette(y,c,r,g,b) - set color C (0..3) to r,g,b for line y
* SetPaletteRange(y1,y2,c,r,g,b) - set color C to r,g,b for lines y1-y2

This will allow for very colorful "4 color" screens, and palette cycling animation as well!

The new drivers are on my downloads page.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/21/2009 3:16 PM (GMT -8)

Update:

Unique palette per scan line now works!

PUB SetPalette(y,c,r,g,b)
PUB SetPaletteRange(y1,y2,c,r,g,b)
PUB FillPalette(c,r,g,b)

I will upload the new code to my site tonight, after I have had a chance to move it into the SVGA and XGA drivers (I developed it under the VGA driver).

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/21/2009 6:19 PM (GMT -8)

I've uploaded the new VGA driver and demo to my site; I will be uploading the SVGA and XGA versions as soon as I finish converting the other two drivers and demo's.

Palette handling functions added to the VGA Morpheus graphics object:

PUB SetPalette(y,c,r,g,b)

- Set color (0..3) for screen line ‘y’ to specified RGB values

PUB SetPaletteRange(y1,y2,c,r,g,b)

- Set color (0..3) for screen lines ‘y1..y2′ to specified RGB values

PUB FillPalette(c,r,g,b)

- Set color (0..3) for all screen lines to specified RGB values

NOTE:

R and G both must be in the range of 0 - 7

B must be in the range of 0 - 3

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/22/2009 6:10 AM (GMT -8)

I've uploaded the SVGA driver and demo, with the new Palette functions described above.

XGA version will come later today, after I've had time to add the modifications to that driver and demo.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/22/2009 1:46 PM (GMT -8)

I've uploaded the XGA versions of the driver and demo with Palette handling (unique palette per scan line) to my site!

All three of the supported 4 color bitmap modes (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768) now support the Palette functions, with a separate entry per scan line.

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/29/2009 7:33 PM (GMT -8)

I've been fighting with an Epiphan VGA2USB to try to capture Morpheus running demos; but until that works, here are two more photo's:

- 256 color palette demo, looks a million times better in person (sorry the blue text on top is too faint)
- font demo screen shot (again, looks way better in person)

In case you missed them, there are four other screenshots on the lower half of page 7 in this thread.

Image Attachment :

web640palette.JPG 161KB (image/jpeg)

This image has been viewed 52 time(s).

Image Attachment :

web640font.JPG 343KB (image/jpeg)

This image has been viewed 60 time(s).

Baggers
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1773

Posted 9/30/2009 2:34 AM (GMT -8)

Hi Bill, looks great, have you got a vid of it in action?

http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/ home of the PropGFX Lite

Bill Henning
Registered Member

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 962

Posted 9/30/2009 6:24 AM (GMT -8)

Hi Baggers,

Thanks!

I am trying... I got one of the Epiphan VGA2USB's about two weeks ago to try and make videos, but I am having a heck of a time getting it to work. It is pre-programmed with modes it will recognize, and for some reason, they did not pre-program it with Morpheus VGA timings...

Their tech support is trying to help, but only half-heartedly. I'll probably have to match the timings they support, like a 31.5MHz dot clock VGA mode - never mind the jitter from the PLL's. Very frustrating.

I tried to record a short video with my Fuji camera, and got a black screen for my troubles (not sensitive enough). My DSLR does not record video.

I could probably use my camcorder, however it does not have the resolution to fully define even VGA, never mind SVGA or XGA!

Or I could possibly cobble togeather something like Morpheus --> VGA/TV converter --> digitizer, however that will also likely not understand the 30MHz dot clock VGA, 45MHz dot clock SVGA, 55MHz dot clock XGA either!

Best,

Bill

Baggers said...
Hi Bill, looks great, have you got a vid of it in action?

Baggers
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1773

Posted 9/30/2009 7:42 AM (GMT -8)

Bill Henning said...
It is pre-programmed with modes it will recognize, and for some reason, they did not pre-program it with Morpheus VGA timings...

Lmao, why doesn't that surprise me :) god they're rubbish aren't they lol

Good luck sorting it out!

Baggers.

http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/ home of the PropGFX Lite

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