Falcon 030 preliminary developers Documentation as presented on the Atari EuroDevCon92 Overview From the point of view of an application writer, the most important thing to realize about the Falcon030 is that it is an ST compatible TOS machine. This means that software written to take advantage of the operating system features via operating system calls of the previous machines will work without modification. In fact a great deal of effort was expended to insure that a large precentage of software that runs on previous machines will continue to operate. The changes that the user will see between Falcon and previous TOS machines involve improved video and sound abilities. The video system has the following characteristics: 1) The system supports both VGA and broadcast system monitor types. For this document "broadcast type monitor" means a TV as well as an analog RGB monitor such as the SC1224. 2) The number of vertical lines can be either 200 or 400 (approx.) This is done by using interlace on broadcast monitors to get 400 lines and doubling each line on VGA monitors to get about 200. 3) The number of horizontal pixels can be approximately either 640 or 320. 4) The number of bitplanes can be either one, two, four or eight. 5) Characteristics numbered 1-4 can be mixed in any combination. 6) The color palette is 262144 in 1, 4 or 8 bit per pixel mode and 4096 in 2 bit per pixel mode. 7) Overscan is available in all broadcast video modes. 8) A 16 bit per pixel, true color mode exists that will operate in all modes except 640 pixel wide VGA mode. All of these modes can be accessed via the GEM VDI. In the case of true color mode there is no color palette to allow for changing the color of pixels that have been already drawn. The GEM VDI provides 256 virtual pens to use for drawing. These pens act just like the physical pens in the other modes except that once a pixel is drawn, it cannot be changed using vs_color(). The sound system has the following components: 1) 56001 Digital Signal Processor 2) DMA sound engine that can playback or record one, two, three or four 16 bit stereo channels at 12.5, 25, or 50 Khz. 3) 16 Bit stereo codec allowing both input and output of sound via built-in headphone and microphone jacks. 4) An external port (DSP) that allows external I/O for a wide variety of purposes. Falcon030 Hardware Reference Guide The Falcon030 hardware specification can be summarized as follows: CPU: 68030, 16 Mhz FPU: Socket for optional 68881 or 68882 running at 16 Mhz RAM: Custom module. 1 to 16 Mbytes of RAM. ROM: 512 Kbytes Blitter: Graphics coprocessor running at 16 Mhz Video: Resolution BPL Colors Palette colors ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST Low-res 320 X 200 4 16 4096 ST Med-res 640 X 200 2 8 4096 ST High-res 640 X 400 1 2 4096 True color 640 X 480 8 256 262144 320 X 200 15 32768 N/A. 1 bit for overlay VGA or Video X:320 or 640 1,4 2,16 (Overscan Y:200 or 400 8 256 262144 selectable) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All modes can also be Genlocked, to provide multi-media capabilities on monitors or televisions. The true color modes also directly supports overlays. An on board RF modulator allows for direct connection to TVs. Monitor connector allows connection to VGA monitors, ST monochrome, or color monitors (via an adapter plug). Horizontal scrolling is supported, compatible with STE. Sound: Built in stereo 16-bit analog to Digital convertor. Built in stereo 16-bit DACs. Stereo microphone input and stereo headphone output jacks. Internal speaker. Sophisticated multiplexer connects DSP, Codec and DMA. 3 channel PSG sound (compatible woth ST) 8 channel 16 bit PCM digital record/playback I/O Stereo 8bit PCM sound (compatible with TT030,STE and MSTE) Digital Audio/DSP connector DSP: 56001 32Mhz Digital Signal Processor with 32Kx24 zero wait state SRAM I/O: Parallel port Modem/RS232 port (9 pin) MIDI in MIDI out/thru Cartridge port SCSI II (50 pin connector) with DMA LAN Local area network (compatible with TT030 and MegaSTE) Joysticks: Two STE compatible enhanced joystick ports supporting four paddles a light gun, and up to 21 buttons each. FDD: 1.44 Mbyte Floppy Disk Drive HDD: Internal optional hard disk drive on IDE bus. Keyboard: 94/95 key keyboard (with enhanced controller IC wich supports faster keystrokes, up to 300 DPI mouse, and prevents overrun and underrun) Mouse: 100 DPI mouse supplied as standard. Other: Real time clock with battery backed, non-volatile RAM. Optional internal HDD Internal expansion connector I hope this has cleared up some of the confusion and killed/confirmed some of the wild rumors that has been spread about the Falcon030. If you want more information then contact me at Synchron City BBS... Pylon X