Rich wrote:
There wasn't any extra space required; it would have been better to keep the full 8-bits around everywhere until you wrote the dac
Why? By keeping the array in memory exactly as it was in the DAC, the code to update the DAC was greatly simplified and very fast - a few lines of assembler. This strategy worked extraordinarily well under DOS. Computers were so slow then that we saved unnecessary work whenever we could. Not that it matters now at all, I'm just curious, because you stated it was "better" to keep eight bits without giving a reason. (Of course it would be better NOW, if one was keeping a palette around at all.) It's hard to look back at legacy code with perspective and understanding - it was a different world then. The bible on this subject is "Programmer's Guide to PC & PS/@ Video Systems" by Richard WIlton. The copyright is - get this -1987. I am amused that Wilton is seven years younger than I am, and was 34 when he wrote the book. We used it within a couple of years from when he wrote it. Wilton is still on the scrolling credit screen with a credit for "Tweaked" video modes. Tim