Subject: Re: more tested peripherals on the TS-7200
To: None <port-arm@netbsd.org>
From: Toru Nishimura <locore64@alkyltechnology.com>
List: port-arm
Date: 01/10/2005 15:04:13
The usefulness of VGA video card is limited.  The reason why VGA
product is still persistent in embeded market is, ... DOS compatiblity.
RISC can not run MS-DOS.  Fancy 16 colour screen software is not
available for RISC.

There are accellerated graphics built inside x86 SoC.   Atlas 586
(Cyrix inside) from Phillips has framebuffer video circuit which can
provide VGA API for DOS applications.  It can do native plainer format
framebuffer useful for Xserver.  For RISC, attractive video chip named
MQ200 was available by MediaQ (now defunct).  It had attach grue
with SH3/ARM/MIPS and offered frame buffer with HW accelleration.
The primary design intent was to be successful in then-emerging WinCE
products.  It could be a standard PCI card, too.  Because such the RISCs
are supposedly not for DOS, lack of VGA API support did not matter.

(BTW, I was involved with a small development project to use ZFx86.  It
was a doomed project and I was hired to extingish the fire.  It was unfortunate
the HW designer selected MQ200.  The rationality was it should be OK
since the machine was designed for Linux.  It was a wrong decision.  Bad
things did happen for DOC, Disk On Chip, support.  I hate that HW.  It's
plain mystery for me that DOC is popular in embeded market.  It's for DOS,
no more than it.  The combination of MQ200 and DOC went to no-no-land.
Since DOC requires DOS to configure...  So, the ill-fated project did not
finish) 

Toru Nishimura/ALKYL Technology