Amiga screen modes

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commodore • amiga

Original text: http://web.archive.org/web/20191130041536fw_/http://www.amigahistory.plus.com/resolute.html

Resolutions

As a handy reference this table indicates the different scanrates, and screenmodes available. This table is based upon information from a wide range of sources, particularly articles written by Simon Goodwin. The table is broken down into six headings.

  • Scanrate - Indicates differing standard screen sizes. NTSC is an American standard made up of 525 screen lines refreshed at 30 times per second. PAL is a European standard that consists of 625 screen lines, refreshed 25 times per second.

  • Screenmode - Highlights the name of the resolution.

  • Resolution - The number of horizontal and vertical pixels that can be displayed on screen. The higher the resolution, the greater number of pixels there are and the better quality the picture.

  • Colour Range - The number of colours available. For example NTSC Low Res allows a range of colours from 32 to 4096 on screen at once.

  • Chipset - Indicates the Amiga chipset required to use this mode. “All” suggests that every Amiga is capable of displaying this mode, Enhanced refers to the ECS chipset, and AGA indicates AA-based Amigas such as the A1200 and A400

  • Genlock - A Genlock is used for video work, outputting to a video display. This indicates if the mode is compatible or not.

NTSC

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Low Res 320 x 200 32 - 4,096 All Yes
Low Res Laced 320 x 400 32 - 4,096 All Yes
HAM 320 x 200 256,000 - 16 million All Yes
HAM Laced 320 x 400 256,000 - 16 million All Yes
Extra Halfbrite 320 x 200 64 - 16 million All Yes
Extra Halfbrite Laced 320 x 400 64 - 16 million All Yes
High Res 640 x 200 16 - 4,096 All Yes
High Res Laced 640 x 400 16 - 4,096 All Yes
Super-High Res 1280 x 200 4 - 64 Enhanced Yes
Super-High Res Laced 1280 x 400 4 - 64 Enhanced Yes

PAL

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Low Res 320 x 256 32 - 4,096 All Yes
Low Res Laced 320 x 512 32 - 4,096 All Yes
HAM 320 x 256 256,000 - 16 million All Yes
HAM Laced 320 x 512 256,000 - 16 million All Yes
Extra Halfbrite 320 x 256 64 - 16 million All Yes
Extra Halfbrite Laced 320 x 512 64 - 16 million All Yes
High Res 640 x 256 16 - 4,096 All Yes
High Res Laced 640 x 512 16 - 4,096 All Yes
Super-High Res 1280 x 256 4 - 64 Enhanced Yes
Super-High Res Laced 1280 x 512 4 - 64 Enhanced Yes

MultiScan

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Productivity 640 x 480 4 - 64 Enhanced No
Productivity Laced 640 x 960 4 - 64 Enhanced No

A2024

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
10 Hz 1024 x 800 4 - 64 Enhanced No
15 Hz 1024 x 800 4 - 64 Enhanced No

Euro36

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Low Res 320 x 200 32 - 4,096 Enhanced No
Low Res Laced 320 x 400 32 - 4,096 Enhanced No
High Res 640 x 200 16 - 4,096 Enhanced No
High Res Laced 640 x 400 16 - 4,096 Enhanced No
Super-High Res 1280 x 200 4 - 64 Enhanced No
Super-High Res Laced 1280 x 400 4 - 64 Enhanced No

Euro72

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Productivity 640 x 400 4 - 64 Enhanced No
Productivity Laced 640 x 800 4 - 64 Enhanced No

Super72

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
High Res 400 x 300 16 - 4,096 Enhanced No
High Res Laced 400 x 600 16 - 4,096 Enhanced No
Super-High Res 800 x 300 4 - 64 Enhanced No
Super-High Res Laced 800 x 600 4 - 64 Enhanced No

DBLNTSC

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Low Res 320 x 200 256 - 16 million AGA No
Low Res Laced 320 x 800 256 - 16 million AGA No
Low Res Laced No Flicker 320 x 400 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res 640 x 200 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res Laced 640 x 800 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res Laced No Flicker 640 x 400 256 - 16 million AGA No

DBLPAL

Screenmode Resolution Colour Range Chipset Genlock
Low Res 320 x 256 256 - 16 million AGA No
Low Res Laced 320 x 1024 256 - 16 million AGA No
Low Res Laced No Flicker 320 x 512 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res 640 x 256 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res Laced 640 x 1024 256 - 16 million AGA No
High Res Laced No Flicker 640 x 512 256 - 16 million AGA No

Scanrate

The screen quality improves as the number of Hertz increases.

  • NTSC : 60 Hz, 15.72 Khz
  • PAL : 50 Hz, 15.60 Khz
  • Multiscan : 60 Hz, 31.44 Khz
  • A2024 : 50 Hz, 15.60 Khz
  • Euro36 : 73 Hz, 15.76 Khz
  • Euro72 : 70 Hz, 31.43 Khz
  • Super72 : 72 Hz, 24.62 Khz
  • DBLNTSC : 59 Hz, 29.2 Khz
  • DBLPAL : 50 Hz, 29.45 Khz