ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LIMA NEWSLETTER MAY 1991
 
 
      ^^^ GIF MANIA -- THE
40 COLUMN USER'S GIF
ALTERNATIVE  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^reviewed by Charles Good 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lima Ohio User Group  
        
    User groups and bulletin
board systems often have
lots of GIF format pictures
in their libraries.  Until
recently these GIF pictures
could only be viewed by
those TI power users with 80
column capabilities (Geneve,
Dijit AVPC card,
Mechatronics 80 column
peripheral, or OPA's TIM).
Now, with Barry Boone's GIF
MANIA, mere mortal 40 column
99/4A users can also view
these pictures.  You can't
directly manipulate (add or
delete lines, change colors,
add text) the displayed GIF
picture with GIF MANIA, but
you can save the displayed
GIF picture to disk in TI
ARTIST format for
manipulation by TI ARTIST.
Even those who don't own TI
ARTIST can dump the GIF
picture to a printer by
printing the TI ARTIST "_P"
file with MAX-RLE. 
 
    There are a lot of
compromises that must be
made to get a GIF picture
onto a 99/4A screen.  GIF
pictures have resolutions of
300x200 or 600x400 pixels
and can include 32, 64, or
256 colors.  The 99/4A's
screen is only 256x192
pixels and only 16 specific
colors can be displayed.
GIF MANIA, under software
control, does the necessary
picture squeezing and color
condensations (combining
several of the original GIF
picture's colors into one of
the TI's 16 colors) to get
the picture onto the TI's
screen.  Several display
options are available that
allow the GIF MANIA to alter
the combination of colors
displayed, the overall
picture contrast and the
sharpness of borders between
adjacent colors.  Use of
these options is by trial
and error.  If you don't
like what you see on screen,
try playing around with some
of the display options.  
 
    There is no doubt that
the same GIF picture
displayed (using Y.A.P.P. or
G99) with all its numerous
colors and full resolution
on an 80 column system is
better looking than the same
picture displayed with GIF
MANIA on an ordinary 99/4A.
They say that a picture is
worth a thousand words.  The
two "CITY" pictures that
accompany this article are
both from the same GIF disk
file, and show a good
approximation of the
differences between 80 and
40 column GIF screen
displays.  Both were printed
with a dot matrix printer
and are reproduced in the
newsletter natural size.
The "80 column" picture was
loaded into Y.A.P.P. using a
system equipped with a Dijit
AVPC card.  It was then
resaved in MYART format, and
the resulting MYARY image
was printed with Y.A.P.P.'s
HARDCOPY utility.  The "40
column" picture was loaded
into a 99/4A using GIF MANIA
and then saved in TI ARTIST
format.  The resulting "_P"
file was printed using
MAX-RLE.  There is obviously
more detail in the "80
column" picture.  The "40
column" picture is, however,
quite usable dispite the
loss of some fine detail. 
 
    Dispite its compromise
displays, GIF MANIA can
produce quite pleasing and
useful graphics.  It is the
only software that will
convert GIF pictures to TI
ARTIST format.  For 40
column users who want to
play with GIF pictures GIF
MANIA is the only option
available. 
 
    COST- $14.95 + shipping  
    available from TEXAMENTS  
    53 Center St. 
    Patchogue, New York
11772  
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