Chapter 8 System Configurations 25
The problem you are most likely to face is portrayal of imagery in black and
white on the HMD that should be in color. This problem results from a limita-
tion of the SGI software to generate field sequential color. SGI engineers assure
us that the problem should not occur in windows that are generating graphic im-
ages, but we don’t have any real confirmation of this yet.
The Onyx multi-channel option (MCO) for the RE2 cannot drive the FS5. Al-
though it is theoretically possible, SGI efforts are focused on the RE3, which
will provide a more flexible support for products like the FS5. Unfortunately,
MC0 software for the RE2 is a lower priority. To run stereo from an RE2 with
MCO, output VGA and use an F-Scan converter.
SGI Indigo2 Impact System Configuration
The Indigo2 Impact is not capable of driving the FS5 directly. However, the
Impact Channel Option (ICO) which is still in development as of this writing,
will drive the FS5 directly. It will be capable of stereo as well as mono.
We don’t yet have details of the exact system configuration. Contact SGI for
further details on availability of the ICO.
Other Platforms and the F-Scan Converter
PC, Apple Macintosh, Sun, Evans and Sutherland, and SGI platforms not
named above are not currently able to output a video format directly useable by
the FS5. To allow a broad range of platforms to drive the FS5, we have devel-
oped the F-Scan Converter. See chapter 9 for further details on the F-Scan
Converter.
