WarpBMPdt 45.8

Short:        Windows BMP datatype V45.8
Author:       oliver@futaura.co.uk (Oliver Roberts)
Uploader:     oliver futaura co uk (Oliver Roberts)
Type:         util/dtype
Version:      45.8
Requires:     OS 3.0+,picture.datatype v43+
Architecture: m68k-amigaos; ppc-amigaos; ppc-warpup; ppc-morphos


Changes since previous Aminet release:

 - Applications may now configure the datatype settings via a local
   variable, overriding any global user settings present in ENV:.
 - Completely reworked more intelligent detection of features
   available in differing picture.datatype versions.
 - Changed prefs loading routine due to dos/ReadArgs() on MorphOS not
   being fully compatible with AmigaOS, which was causing the prefs
   to not always be read properly.
 - Replaced usage of old Exec and Dos OS4 functions with the new ones.
 - Minor optimizations and improvements.
 - MorphOS and WarpOS versions recompiled with VBCC 0.9g.
 - OS4 version recompiled with GCC 8.1.0.
 - All benchmarks recomputed after the repair of my A1200, with
   SCSI2SD replacing my SCSI HDD and disabling all debug tools.
 - Updated Spanish installer.


FEATURES

 - Supports common BMP file types, including both Windows and OS/2 BMP
   formats.  These include BMP images with a bit depth of 1, 4, 8, 16, 24
   and 32, both uncompressed and RLE compressed

 - Highly optimized datatype dispatch engine and BMP decoder,
   resulting in a very efficient, compact and quick BMP datatype

 - Asynchronous file i/o and double buffering techniques (WarpOS only),
   which speeds up image decoding
 
 - Optimized versions for 68020, 030, 040 and 060

 - PowerPC support with native OS4, WarpOS and MorphOS versions

 - Alter the pen allocation precision when images are remapped to an
   8-bit display

 - Specific support for the AmigaOS picture.datatype v44+, when available

 - The dithering feature of the AmigaOS picture.datatype v44+ can be
   configured to your liking (e.g. disabled for 15/16-bit displays)


REQUIREMENTS

This datatype needs the following in order to work:

 68k version

 - Kickstart 3.0 or higher
 - 68020 processor or higher (optimized versions included)
 - picture.datatype v43 or higher
   (supplied with AmigaOS 3.1.4, 3.5, 3.9, CyberGraphX, P96 or AfA OS)

 WarpOS version

 - Kickstart 3.0 or higher
 - PPC accelerator card + 68040/060
 - WarpUp Release 5.0 or higher
 - picture.datatype v43 or higher
   (supplied with AmigaOS 3.1.4, 3.5, 3.9, CyberGraphX, P96 or AfA OS)

 OS4 version

 - PPC accelerator card / AmigaOne / SAM
 - AmigaOS 4.0 or higher

 MorphOS version

 - PPC accelerator card / Pegasos / Efika
 - MorphOS 1.4 or higher

Note that a graphics card is not necessary.